I would like to give a special thanks to the members who served on the Accessibility committee for the 2007 K12 Online Conference, Kaj Rietberg, Karen Janowski and Dr. James Stanger.

Kaj spent many hours working on translation tools and taking an active role in editing the final wiki. Karen got things rolling with a collaborative Google doc and document layout not to mention the many tools and tips for assistive technology. James Stanger shared his expertise in website development and resources for making educated decisions when developing online content. He also is the major contributor for the podcast series we are starting to discuss major hurdles and how to begin using the tools.

Thanks to all the committee members for their support, useful suggestions and willingness to provide information about overcoming accessibility obstacles in this year’s conference as well as the commitment to continue developing this online resource for next year’s event.

Thank you to Jeff Flynn for reviewing the data and suggesting additional resources. My thanks also go to Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Darren Kuropatwa, Wesley Fryer and Lani Ritter Hall for support and for their warm encouragement. It was without a doubt a team effort.

Lee Baber
Accessibility Committee Chair

Join David Warlick and the conference organizers this evening at 7pm Eastern (David’s timezone) in a free wheeling open-ended chat in Elluminate. During the chat you can ask David about his presentation, make new friends from around the world, or simply enjoy an engaging conversation. This is an opportunity for all presenters and participants to get together and discuss how we can “play with boundaries” in our classrooms and personal learning experiences.

The chat will take place in Elluminate, an online classroom environment. To join you simply click on the link below and after some software loads you will be dropped into the room with David. As a reminder, you will need a microphone to be able to take part in the conversation. A quick review of the tools will be given before we begin. Drop by up to 30 minutes before starting to practice if you like.

We will have other fireside chats with keynotes and presenters once the conference kicks off next week. Check here for the schedule.

Schedule

11:00 PM Tuesday, October 9 GMT
Fireside Chat With David Warlick
The direct link to the time converter for this event:
http://www.worldtimeserver.com/convert_time_in_UTC.aspx?y=2007&mo=10&d=9&h=23&mn=0″³

TO JOIN THE SESSION
https://sas.elluminate.com/m .jnlp?sid=2007095&password=M .E8E484E55C29AE1DE2356659DBF40C

THIS SESSION WAS RECORDED
To view the recording, click the link below:
Video– View the Elluminate Live! recording
Audio- coming later today

A wise man once said, “None of us are as good as all of us,” and in that light the conveners of K12 Online 2007 are requesting volunteers to chair and serve on committees that will support the upcoming K12Online conference.

Each committee will have a convener, a chair, and three committee members, to make up a five member team.

The committees are as follows:

Media and Communications (Public Relations)- This committee will be responsible for getting the word out about the conference.

Convener– Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach (snbeach at cox dot net)
——————
Live Events – This committee handles live events during the conference, our culminating event “When Night Falls” and fireside chats.

Convener– Lani Ritter-Hall (lanihall at alltel dot net)
——————
Help Desk– This committee will be the conference technical support team and will work from a proactive role in terms of recommending tools and “how-tos.”

Convener– Darren Kuropatwa (dkuropatwa at gmail dot com)
——————
Professional Development– This committee will arrange opportunities for graduate credit and Continuing Education points that can be obtained globally.

Convener– Wes Fryer (wesfryer at yahoo dot com)
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Accessibility Options– This committee will create a resource and be available to answer questions about ensuring that presentations are accessible by all participants, even those with disabilities.

Convener– Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach (snbeach at cox dot com)

Chair: Lee Baber
——————
Roles and Responsibilities

• The role of the convener on each committee is to serve as a liason from the committee to the conference as a whole.
• The role of the chair is to organize and facilitate 2-3 meetings (Elluminate is available for your meetings) prior to our conference and to lead the committee in development of a support plan and related tasks to fulfill your committee’s purpose.
• The role of members will be to carry out, with the chair, the purpose and plan of the committee.

Interested?

If you are interested in chairing or serving on one of the above committees please contact the appropriate convener or leave a comment below with your contact information and someone will get back with you right away. We would like to have committees formed and functioning by the end of August.

Darren, Wes, Lani and I wanted to extend our warmest thanks to all the moderators for their hard work and enthusiasm during the K12 Online Conference culminating event – When Night Falls. The feedback so far has been outstanding. The creativity and brilliance of our keynoters and presenters made this conference an event to remember. We can’t thank you enough.

A couple parting thoughts and requests…

Evaluation
Please take a moment to fill out the evaluation for the conference. Your feedback will help us in planning for next year.

Tapped In
Participants can stay in touch through the K12 Online Tapped In Room. If you haven’t joined, please do. Instructions for doing so are located here.

Presentation Archive
The blog will remain active, so feel free to go through the presentations at your own pace and leave your comments.

Take Away Wiki
We also encourage you to spend some time adding your own resources on the K12 Online Take Away Wiki I saw some incredible podcasts, wikis, and such shared during the Skypecasts. I encourage you to add them so we can all benefit. Remember… none of us are as good as all of us.

Once again, thank you for making this conference such a valuable experience. We look forward to collaborating together with you online.

Sheryl, Darren, Wes, and Lani

Incredible!
That is the one word that describes the presentations so far! The keynotes and presenters these first two days of the K12Online conference have simply done an incredible job. On behalf of the conference conveners thank you so much for your hard work. It certainly shows in the quality of your presentations. If you have enjoyed yourself so far– the rest of the week’s presentations are just as good! You are in for a treat. If you want to refer back to any previously presented sessions we have made the agenda linkable. Simply click on the AGENDA tab on the conference blog.

Fireside Chats- Virtual Style

Join the conference organizers and the keynote speakers in free wheeling open-ended chats in Eluminate. These are open to anyone interested in participating. Ask the keynotes about their presentations or share your thoughts and ideas about the other presentations seen this week. This is an opportunity for all presenters and participants to get together and get to know one another.

Because we ran out of seats in Elluminate during David Warlick’s fireside chat, we have made provisions to make sure that doesnt happen again. There will be a space for everyone who wants to attend.

Do I Need Special Software?
Nope! All you need is a computer with a microphone and speakers, a head-set works best. Then on Oct. 26, 2006 at 7pm Eastern (what time is that where I am?), after you have watched almost all the Week One presentations and keynotes, simply CLICK ON THIS LINK and the Elluminate software will load and then drop you into the virtual meeting room.

Someone will be in the room an hour early to help you check your mic and give a quick overview of the very intuitive tools used in the Elluminate environment. If you have any questions ahead of time email Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach.
The Fireside Chat Schedule is below:

Fireside Chats via Elluminate

• Oct 26th at 7 pm Eastern (what is that in my time?): Bud Hunt and Alan Levine, Week 1 Presenters, conveners and YOU!
• Oct 28th at 11 am Eastern (what is that in my time?): Ewan McIntosh and Anne Davis,Week 2 presenters, conveners and YOU!

Archives
Each session will have an ARCHIVE of the chat which will be posted under the Live Events tab on the conference blog.

Take Away Wiki
Another tab you may not have noticed on the conference blog is the one labeled wiki. It has a link to our Take Away Wiki for conference participants. This is the collaborative space where YOU enter the conversation. This is YOUR wiki. Our hope is that conference participants will add resources, links to presentations, materials, and other items that relate to the strands of the conference. Help add to the value of this experience. None of us are as good as all of us!

When Night Falls
We’re in the midst of planing the final event for K12 Online 2006. It’s called When Night Falls. The idea is to have a 24 hour long worldwide skypecast – networking – and Tapped In chat experience. As night falls across the planet, educators across the globe will come online to connect and reflect about their experiences at K12 Online 2006. For this to work we’re going to need some help to keep things going for 24 hours straight. Everything you need to know is on the When Night Falls Wiki. We even have screencasts on skypecasting and other tips and tricks for moderators and participants. Check it out and get involved. You need to join Tapped In too. Once you are a member, instructions for joining the K12Online room are in the Welcome area of Tapped In. Help Desk staff will be on hand to answer your questions for the Nov. 4, 0:00 GMT (Nov. 3, 7:00pm Eastern) kick off.

So take some time and explore the Tabs at the top of the K12Online Conference Blog. There is much that awaits you! And while you are at it… click on the Frapper Map tab and add yourself to the community.
Darren, Sheryl, and Wes

Please make plans to attend the K12 Online 2006 Unleashing the Potential Kick Off Fireside chat with Preconference Keynoter David Warlick on October 16, 2006 at 6pm EDT. This informal virtual chat will take place online using Elluminate Live software.

What is Elluminate?
Elluminate is a classroom/conference tool enhanced by VoIP (live voice communication). We have used it with hundreds of teachers, some with limited technical knowledge, and it is very easy to use and understand.
Participants can access the site via any high-speed connection, using a computer with a microphone.

How do I Join the Chat?
The following link will take you into our virtual meeting place. When you click on the link the necessary software will automatically download onto your computer and then open a window that asks you to type your name. Please type your first and last name as this will appear in the participant window once you are in our virtual fireside chat room. Feel free to click on the link in advance to make sure you are able to access Elluminate. On Monday, Oct. 16 at 6:00 PM EDT simply click on the link and you will automatically join the virtual meeting.

Once we all gather in the virtual meeting space, you will be given an quick overview of how to use these very intuitive learning tools prior to beginning our chat. Here is the link for gaining access to the room:
http://tinyurl.com/rpt4a. If you would like to test your mic in advance log in to the room up to an hour in advance and someone will be there to assist you.

David Warlick and the k12 Online conference conveners look forward to chatting with you about David’s Keynote and the upcoming conference online.

See you there!

We are feverishly at work getting the last minute details worked out for the upcoming K12 Online Conference.

Preconference Keynote
We hope you will join us on Oct. 16 — here on the blog for David Warlick’s Preconference keynote. I have had a sneak peak and you are going to be so stoked at his creativity and wisdom.

Graduate College Credit
Would you like to earn graduate credit for participating in the conference? Well you can! Plymouth State University in partnership with the Shanghai American School is offering three graduate credits for K12 Conference Online participants.
To find out more… click here or on the tab at the top of the blog.

Fireside Chats
There will be several live events during the K12 Online Conference. The first scheduled event will be Oct. 16, at 6pm EDT. Make your plans to attend. Join the conference organizers and the keynote speakers in a free wheeling open-ended chats in Eluminate. This is open to anyone interested in participating. Want to know more? Click here or on the live events tab at the top of the blog.

When Night Falls
We have a planning Skypecast tonight about preparing for this event and a planning wiki. We need your help!

We are getting excited! We hope you are as well.

See you online.

Plymouth State University in New Hampshire (http://www.plymouth.edu/graduate) in partnership with the Shanghai American School is offering three graduate credits for K12 Conference Online participants. See below for course syllabus.

The cost will be $182 per credit plus the $25 reg fee for a total cost of $571 for three graduate credits.

Jeff Utecht, author of the Thinking Stick blog and Shanghai American School tech teacher, and Alan Knobloch, Shanghai American School principal will manage the course. To register or if people have questions, they should contact Alan directly. alan.knobloch@saschina.org