(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.

Category Archives: 2008

2008 2008-notK12 Online Announcements

Announcing notK12 Online

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K12 Online depends on the collaboration of many people to make this unique conference a success. This year, as we discussed what an online “unconference” might look like, we struck a committee to do some of the heavy lifting and thinking about our online unconference venue, notK12 Online. We asked Bud Hunt to chair the notK12 Online committee and he’s assembled an excellent team of educators to help us figure this out: Jackie Ballarini, Bill Bass, and Marcie T. Hull with substantial technical assistance from Andy Schmitz.

Our thanks to all of them; they’ve done some great work and will be continuing to volunteer their time and energy to help make this extension of K12 Online a blow out success. Here’s what they’ve come up with:

Not K12Online exists as one way to expand, and amplify, the possibilities of the K12Online Conference, to ensure that everyone has a way to add to the conversation(s) started by, inspired by, or missed by, the formal conference. Think of NotK12Online as one aggregator for content related to the possibilities generated by K12Online. To be honest, we hope you don’t need us, and we recognize that you really don’t. But we’re here anyway, a reminder of how you might use the power of digital tools to promote learning wherever, and whenever, you are.

NotK12Online, at this point, consists of two distinct channels of content that we hope you’ll consider submitting to.

Have a presentation you’d like to share relating to one of the four themes of this year’s conference? Check out the details of the “Presentation Channel” below and consider creating a presentation to share. Or not.

The other piece of NotK12Online is the “Critique Channel”. Critically examining our practices is important – as are divergent opinions. We are seeking to foster constructive dialogue about teaching and learning, as well as meta-talk about events like K12Online, in this channel. Submissions to this channel will offer constructive criticism and/or feedback on the K12Online sessions.

In the case of both channels, we’re seeking not to own the conversation, but to provide a venue for folks who would like to connect the work they’re already doing to the conference in an informal way. We’re also interested in your thoughts on what other channels we might’ve missed.

NotK12Online will “run,” meaning we’ll be open for submissions, from October 13th, 2008 until November 16th, 2008. After that, submissions will close, but the links will be around. The idea behind the extended time frame is to provide time for people to reflect upon and continue the conversations that ensue from their K12Online experiences. This also allows people time to create a presentation or critique that may have been inspired by the conference content. Of course, after November 16th, we encourage everyone to continue sharing presentations, discussing and networking, and reflecting on the work of others, but we won’t be the venue for that – we’ll count on you to use the tools of the open Web, as well as the K12Online website, to do so. (We really, really don’t think you need us at all – and yet plenty of good work isn’t ever shared. We hope to be the push that some might need to help them to publish.) We’re still working on our web presence where we’ll be taking submissions and aggregating them, but we wanted you to have a glimpse into what we’re seeking at the moment, both as a chance to get some feedback but also to take the opportuniy to give you a heads up – we hope you’ll consider putting something together. Below are our submission guidelines.

Presentation Channel: Presentations can be submitted under any of the four themes for K12Online – 2008. The four themes are “Getting Started”, “Kicking It Up a Notch”, “Prove It”, and “Leading the Change” (Read the original strand descriptions here.). Presentations that, in some way, fit the strands of this year’s K12Online conference are welcome.

Guidelines:
1. Presentations may be submitted from October 13th, 2008 until November 16th, 2008.
2. Presentation content must be hosted offsite. We will not host content other than text and links, thus you must provide links to your presentation, published elsewhere. If you have a blog, publish there and submit your information to us. if you don’t perhaps it’s time to create one.
3. Presentations must have original education-related content related in some way to the strands of the formal conference. Any presentations of a strictly sales/merchandise flavor are certainly welcome on the open Web, but won’t be re-broadcast via NotK12Online.
4. Presentations that have been published at K12Online will not be re-broadcast here.
5. All presentations will be shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.

Critique Channel:

Guidelines:
1. Critiques may be submitted from October 13th, 2008 until November 16th, 2008.
2. Content must be hosted offsite. We will not host content other than text and links, thus you must provide links to your critique.
3. Submissions must be produced and delivered in the spirit of critical reflection which allows for improvement in practice. The goal of this channel is to provide constructive critical response to the ideas, topics and presentations of the K12Online conference, in the spirit of furthering conversations past the commenting stage.

We welcome your feedback about these guidelines and ideas, as well as NotK12Online itself. Ideally, a conference about self-directed learning should be, in part, about making itself obsolete. We hope NotK12Online will allow for some playing with, and stretching of, the boundaries of an online conference. And we hope you’ll be willing to submit the work that you’re doing to one of our channels. NotK12Online should serve as an amplifier of sorts. That’s all. Perhaps it’ll be the little bit of a push that you need to get moving on sharing some of the work that you’ve been up to. Or, ahem, not.

It’s certainly worth it to try.

As always we’re interested in your thoughts, suggestions and ideas; feel free to comment here and share them.

2008 - Getting Started 2008-Teasers

“Free Tools for Universal Design for Learning in Literacy” Teaser

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As in 2007, each week twenty different presentations will be posted here once the conference begins in mid-October. With so many choices, it may be helpful to get a better idea of the issues, tools, and concepts presenters plan to address in their sessions. Our presenters have been invited to create short, online videos (published to a website like YouTube, TeacherTube, etc.) which will give attendees a better idea of what their presentation will address. These “teaser” videos will hopefully generate and pique interest in presentations prior to the actual start of the conference.

Not all actual conference presentations will be shared as online videos. Presenters have freedom to choose their asynchronous publishing format. Conference presentations will be hosted (as in 2007) by the College of William and Mary.

Please take a few moments to let these presenters know how much you appreciate their creativity and are looking forward to their presentations!


Jennifer Kraft
Strand: Getting Started
Free Tools for Universal Design for Learning in Literacy

2008 Announcements

Announcing K12 Online 2008 Presenters

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The 2006 and 2007 K-12 Online Conferences provided outstanding opportunities for free, collaborative, accessible professional learning for educators around the globe. The 2008 conference is shaping up to again provide more exemplary learning opportunities in the same spirit of collaboration and sharing! The learning will begin with a pre-conference keynote during the week of October 13, 2008. We will again invite presenters to submit “teaser trailers” for their presentations in advance of the conference.

This year’s fantastic line up of keynote presenters will create an inviting and welcoming introduction in which the sharing of ideas among diverse learners working in diverse contexts continues. These distinguished folks will not only extend the conversations, but also invite each of us to stretch and grow as they share their expertise and wisdom in their respective strands. We are delighted they have each agreed to accept their roles as keynote presenters. See our post from June 25th for more information about keynote speakers in each of our 2008 strands.

The presentations accompanying the keynotes for each strand have been selected by “blind” peer review committees coordinated by each strand convener. The committees’ tasks were extremely difficult as the quality of proposals was again outstanding. We thank everyone who submitted a proposal. We are elated to announce the K12 Online 2008 presenters whose creativity, depth of thought and innovation promise to make K12 Online 2008 exemplary.

The presenters by strand are:

Getting Started

Free Tools for Universal Design for Learning in Literacy
Jennifer Kraft

The Google Gamut: Everything you need to get started.
Kern Kelley

I Like Delicious Things
Chris Betcher

Never Too Young
Sharon Betts

Reading Revolution: New Texts and New Technologies (Suggestions for revised focus)
Laurie Fowler

Travelling Through the Dark
Steven Kimmi

Video Conferencing
Brian Crosby

Web 2.0 Tools to Amplify Elementary Students’ Creativity and Initiative
Jackie Gerstein

What Did You Do In School…?
H. Songhai

Prove It!

Best Practices with Primary Access: An Overview of Research on Student Creation of Highly Scaffolded Digital Documentaries in a History Classrooms
Glen Bull, Thomas Hammond, Curby Alexander

Facilitating Tech Integration: A Synthesis of the Research
Jon Becker

Open, Social, Connected: Reflections of an Open Graduate Course Experience
Alec Couros

CANCELLED: Professional Development without Borders: A Research and Support Model for Global Education
Konrad Glogowski and Sharon Peters

Promise into Practice: What It Now Means to Teach Adolescent Readers and the Impact of the Results
Sara Kajder

Throwing the Box Away
Barbara Bray

We Like Our Blogging Buddies: The Write Stuff with Blogging Mentors
Kathy Cassidy and Patrick Lewis

“You know, I can download those pictures myself and show you how to make a Photostory”
Elaine Newton

Using Online Argument Role-Play to Foster Learning to Argue and Arguing to Learn in a High School Composition Class
Richard Beach

Kicking It Up A Notch

Games in Education
Sylvia Martinez

Oh the Possibilities
Lisa Parisi

Changing Disabilities
Elizabeth Lloyd

Back-channels in the Classroom
Scott Snyder

Connecting Classrooms Across Continents: Planning and Implementing Globally Collaborative Projects
Kim Cofino and Jen Wagner

Interactive tools for remote and synchronous mentoring
Michele Wong Kung Fong

Monsters Bloom in Our Wiki
Ann Oro and Anna Baralt

Parental Engagement in the 21st Century – Leveraging web 2.0 tools to engage parents in non-traditional ways
Lorna Costantini and Matt Montagn

Film School for Video Podcasters
Mathew Needleman

Leading The Change

Beyond the Stacks: Using Emerging Technologies to Strengthen Teacher-librarian Leadership
Carlene Walter and Donna DesRoches

Current leadership models are inadequate for disruptive innovations
Scott McLeod

Overcoming Entropy
Louise Maine

Pushing the Limits: Web 2.0 and 21st Century Learning
Aimee Stoffel

Ramapo Islands
Peggy Sheehy

Teaching Web 2.0 – Everything you need in one place
Wendy Drexler

Telling the New Story: Leverage Points for Inspiring Change Orientation
David Warlick

The Lie of Community: The True Nature of the Network
Bud Hunt

There’s Something Going on Here You Need to Know About”¦
Dennis Richards and Charlene Chausis

2008 Announcements

In loving memory of Lee Baber

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The 2008 K-12 Online Conference is dedicated in loving memory to our friend and accessibility committee chair, Lee Baber. Lee passed away on Thursday, July 31, 2008. EdTechTalk has a memorial page for Lee which we encourage you to visit and share.Lee BaberA memorial fund for Lee’s family has been established, and details about sending a contribution will be posted soon on her memorial page on EdTechTalk.Teachers Teaching Teachers will meet (as usual) on EdTechTalk at 9 pm Eastern Wednesday, August 6th, and will be sharing memories and remembrances of and for her.We miss you Lee.

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2008 Announcements

Inside K12Online Episode03: Keynote Speakers and Committees for 2008

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Welcome to episode 3 of the K-12 Online Conference News podcast channel! In this podcast recorded over Skype from San Antonio, Texas, at NECC 2008 and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, the conveners discuss each of the keynote speakers for the 2008 conference as well as the committees we are forming now. Volunteers are needed now! We’ve got a GREAT lineup of speakers and a lot to look forward to in the 2008 conference. Remember the deadline for submitting proposals has been extended to July 11, 2008.

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Show Notes:

  1. Announcing K12Online08 Keynotes!
  2. Willing to Volunteer?
  3. Second Call for Proposals
  4. K-12 Online on Twitter

Subscribe to the Inside K12 Online Podcast Channel

2008 Announcements

Willing to Volunteer?

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As the K12 Online conference grows the need for volunteers does too. The conveners of K12 Online 2008 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- Dean Shareski (shareski at gmail dot com)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 oppotunities for graduate credit and Continuing Education points that can be obtained globally.Convener- Wes Fryer (wesfryer at yahoo dot com)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)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.

2008 - Keynote Announcements

Announcing K12Online08 Keynotes!

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With 16 days left to submit proposals for K12Online08, Sheryl, Darren, Dean and I are pleased to announce the keynote speakers in the four strands for our 2008 conference! We are thrilled with our lineup of keynote speakers this year and look forward to hearing and viewing their presentations when the 2008 K-12 Online Conference begins in October.

Professor Stephen Heppell Preconference Keynote: Professor Stephen Heppell
CEO Heppell.net,
Professor Bournemouth University, Chair in New Media Environments, Emeritus Professor Anglia Ruskin University, Visiting Professor University of Wales, Newport. Executive chairman LP+

Stephen was the guiding “father” of a number of social networking projects including *ESW in the 1980s, Schools OnLine for the Department of Trade and Industry in 1995/6, Tesco Schoolnet 2000 from 1999, Think.com from 1999. Stephen founded Ultralab in the 1980s, moving there from the UK Government’s groundbreaking Microelectronics Education Programme. Over a score of years Ultralab grew to become Europe’s leading learning technology research centre with projects that pioneered multimedia CD ROMs and on-line communities before the advent of the world wide web. He left Ultralab to found his own flourishing policy and learning consultancy Heppell.net which now has a portfolio of international projects. Stephen is retained by a number of organisations to help with future policy and direction, including the BBC, is an Associate of KPMG, and is retained by UK government in Horizon Scanning work to advise of future directions for educational policy. Stephen is executive chairman of LP+ who are currently developing a Chinese language learning community for 20 million Chinese school students, in partnership with China’s Sun New Media corporation.

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Alice Barr Getting Started: Alice Barr
Alice Barr has lived, taught and traveled on five continents. Currently, she is the Instructional Technology Integrator for Yarmouth High School in Yarmouth, Maine. She facilitates a 1:1 laptop environment in grades 9 – 12. Alice also teachers in the summer at The University of Southern Maine and provides professional development sessions during the year. Alice has been a member of Seedlings@bitbybit since 2006.

Cheryl Oakes Getting Started: Cheryl Oakes
Cheryl lives in Maine and has been part of the SEEDLINGS group since the beginning in 2006. Cheryl is a Collaborative Content Coach for Technology in Wells, Maine in the Wells Ogunquit Community School District. It is a school district of 1500 students, 250 staff members located on the coast of Maine, USA. Cheryl has been teaching with technology since 1988. Cheryl has worked in an elementary school with K- 4 most recently and is currently working with students, teachers and community, K- Adult. The newest venture is engaging all our staff and students with our district Moodle. Technology is always an adventure. Through open source learning, the process where we all contribute, the culture of collaboration will become the norm. Please join our conversations.
Bob Sprankle Getting Started: Bob Sprankle
Bob Sprankle comes from Wells, ME, USA. He’s a Technology Integrator in a K-4 Elementary School, teaching over 500 students technology and skills for the 21st Century and has been integrating technology in a 3/4 Multi-age class for 10 years prior. Bob was involved with the SEED group in Maine as a Technology Learning Leader and helped train the first wave of teachers using laptops for the 7th and 8th grader MLTI project. He was awarded Maine’s Technology Teacher of the Year in 2006 from ACTEM. Bob’s students have received world-wide recognition for their “Room 208 Podcast”, and have appeared in numerous articles, including, The New York Times and Apple’s Education Site. Bob’s professional development blog and podcast, “Bit by Bit”, is geared to helping teachers incorporate technology into their classrooms and can be found at www.bobsprankle.com.

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Gardner Campbell Prove It! Gardner Campbell
Gardner Campbell is Director of the Academy for Teaching and Learning at Baylor University, where he also serves as an Associate Professor in the Honors College. From 1994-2008, he was on the faculty at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where from 2003-2006 he served as Asst. VP for Teaching and Learning Technologies. A Miltonist by training, Gardner has published essays in the literature of the English Renaissance, film studies, and teaching and learning technologies. He teaches in these areas as well as in new media studies and writing. He’s worked in teaching and learning technologies for nearly fifteen years at Mary Washington, at the University of Richmond, and now at Baylor University. Gardner currently serves on the Advisory Board of the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative. He is also a Fellow of the Frye Leadership Institute, class of 2005. Gardner blogs at www.gardnercampbell.net/blog1.

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Chris Lehmann Leading The Change: Chris Lehmann
Chris is the founding principal of the Science Leadership Academy, a progressive science and technology high school in Philadelphia, PA. Chris has returned to his native Philadelphia after nine years as an English Teacher, Technology Coordinator, Girls Basketball Coach and Ultimate Frisbee coach at the Beacon School in New York City, one of the leading urban public schools for technology integration.

In 2006, the National School Board Association named Chris one of “20 to Watch” among American administrators. In 2001, Chris was honored by MOUSE (www.mouse.org) as a Champion of Technology and Education for his work on building the portal at the Beacon School. Chris has spoken at educational conferences all over the world, including the Building Learning Communities conference, the National Educational Computing Conference, the Philadedelphia Area Educational Technology Conference, The Council of Educational Facilities Planners Regional Conference, the K12-Online Conference, the International Conference on Technology and Education and at LinuxWorld, and he has worked with many schools and districts in the U.S. and England as a consultant.

Chris received his B.A. in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.A. in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Chris writes for LeaderTalk (www.leadertalk.org), Grant Wiggins’ Faculty Room (www.thefacultyroom.org) and is the author of the education blog Practical Theory: www.practicaltheory.org.

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Vicki Davis Kicking It Up A Notch: Vicki Davis
Vicki Davis is an award winning teacher and IT director at Westwood Schools in Camilla, Georgia, where she co-created three award winning international projects, the Flat Classroom project, the Horizon project, and Digiteen. These projects have linked more than 500 students from 8 countries in collaborative projects harnessing the most powerful Web 2.0 tools available. Vicki blogs at the award winning Cool Cat Teacher blog and is a freelance writer, conference, and online presenter.
Julie Lindsay Kicking It Up A Notch: Julie Lindsay
Julie Lindsay, currently Head of Information Technology and E-Learning at Qatar Academy, Doha, State of Qatar, is an enthusiastic, global-minded education leader and innovator. Originally from Melbourne, Australia, over the past few years she has been teaching and leading the use of technology in schools in Zambia, Kuwait, Bangladesh and Qatar. Her wealth of diverse work experience is complemented by Masters of Arts degrees from La Trobe University in Melbourne and George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Julie is a member of ISTE’s International Committee and contributor to ISTE’s Learning and Leading magazine as an ICT specialist and for Bloggers Café column. Recent awards include co-winning an Edublog Award for best Wiki 2006, ISTE’s SIGTEL’s Online Learning Award 2007 and Taking IT Global Best Online Learning Project 2007 for the Flat Classroom Project.

As co-founder of the Flat Classroom Project, Horizon Project and Digiteens, Julie is recognized worldwide for her innovative programs using a wide array of Web 2.0 tools to transform learning for the emerging digital, “world-is-flat” educational landscape. From ubiquitous mobile technology programs to online global collaboration, Julie brings front line experiences to share with teachers, school leaders and policy makers alike. She is a frequent presenter on the world stage, a tireless volunteer leader for professional associations, and an inspiration to colleagues and collaborators demonstrating just how different world-class education will be in this 21st Century.
More information can be found on Julie’s digital portfolio julielindsay.wikispaces.com/ and her presentations wiki julielindsaylinks.pbwiki.com.
Julie blogs at “˜E-Learning Journeys’ on 123elearning.blogspot.com.

Please join us in welcoming these talented and distinguished educators as 2008 keynote speakers for the K-12 Online Conference! Remember you still have just over two weeks left to submit your own proposal for the 2008 K-12 Online Conference, which will begin with a pre-conference keynote during the week of October 13 and continue October 20-24 and October 27-31. Deadline for submissions is July 11, 2008.

Also note Darren created a K12Online2008 group in the NECC 2008 Ning this evening, which we’ll use as a “pre-conference watering hole” to share ideas and solicit input for the conference. Please join our discussions there as well!

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2008 Announcements

Second Call for Proposals

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This is our second call for proposals for the third annual “K12 Online Conference” for educators around the world interested in the use of Web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice. We’ve made two changes to the inital call so please take note. This year’s conference is scheduled for October 20-24 and October 27-31 of 2008, and will include a pre-conference keynote during the week of October 13. The conference theme for 2008 is “Amplifying Possibilities.”Participation in the conference (as in the past) is entirely free. Conference materials are published in English and available for worldwide distribution and use under a Creative Commons license. Some changes in the requirements for presentations are being made this year and are detailed below. The deadline for proposal submission has been extended to July 11, 2008. Call for Proposal Submission FormOVERVIEW: As in past years, K12 Online 2008 will feature four “conference strands,” two each week. Two presentations will be published in each strand each day, Monday through Friday, so four new presentations will be available each day over the course of the two weeks. Including the pre-conference keynote, a total of 41 presentations will be published. Each twenty minute (or less) presentation will be shared online in a downloadable format and released simultaneously via the conference blog (www.k12onlineconference.org,) the conference Twitter account, and the conference audio and video podcast channels. All presentations will be archived online for posterity. A total of 82 past presentations are currently available from K12 Online 2006 and K12 Online 2007. If you are planning to submit a proposal, please review archived presentations from past years to determine what you might offer that is new and builds on previous work. A variety of live events will also be planned during and following the weeks of the conference.Please make note that we have moved the “Prove It” strand to Week 1 and the “Kicking it up a Notch” strand to Week 2. FOUR STRANDS: Week 1 Strand A: Prove itAlthough some teachers are excited to “amplify possibilities” using computer technologies, Web 2.0 tools, and 21st Century learning strategies in their classrooms, how do we know if these innovative instructional strategies are really working? Since information technologies and emerging brain research continue to rapidly evolve and change, it is challenging as well as vital to find current, meaningful research to undergird the learning initiatives we are using in our classrooms. What are “best practices” for teaching and learning with the new participatory media? This strand will share research results from the field that support students in using knowledge to communicate, collaborate, analyze, create, innovate, build community and solve problems. In addition, successful methods for developing and/or delivery of action research projects or research-based instruction in today’s digital world will be explored. In some cases, participants may be invited to participate in ongoing or beginning research on Web 2.0 tool use, constructivist pedagogy, or other 21st Century research issues. Educational research about emerging professional development strategies, contemporary learning theory, systemic school reform, and other current themes of educational change are also appropriate for inclusion in this strand.Help us to examine such research questions as: o What does research in learning science, instructional design, informal learning, and other fields tell us about today’s learner and their success? o What design features must teachers incorporate into their instructional activities to support meaningful learning? o What is the role of assessment in today’s changing classroom? How should assessment be structured to meaningfully assess student achievement in the context of the modern classroom?Strand B: Getting StartedEverything you wanted to know about getting started with web 2.0 technologies for learning but were afraid to ask. The presentations in this strand will focus on specific, free tools for newcomers. Whether you have one classroom computer or a laptop for every student, digital technologies can provide new opportunities to connect with other learners, create new and exciting knowledge products, and engage students in an expanded learning process beyond the traditional “boundaries of the bell.” Teachers first introduced to Web 2.0 tools are often unaware of the new possibilities for teaching and learning afforded by the Read/Write Web. Presentations in this strand will amplify and model what is possible in terms of pedagogy, student creation of content, and collaboration. Practical classroom implementation ideas will be emphasized. Presentations will focus more on the ways new tools can be used to engage students in learning, rather than focusing exclusively on how specific tools are used. If you’ve ever felt like everyone else knows more than you about teaching with technology and you need help getting started, this is the strand for you.Week 2Strand B: Leading the ChangeInnovative approaches to teaching and learning using web 2.0 tools are often utilized by a limited number of “early adopter” teachers in our schools. This strand seeks to amplify ways educators in a variety of contexts are serving as constructive catalysts for broad-based pedagogic change using Web 2.0 technologies as well as student-centered, project-based approaches to learning. Presentations in this strand will both showcase successful strategies as well as amplify critical issues which must be addressed for innovative learning methods to be adopted by teachers, librarians, and administrators on a more widespread basis. These issues may include (but are not limited to) issues of copyright, fair use and intellectual property, Internet content filtering, student privacy and safety issues, administrator expectations for teacher utilization of Web 2.0 tools, pilot initiatives utilizing key Web 2.0 technologies in different content areas, and innovative ways students and teachers are providing just-in-time support as well as formal learning opportunities for each other focusing on Web 2.0 tools. Successful approaches for both large and small schools, in rural as well as urban settings, will be included. This strand will explore and amplify a menu of practical ideas for educators in diverse contexts who want to continue amplifying possibilities in our schools.Strand B: Kicking It Up a NotchYou’ve been using blogs, wikis and other technologies for awhile but perhaps haven’t seen them transform your classroom and the learning environment for your students in the ways you think they can. This strand amplifies ways new technologies can be used to transform classroom and personal learning. Rather than merely replicating traditional, analog-based learning tasks, how can digital technologies permit teacher-leaders to “infomate” learning to add greater interactivity, personal differentiation, and multi-modal exploration of curriculum topics? Fresh new approaches to using Web 2.0 tools for learning and authentic assessment will be highlighted. Presentations will explore innovative ways Web 2.0 tools can be blended together to help students create, collaborate, and share the knowledge safely on the global stage of the Internet. Maybe it’s time to share your insights and experiences with your teaching community. Join these sessions to gain insights on amplifying the possibilities of learning in your classroom and/or your professional practice.CALL FOR PROPOSALS: This call encourages all educators, both experienced and novice with respect to Web 2.0 learning tools, to submit proposals to present at this conference via this link. Take this opportunity to share your successes, strategies, and tips in “amplifying the possibilities” of web 2.0 powered learning in one of the four conference strands.The deadline for proposal submissions is July 11, 2008 at midnight GMT. (NOTE: THIS HAS BEEN EXTENDED FROM THE ORIGINALLY ANNOUNCED DEADLINE OF JUNE 23.) You will be contacted in late July regarding your proposal’s status. The conveners reserve to right to reposition a presentation in another strand if they believe it is best placed elsewhere. As in past years, conveners will utilize blind review committees to evaluate all submissions.Presentations for K12Online08 must conform to the following requirements:

  1. Presentations must be a single media file of twenty minutes or less in length.
  2. Presentations must be submitted in a downloadable and convertable file format (mp3, mov, WMV, FLV, m4a, or m4v.) Presenters wanting to use an alternative format should contact their respective strand convener in advance.
  3. Presentations are due two weeks prior to the week the relevant strand begins. (Week 1 presentations are due Monday, October 6, Week 2 presentations are due Monday, October 13.)
  4. Presentations must be submitted only one time and on time. Early submissions are welcomed! Repeat submissions (with changes and additional edits) will not be accepted. Presenters should proof carefully before submitting!
  5. All presentations will be shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.

The following are optional but encouraged presentation elements:

  1. Prior to September 13th, presenters are invited to submit a “teaser” (maximum video or audio file length: 3 minutes) about their presentation. This can be any type of online artifact and does not have to be downloadable. Examples may include videos, animations, posters, audio interviews, etc.
    • In addition to marketing the presentation, teasers can be designed to encourage and solicit community input related to the presentation topic in advance of the presentation submission deadline.
    • View teaser examples from 2007 at http://k12online07.wikispaces.com/Teasers
  1. Supplementary materials supporting presentations are welcomed. These can be wikis with supporting material links, linked examples of student projects, school district exemplary initiatives, social bookmarking collections, and/or other related content.
  2. Follow-up projects and/or live interaction opportunities for conference presentations which further amplify the possibilities of the presentation topic may be included. (This can include sharing and building of content prior to, during and after the conference.)

As you draft your proposal, you may wish to consider the presentation topics listed below which were suggested in the comments on the K-12 Online Conference Blog:

     

  • Special needs education
  • Creative Commons, Intellectual Property, Copyright and Fair Use
  • Student voices
  • Community involvement
  • Games in education
  • Specific ideas, tips, mini lessons centered on pedagogical use of web 2.0 tools
  • Overcoming institutional inertia and resistance
  • Aligning Web 2.0 and other projects to national standards
  • Getting your message across
  • How Web 2.0 can assist those with disabilities
  • ePortfolios
  • Classroom 2.0 activities at the elementary level
  • Teacher/peer collaboration
  • Authentic assessment
  • Overcoming content filtering issues
  • Navigating “open web” versus “closed web” publishing of student work
  •  

Prospective presenters are reminded that the audience of the K12 Online Conference is global in nature and diverse in their educational context. For this reason presentations and presentation materials which address issues from a variety of perspectives are welcomed.EVALUATIONAcceptance decisions will be made based on RELEVANCE, SIGNIFICANCE, ORIGINALITY, QUALITY, and CLARITY. Borrowing from the COSL 2008 call for proposals:A submission is RELEVANT when – it directly addresses the conference and strand themesA submission is SIGNIFICANT when – it raises and discusses issues important to improving the effectiveness and/or sustainability of 21st Century teaching and learning efforts, and – its contents can be broadly (globally) disseminated and understoodA submission is ORIGINAL when – it addresses a new problem or one that hasn’t been studied in depth, – it has a novel combination of existing research results which promise new insights, and / or – it provides a perspective on problems different from those explored beforeA submission is of HIGH QUALITY when – existing literature is drawn upon, and / or – claims are supported by sufficient data, and / or – an appropriate methodology is selected and properly implemented, and / or – limitations are described honestlyA submission is CLEARLY WRITTEN when – it is organized effectively, and / or – the English is clear and unambiguous, and / or – it follows standard conventions of punctuation, mechanics, and citation, and / or – the readability is goodNB: All proposals will be vetted by blind peer review committees. All decisions made by the blind peer review committees are final.KEYNOTES: The first presentation in each strand will kick off with a keynote by a well known educator who is distinguished and knowledgeable in the context of their strand. Watch for our announcement of Keynote presenters in the next few days.CONVENERS:

    •  

    • Darren Kuropatwa is currently Department Head of Mathematics at Daniel Collegiate Institute in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is known internationally for his ability to weave the use of online social tools meaningfully and concretely into his pedagogical practice. Darren’s professional blog is called A Difference (http://adifference.blogspot.com). He will convene Getting Started.
    •  

    • Dean Shareski is a Digital Learning Consultant for Prairie South School Division in Saskatchewan, Canada. Dean is an advocate for the use of social media in the classroom. To that end he works with teachers and students in exploring ways to make learning relevant, authentic and engaging. He also is a part time sessional lecturer for the University of Regina. He is celebrating his 20th year as an educator. Dean blogs at (http://ideasandthoughts.org). Dean will convene Kicking It Up A Notch.
    •  

    • Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach, a 20-year educator, has been a classroom teacher, charter school principal, district administrator, and digital learning consultant. She currently serves as an adjunct faculty member teaching preservice teachers at The College of William and Mary (Virginia, USA), where she is in the dissertation phase of completing her doctorate in educational planning, policy and leadership. As the cofounder of the Powerful Learning Practice Network she helps schools and teachers from around the world use community as a powerful tool for systemic change. You can find out more on her website at www.21stcenturycollaborative.com. She will convene Prove It.
    •  

    •  

    • Wesley Fryer is an educator, author, digital storyteller and change agent. He summarizes his ongoing work with educators and students in social media environments with the statement, “I’m here for the learning revolution.” His blog, “Moving at the Speed of Creativity” was selected as the 2006 “Best Learning Theory Blog” by eSchoolnews and Discovery Education. Social media sites to which Wes contributes are listed on http://claimid.com/wfryer. Wes will convene Leading the Change.
    •  

QUESTIONS?If you have any questions about any part of this call for proposals, please contact one of us:

     

  • Darren Kuropatwa: dkuropatwa {at} gmail {dot} com
  • Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach: snbeach {at} cox {dot} net
  • Dean Shareski: shareski{at} gmail{dot} com
  • Wesley Fryer: wesfryer {at} pobox {dot} com
  •  

Please duplicate this post and distribute it far and wide across the blogosphere. Feel free to republish it on your own blog (actually, we’d really like people to do that 😉 ) or link back to this post (published simultaneously on all our blogs).

2008 Announcements

K12Online08 Call for Proposals: Amplifying Possibilities

Published by:

We are pleased to announce the call for proposals for the third annual “K12 Online Conference” for educators around the world interested in the use of web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice. This year’s conference is scheduled for October 20-24 and October 27-31 of 2008, and will include a pre-conference keynote during the week of October 13.

The conference theme for 2008 is “Amplifying Possibilities.” Participation in the conference (as in the past) is entirely free. Conference materials are published in English and available for worldwide distribution and use under a Creative Commons license. Some changes in the requirements for presentations are being made this year and are detailed below.

The deadline for proposal submission is June 23, 2008. Selected presentations will be announced at NECC 2008 in San Antonio, Texas, USA on July 2.

OVERVIEW: As in past years, K12 Online 2008 will feature four “conference strands,” two each week. Two presentations will be published in each strand each day, Monday through Friday, so four new presentations will be available each day over the course of the two weeks. Including the pre-conference keynote, a total of 41 presentations will be published. Each twenty minute (or less) presentation will be shared online in a downloadable format and released simultaneously via the conference blog (www.k12onlineconference.org,) the conference Twitter account, and the conference audio and video podcast channels. All presentations will be archived online for posterity. A total of 82 past presentations are currently available from K12 Online 2006 and K12 Online 2007. If you are planning to submit a proposal, please review archived presentations from past years to determine what you might offer that is new and builds on previous work. A variety of live events will also be planned during and following the weeks of the conference.

FOUR STRANDS:

Week 1

Strand A: Getting Started
Everything you wanted to know about getting started with web 2.0 technologies for learning but were afraid to ask. The presentations in this strand will focus on specific, free tools for newcomers. Whether you have one classroom computer or a laptop for every student, digital technologies can provide new opportunities to connect with other learners, create new and exciting knowledge products, and engage students in an expanded learning process beyond the traditional “boundaries of the bell.” Teachers first introduced to Web 2.0 tools are often unaware of the new possibilities for teaching and learning afforded by the Read/Write Web. Presentations in this strand will amplify and model what is possible in terms of pedagogy, student creation of content, and collaboration. Practical classroom implementation ideas will be emphasized. Presentations will focus more on the ways new tools can be used to engage students in learning, rather than focusing exclusively on how specific tools are used. If you’ve ever felt like everyone else knows more than you about teaching with technology and you need help getting started, this is the strand for you.

Strand B: Kicking It Up a Notch
You’ve been using blogs, wikis and other technologies for awhile but perhaps haven’t seen them transform your classroom and the learning environment for your students in the ways you think they can. This strand amplifies ways new technologies can be used to transform classroom and personal learning. Rather than merely replicating traditional, analog-based learning tasks, how can digital technologies permit teacher-leaders to “infomate” learning to add greater interactivity, personal differentiation, and multi-modal exploration of curriculum topics? Fresh new approaches to using Web 2.0 tools for learning and authentic assessment will be highlighted. Presentations will explore innovative ways Web 2.0 tools can be blended together to help students create, collaborate, and share the knowledge safely on the global stage of the Internet. Maybe it’s time to share your insights and experiences with your teaching community. Join these sessions to gain insights on amplifying the possibilities of learning in your classroom and/or your professional practice.

Week 2

Strand A: Prove it
Although some teachers are excited to “amplify possibilities” using computer technologies, Web 2.0 tools, and 21st Century learning strategies in their classrooms, how do we know if these innovative instructional strategies are really working? Since information technologies and emerging brain research continue to rapidly evolve and change, it is challenging as well as vital to find current, meaningful research to undergird the learning initiatives we are using in our classrooms. What are “best practices” for teaching and learning with the new participatory media? This strand will share research results from the field that support students in using knowledge to communicate, collaborate, analyze, create, innovate, build community and solve problems. In addition, successful methods for developing and/or delivery of action research projects or research-based instruction in today’s digital world will be explored. In some cases, participants may be invited to participate in ongoing or beginning research on Web 2.0 tool use, constructivist pedagogy, or other 21st Century research issues. Educational research about emerging professional development strategies, contemporary learning theory, systemic school reform, and other current themes of educational change are also appropriate for inclusion in this strand. Help us to examine such research questions as:

  • What does research in learning science, instructional design, informal learning, and other fields tell us about today’s learner and their success?
  • What design features must teachers incorporate into their instructional activities to support meaningful learning?
  • What is the role of assessment in today’s changing classroom? How should assessment be structured to meaningfully assess student achievement in the context of the modern classroom?

Strand B: Leading the Change
Innovative approaches to teaching and learning using web 2.0 tools are often utilized by a limited number of “early adopter” teachers in our schools. This strand seeks to amplify ways educators in a variety of contexts are serving as constructive catalysts for broad-based pedagogic change using Web 2.0 technologies as well as student-centered, project-based approaches to learning. Presentations in this strand will both showcase successful strategies as well as amplify critical issues which must be addressed for innovative learning methods to be adopted by teachers, librarians, and administrators on a more widespread basis. These issues may include (but are not limited to) issues of copyright, fair use and intellectual property, Internet content filtering, student privacy and safety issues, administrator expectations for teacher utilization of Web 2.0 tools, pilot initiatives utilizing key Web 2.0 technologies in different content areas, and innovative ways students and teachers are providing just-in-time support as well as formal learning opportunities for each other focusing on Web 2.0 tools. Successful approaches for both large and small schools, in rural as well as urban settings, will be included. This strand will explore and amplify a menu of practical ideas for educators in diverse contexts who want to continue amplifying possibilities in our schools.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: This call encourages all educators, both experienced and novice with respect to Web 2.0 learning tools, to submit proposals to present at this conference via this link. Take this opportunity to share your successes, strategies, and tips in “amplifying the possibilities” of web 2.0 powered learning in one of the four conference strands.

The deadline for proposal submissions is July 11, 2008 at midnight GMT. (This is an extension of the originally announced deadline of June 23rd.) You will be contacted in late July regarding your proposal’s status. The conveners reserve to right to reposition a presentation in another strand if they believe it is best placed elsewhere. As in past years, conveners will utilize blind review committees to evaluate all submissions.Presentations for K12Online08 must conform to the following requirements:

  1. Presentations must be a single media file of twenty minutes or less in length.
  2. Presentations must be submitted in a downloadable and convertable file format (mp3, mov, WMV, FLV, m4a, or m4v.) Presenters wanting to use an alternative format should contact their respective strand convener in advance.
  3. Presentations are due two weeks prior to the week the relevant strand begins. (Week 1 presentations are due Monday, October 6, Week 2 presentations are due Monday, October 13.)
  4. Presentations must be submitted only one time and on time. Early submissions are welcomed! Repeat submissions (with changes and additional edits) will not be accepted. Presenters should proof carefully before submitting!
  5. All presentations will be shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.

The following are optional but encouraged presentation elements:

  1. Prior to September 13th, presenters are invited to submit a “teaser” (maximum video or audio file length: 3 minutes) about their presentation. This can be any type of online artifact and does not have to be downloadable. Examples may include videos, animations, posters, audio interviews, etc.
  2. In addition to marketing the presentation, teasers can be designed to encourage and solicit community input related to the presentation topic in advance of the presentation submission deadline.
  3. View teaser examples from 2007 at http://k12online07.wikispaces.com/Teasers
  4. Supplementary materials supporting presentations are welcomed. These can be wikis with supporting material links, linked examples of student projects, school district exemplary initiatives, social bookmarking collections, and/or other related content.
  5. Follow-up projects and/or live interaction opportunities for conference presentations which further amplify the possiblities of the presentation topic may be included. (This can include sharing and building of content prior to, during and after the conference.)

As you draft your proposal, you may wish to consider the presentation topics listed below which were suggested in the comments on the K-12 Online Conference Blog:

  • Special needs education
  • Creative Commons, Intellectual Property, Copyright and Fair Use
  • Student voices
  • Community involvement
  • Games in education
  • Specific ideas, tips, mini lessons centered on pedagogical use of web 2.0 tools
  • Overcoming institutional inertia and resistance
  • Aligning Web 2.0 and other projects to national standards
  • Getting your message across
  • How web 2.0 can assist those with disabilities
  • ePortfolios
  • Classroom 2.0 activities at the elementary level
  • Teacher/peer collaboration
  • Authentic assessment
  • Overcoming content filtering issues
  • Navigating “open web” versus “closed web” publishing of student work

Prospective presenters are reminded that the audience of the K12 Online Conference is global in nature and diverse in their educational context. For this reason presentations and presentation materials which address issues from a variety of perspectives are welcomed.EVALUATIONAcceptance decisions will be made based on RELEVANCE, SIGNIFICANCE, ORIGINALITY, QUALITY, and CLARITY. Borrowing from the COSL 2008 call for proposals:

A submission is RELEVANT when

  • it directly addresses the conference and strand themes

A submission is SIGNIFICANT when

  • it raises and discusses issues important to improving the effectiveness and/or sustainability of 21st Century teaching and learning efforts, and
  • its contents can be broadly (globally) disseminated and understood

A submission is ORIGINAL when

  • it addresses a new problem or one that hasn’t been studied in depth,
  • it has a novel combination of existing research results which promise new insights, and / or
  • it provides a perspective on problems different from those explored before

A submission is of HIGH QUALITY when

  • existing literature is drawn upon, and / or
  • claims are supported by sufficient data, and / or
  • an appropriate methodology is selected and properly implemented, and / or
  • limitations are described honestly

A submission is CLEARLY WRITTEN when

  • it is organized effectively, and / or
  • the English is clear and unambiguous, and / or
  • it follows standard conventions of punctuation, mechanics, and citation, and / or
  • the readability is good

KEYNOTES: The first presentation in each strand will kick off with a keynote by a well known educator who is distinguished and knowledgeable in the context of their strand. Keynoters will be announced shortly.

CONVENERS:

  • Darren Kuropatwa is currently Department Head of Mathematics at Daniel Collegiate Institute in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is known internationally for his ability to weave the use of online social tools meaningfully and concretely into his pedagogical practice. Darren’s professional blog is called A Difference (http://adifference.blogspot.com). He will convene Getting Started.
  • Dean Shareski is a Digital Learning Consultant for Prairie South School Division in Saskatchewan, Canada. Dean is an advocate for the use of social media in the classroom. To that end he works with teachers and students in exploring ways to make learning relevant, authentic and engaging. He also is a part time sessional lecturer for the University of Regina. He is celebrating his 20th year as an educator. Dean blogs at (http://ideasandthoughts.org). Dean will convene Kicking It Up A Notch.
  • Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach, a 20-year educator, has been a classroom teacher, charter school principal, district administrator, and digital learning consultant. She currently serves as an adjunct faculty member teaching preservice teachers at The College of William and Mary (Virginia, USA), where she is in the dissertation phase of completing her doctorate in educational planning, policy and leadership. As the cofounder of the Powerful Learning Practice Network she helps schools and teachers from around the world use community as a powerful tool for systemic change. You can find out more on her website at www.21stcenturycollaborative.com. She will convene Prove It.
  • Wesley Fryer is an educator, author, digital storyteller and change agent. He summarizes his ongoing work with educators and students in social media environments with the statement, “I’m here for the learning revolution.” His blog, “Moving at the Speed of Creativity” was selected as the 2006 “Best Learning Theory Blog” by eSchoolnews and Discovery Education. Social media sites to which Wes contributes are listed on http://claimid.com/wfryer. Wes will convene Leading the Change.

QUESTIONS?If you have any questions about any part of this call for proposals, please contact one of us:

  • Darren Kuropatwa: dkuropatwa {at} gmail {dot} com
  • Dean Shareski: shareski{at} gmail{dot} com
  • Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach: snbeach {at} cox {dot} net
  • Wesley Fryer: wesfryer {at} pobox {dot} com

Please duplicate this post and distribute it far and wide across the blogosphere. Feel free to republish it on your own blog (actually, we’d really like people to do that 😉 ) or link back to this post (published simultaneously on all our blogs).