(Almost) all our content from 2006 to 2017 is archived and available online under a Creative Commons license. Please read this post from June 2018 for more background and updates about our conference and current status.
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Author Archives: Karen Fasimpaur

2016-17 2016-17-Creativity 2016-17-Design Thinking 2016-Learning Spaces Uncategorized

K12 Online Conference Mini-Conference Schedule

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k12-online-flyer

(pdf version)

Announcing the new schedule for K12 Online mini-conferences! Please share this information with others.

OPENING KEYNOTE
October 31, 2016
Keynote: Julie Lindsay ~ @julielindsay
(Other activities to be held during the following week.)

MINI-CONFERENCES

  • Learning Spaces
    November 14 – 18, 2016
    Keynote: David Jakes ~ @djakes
  • Design Thinking
    January 9 – 13, 2017
    Keynote: John Spencer ~ @spencerideas
  • Creativity
    April 3 – 7, 2017
    Keynote: Alex Ruthmann ~ @alexruthmann

As a reminder, our new conference format will feature a keynote, interactive panel discussions focusing on the theme of each keynote, and asynchronous interaction opportunities for participants using Voxer and Twitter chats.

 

2016-17 Announcements

Call for Proposals 2016

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The 2016 K12 Online Conference organizer team is pleased to announce this year’s Call for Proposals.

Please consider submitting your session ideas. Since 2006, K12 Online has offered unique, free, entirely volunteer-powered opportunities for educators worldwide to share and learn together about innovative ways to use technology tools to enhance teaching and learning at all levels.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO OPEN THE 2016 CALL FOR PROPOSALS! (due June 15)

The theme for the 2016 conference is “Unlocking Learning.” The conference will begin with a pre-conference keynote on Monday, October 10th. The next two weeks, starting on October 17th, 20 presentations will be published in four different strands, with two presentations posted per day. Presentations must be a single media file of twenty minutes or less (but not too much less) in length and meet other requirements specified in the online call for proposals. Presentations are due two weeks prior to the week the relevant strand begins. All presentations will be shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported license. The 2016 conference strands are:

Learning Spaces (convened by Susan van Gelder)
Students today learn in a myriad of spaces from inside the classroom to online communities and online connections, from makerspaces to self-directed learning through online explorations. How are these changes unlocking learning for students? How is it changing the way teachers are teaching?

Student Voices (convened by Karen Fasimpaur)
Having a strong student voice both as an input and an output of our learning environments is a way to unlock learning. How do you encourage student voice? How do you exhibit and celebrate student work? Do youth help co-design their learning? What tools, platforms, methods, etc. do you use? Student-led presentations welcome, as well as those that feature your students’ voices!

Design Thinking (convened by Leslie Pralle Keehn)
What is design thinking? What models for this are being successfully used in education? How is design thinking influencing the ways learning is unlocked for your students? Process is just as important as product. Design thinking highlights process by allowing us to design and reimagine all that is possible. From creation in a maker environment to lesson and systems redesign, this strand unlocks both the mindset and application of design thinking.

Creativity (convened by Carol Broos)
Making, sharing, creating, and inventing are all ways to express yourself. How do you allow students to soar? How do you encourage colleagues to incorporate creativity within the academic lessons? How does creativity shine in your learning environment?

Please see our “Presentation Guidelines” for more information about formats and requirements. These guidelines will be updated by June 30th with a few changes.

Please consider submitting a proposal for the 2016 K12 Online Conference by June 15, and personally invite other educators you know to submit a proposal. K12 Online offers great learning experiences every year because of our fantastic presenters. Your encouragement to others to present, as well as your own willingness to present, will make K12 Online 2016 a fantastic learning experience for many teachers around the world! Click here to submit your proposal!

2016-17 Announcements

We Are Unlocking Learning in 2016!

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We are excited to announce our plans for K12 Online 2016!

The conference this year will be about Unlocking Learning and will be held on October 17-28, 2016. Our strands will be Learning Spaces, Student Voice, Design Thinking, and Creativity.

Image credit: sacks08, CC BY

We will also be piloting some exciting new formats for this year’s conference.

Based on your feedback, this year’s event will be more interactive and dynamic. We’ll have more live events and a Voxer channel going throughout the conference and beyond for discussions on each strand. We’ll be encouraging more use and interaction of our sessions throughout the year and more connections to f2f events. We will have fewer sessions to allow more focus and high quality community interactions. We’re open to other experiments as well, so if you have ideas, send them our way!

We hope you will join us, whether as a participant, a presenter, or a volunteer. Stay tuned for our Call for Proposals which will be out soon!

Announcements

Thinking about K12 Online Conf 2016

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We are currently beginning to brainstorm ideas for the 2016 conference and would love your input. We are especially interested in discussing ways to increase participation and views of the conference sessions and are looking at a variety of out-of-the-box ideas, including different formats, timeframes, content focuses, etc.

Here are some ways you can participate:

  • Join us for a Google hangout on Thurs. Jan. 21 at 7pm ET. Contact us if you would like to participate and/or TUNE IN HERE.
  • Chime in on this Google doc with your ideas.
  • Add your comments here with any ideas or thoughts you have.

Thank you for helping us make this year’s conference a success!

2015-Beyond the Core

Teaching the 21st Century Musician

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Presenter: Thomas J. West
Location: West Chester, Pennsylvania
@thomasjwest

Presentation Description: The new Common Core Standards for the Arts contain many standards involving greater levels of creativity and independence for music education. These standards, coupled with preparing today’s students for an ever-shifting professional landscape that requires more independent and collaborative technology skills, presents America’s traditional secondary performing music ensemble programs with a challenge: how do we still provide high quality performing ensembles and develop the individual students’ musical and creative abilities. Thomas J. West explains how incorporating the SAMR Model of Technology Integration along with cloud-based methods of Blended Learning enables middle school and high school instrumental music students to take control of their own learning and become independent, well-rounded musicians capable of 21st Century Artistry.

 

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
http://www.thomasjwestmusic.com/21st-century-musician

Additional Information:
My website: www.thomasjwestmusic.com
My blog: www.thomasjwestmusic.com/apps/blog

2015 2015-Maker Ed

Getting Started with Maker Ed!

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Presenters: Barbara Johnson and Jenny Lussier
Location: Colchester and Durham, CT, USA
@technojohnson, @jluss

Presentation Title: Getting Started with Maker Ed!

Presentation Description: School libraries are leading the way as innovators in the area of Maker Ed. Join two elementary library media specialists as they share their experiences in creating makerspaces in their buildings. Whether you are a classroom teacher looking to incorporate different types of making in your classroom, a media specialist looking to get making going in your library space or an administrator looking for ways to begin this process in your school, this session will introduce you to the ideas behind Maker Ed, resources, including materials and guides, and how to incorporate them into your students’ learning. Hear from students about their experiences with making and learning. Specific examples of student work will be included to give a complete picture of what Maker Ed can be!

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
https://www.smore.com/fr4f6

2015 2015-Maker Ed

Merry Makers

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Presenter: Steve Sherman
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
@LivingMaths


Presentation Title: Merry Makers

Presentation Description: As the Head of the Imagination Chapter in Cape Town, I get to help young students and their parents get in touch with their creative juices every week. I then connect with other chapter leaders around the world and we share our ideas and experiences. I will include footage and photos in my presentation, share ideas and give you a small taste of some of our projects. I hope that you are encouraged to create a maker space at school and promote making activities to your students.

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
http://www.livingmaths.com/maker-movement-resources/

Additional Information:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Living-Maths-191424357561419/timeline/

2015 2015-Maker Ed

There is Now a 5th Law of Robotics

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Presenter: Harrison McCoy
Location: Arlington, Texas
@drharrisonmccoy

Presentation Title: There is Now a 5th Law of Robotics

Presentation Description: “Who doesn’t love a robot? Viewers at this session will learn how to add robotics to their makerspace with the Lego Mindstorm EV3 robots. Regardless of grade level robotics can ignite the imagination and capture the attention of almost any student.

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
n/a

Additional Information:

http://theothereduguy.blogspot.com/