Global Education Conference 2010

Absolutely buzzing! We have just finished our first meeting and it's really quite mind-boggling to know that you are talking to people in the USA, UK, China and other places all at the same time.

A great group of really interesting people.

One of the participants was talking about time zones - I think I've learned more about time zones tonight than I have ever learned. Very interesting.

Looking forward to the next stage where we run the meeting for our region.

The possibilities to be able to break down barriers of many kinds in a global environment for our students is so exciting.

Learning for the Week

A very interesting learning week.

I heard on Wednesday that I'd been named as one of the Regional Chairs for the Global Education Conference 2010, so that was a bit of a buzz. Very exciting and will also be helpful in the ADE application later in the year. A good challenge and applicable straight to the classroom. If we want our children to be critical, creative and caring thinkers, this is one particularly interesting way of going about it.
The global community group has been going for years and it's really exciting to have the tools to be able to encourage participation in this way of learning.
Lots of learning this week about global communities and how digital technologies are building some pretty amazing bridges.
I will add some links on the sidebar for anyone who is interested in this.

We went to Enrich yesterday and have learned about podcasting - another passion - and how to make it really simple to use as a tool for Digital Storytelling. This is a fantastic use of technology to encourage reading, writing and oral language for all ages and stages.

I have also learned this morning how to use video more successfully in the blogs. Picassa has all the answers and makes it so much more simple. Better storage of photos too. Saves cluttering up the laptop!

Habits of Mind

Find more videos like this on Habits of Mind Learning Community



Another Habits of Mind video to think about and comment on.

Learning to Change-Changing to Learn

This really makes you think about whether we are really meeting the needs of our learners

in the 21st Century. What changes do we need to make in our beliefs, our classrooms and

for our learners? "The death of education but the dawn of learning". This quote

interests me greatly.

Habits of Mind

Have really enjoyed hearing what the children think about the Habits of Mind we've covered so far. They are already applying it in their own learning which is very exciting.

This week we are going to be setting our new ICT goals. Now that they've been exposed to a wider range of tools, it is interesting to see where their goals are going.

Looking forward to finally being able to share the Habits of Mind video with them.

We looked at the first couple of slides today and there were some interesting thoughts.

Might be a good one to put on the class blog for parents to comment on.

UNconference

Have really enjoyed the learning this week. It has been really challenging - especially the technical side of podcasting - setting up audacity and all the bits that go with it!

Great to keep challenging the learning though.

I've been given a $200 free pass from the Edtech UNconference for a staff member to attend as thanks for the work I've done so that has been a real highlight.

They've also used my feedback on the front page to encourage other participants. Great that NZ can feature on a conference like this. The convenor wants me to do a two minute Edtalk to share at the conference. Not so sure about that one! Will see.

On with the learning. Continuing this week on Activboard learning, and other challenges on the UNconference, Habits of Mind in class - proving to be a stimulating experience for all of us.

Also having a phone conference with the person in charge of the Apple Distinguished Educator programme about the next stage in the selection process. That should keep me out of mischief!

Word of the week -WYSIWYG

Love this word!! It's pronounced whizzywig.

It's a form of html language.

Simply means - What You See Is What You Get!

It's a more simple version of html language.

Habits of Mind, Technology and other thoughts

Have had a fantastic day. We spent most of it learning about Habits of Mind and Science. It was so rewarding to hear the children applying what they are learning about the HOM to Multiple Intelligences, Blooms and the Thinking Hats.

They are just naturally incorporating technology into their learning and this was evident this afternoon during science when they just grabbed the cameras and flip videos and thought about what they wanted to film / photograph to put on the blog. Tomorrow, some of them will learn how to add them to the blog.

We are playing around with a different tool for uploading video. Blogger keeps providing a black screen when you upload it and we don't want that.

Have just about sorted out the issues with the e-portfolios too which is very exciting.

Will upload the portrait photos and the Ukiyo-e photos and those will be the first things they comment on next week.

Podcasting and Vodcasting

Really enjoying learning about two more tools. Have listened to many podcasts

and watched vodcasts but certainly didn't know how to create them!

This is my next learning challenge. The UNconference has been inspiring

for teaching new tools that can enhance learning.

Still not too late to register for it. The price has gone up by $20 but it

is still probably the best conference I've 'been to' - one of the main

benefits being that it will run for a year and after that, you will still have access

to all the resources.

Live presentations will be streamed from October. Very exciting.

Habits of Mind

Please add your thoughts here about the first video on the page.

I'm showing this to the class too, to see what their thoughts and

reactions are.

We're just starting to get into the Habits and they are very

excited.

Learning Reflection

Really enjoying the UNconference. Stimulating and challenging which is great.

The children are enjoying hearing about it and help me apply new learning -

and give advice for better options, e.g. using Garageband for podcasting

instead of Audacity. I'd still like to play around with audacity though.

Scott and Samantha have really liked being able to further apply their

learning from Enrich. Really helps value and support them. The others

in the class think it's great to have extra experts!!

Have joined the Habits of Mind Teacher network. I belonged to a similar

site for years but this one is far more relevant and provides direct links

to the NZ Curriculum which is fantastic. Lots of good connections to

Australia too. The children are very excited about learning about another

tool that can help them be the best they can be. We are learning about the

Habits through a pretty amazing picture book from Art Costa.

This is also another way of linking Enrich to the classroom.

Looking forward to seeing how this amazing class applies their learning

in this area.