(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.

2014 Announcements

K12Online14 Day Nine: October 30, 2014

Published by:

K12Online2014-500x500Welcome to day nine of the 2014 K12 Online Conference! All presentations are listed and linked on our main conference schedule.

Week Two – Today we have five presentation. Take your time to enjoy them. Share what you learn with your colleagues. You can always come back to view sessions you missed or those you want to see again. Everything is archived.

Don’t forget to try playing the game created by Kevin Hodgson!

Today’s sessions:

PASSION DRIVEN LEARNING

Finding Your People by Cheryl Steighner

Trust and Transparency by Bart Miller

Moving From “Some Study I Used to Know” to Inquisitive Learning with Genius Hour & Passion Projects by Michele Haiken

STEAM

Educator with a Maker Mindset by Jackie Gerstein

What Makes a Quality STEM Activity? by Mike Anderson & Scott McLeod

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and “like” us on Facebook.  Subscribe to our email list if you’re not already receiving email updates from us. Also remember all video presentations are available in iPad / iPhone / iPod touch compatible format in our iTunesU Portal! If you tweet about the conference please use the Twitter hashtag #k12online14.

2014 2014-Passion-Driven Learning

Moving From “Some Study I Used to Know” to Inquisitive Learning with Genius Hour & Passion Projects

Published by:

Presenter: Michele Haiken
Location: Stamford, Connecticut, United States
@TeachingFactor

Presentation Title: Moving From “Some Study I Used to Know” to Inquisitive Learning with Genius Hour & Passion Projects

Presentation Description: How can teachers inspire and ignite learning in their content area among the demands of the Common Core and 21st Century Literacy? This video presentation addresses how one middle school teacher made the commitment to Genius Hour with her students over the course of the school year, set up weekly Genius Hour class periods, and cultivated student ideas and interests. In the process, Genius Hour projects promoted students’ ownership of their own learning and allowed students to explore and create inquiries that were meaningful, insightful, and creative. Students were engaged and excited to discuss their passion projects at any moment and used class time with gusto to research and create. The ideas students explored allowed for their teacher to reflect on her own best practices to inspire the same inquiry and interest into her English Language Arts classroom. This presentation includes student voices and shares projects created by students this past school year. Find out how Genius Hour was introduced to the students and how the teacher facilitated weekly Genius Hour periods to support and push students thinking and ideas. Resources included for teachers looking to start Genius Hour in their classroom and veteran teachers to get answers to sticky questions like moving beyond making cupcakes, to classroom behavior and technology challenges.

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xFl9phtuOAwnHF4VsYVBr7Quvm9FJy09UEbh0fCM9Wo/edit?usp=sharing

Additional Information:
http://theteachingfactor.com
@teachingfactor

2014 2014-Passion-Driven Learning

Trust and Transparency

Published by:

Presenter: Bart Miller
Location: Tokyo, Japan
@barmill

Presentation Title: Trust and Transparency

Presentation Description: Support self directed, interest and passion driven learning in your classroom by building trust. Using simple tools and strategies to maximize transparency, we can empower students to explore their passions to engage in deeper learning and authentic inquiry.

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B4snKWNA9XIFSXEybW44RGZvVGs&usp=sharing

Additional Information:
http://independentinquiry.wikispaces.com

2014 2014-STEAM

What Makes a Quality STEM Activity?

Published by:

Presenter: Mike Anderson & Scott McLeod
Location: Iowa
@MikeAnderson_34 and @mcleod

Presentation Description: To create high quality STEM learning opportunities several factors must be considered. Is it hands-on? Do students have the opportunity to collaborate? Is significant content and conceptual understanding uncovered through the activity? Join us as we talk about these factors and others, their importance, and explore STEM activities that exhibit them at work.

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
http://rethinkredesign.org/stuff-weve-done/k12-online-2014/

2014 2014-Passion-Driven Learning

Finding Your People

Published by:

Presenter: Cheryl Steighner
Location: Tacoma, WA, USA
@cherylsteighner

Presentation Title: Finding Your People

Presentation Description: This session will focus on the positive changes that can occur in our schools when one “finds their people,” or a group of other like-minded educators. I will discuss a variety of ways teachers can connect with one another on- and off-line to spark their individual passions, as well as provide tips for collaboration and passing on the spark. Examples include: EdCamps, Twitter (citing specific hashtags or chats), Google+ communities, Pinterest, worldwide educational events (Dot Day, Global Read Aloud, Hour of Code), and local and national conferences.

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
none

Additional Information:
www.classroomquests.com

2014 2014-STEAM

Educator with a Maker Mindset

Published by:

Presenter: Jackie Gerstein, Ed.D.
Location: Santa Fe, NM, USA
@jackiegerstein

Presentation Description: Being a maker educator often requires developing a new mindset; a new set of skills and roles. Discover, through this presentation, first, why we are in a perfect storm for maker education in both formal and informal learning environments, and second, through a self-assessment, the characteristics and qualities of the mindsets of an educator who is embracing making education.

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
http://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2014/10/08/the-mindset-of-the-maker-educator/

Announcements

K12Online14 Day Eight: October 29, 2014

Published by:

K12Online2014-500x500Welcome to day eight of the 2014 K-12 Online Conference! All presentations are listed and linked on our main conference schedule.

Week Two – More presentations to inspire you. Share what you learn with your colleagues. You can always come back to view sessions you missed or those you want to see again. Everything is archived.

Don’t forget to try playing the game created by Kevin Hodgson!

Today’s sessions:

PASSION DRIVEN LEARNING

Genius Hour Passion Projects by JoAnn Delaney

Connected Learners Need Connected Leaders by Mark W. Carbone & Donna Miller Fry

STEAM

Coding/Making/Writing with Connected Learners by Melissa Techman

Full Steam Ahead! by Melanie Thompson

If you’re not already doing it, be sure to follow us on Twitter and “like” us on Facebook. Subscribe to our email list if you’re not already receiving email updates from us. Also remember all video presentations are available in iPad / iPhone / iPod touch compatible format in our iTunesU Portal! If you tweet about the conference please use the Twitter hashtag #k12online14.

2014 2014-Passion-Driven Learning

Connected Learners Need Connected Leaders

Published by:

Presenter: Mark W. Carbone & Donna Miller Fry
Location: Cambridge ON and Thunderbay ON (respectively)
@markwcarbone  and @fryed

Presentation Title: Connected Learners Need Connect Leaders

Presentation Description:

This video presentation captures the importance of ‘getting connected,’ the journey and the impact of being connected through a series of interviews with several Ontario based education leaders. The context of this presentation relates to the TEDx talk by Donna Miller Fry and Mark W. Carbone as part of the TEDxKitchenerED event theme of Fostering Connectivity which is published at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEc666kN_i0

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEc666kN_i0

Additional Information:
Donna’s Blog

Mark’s Blog

Free Connected Learning Opportunities:
OSSEMOOC project blog

2014 2014-STEAM

Full Steam Ahead!

Published by:

Presenter: Melanie Thompson
Location: Jefferson City, MO USA
@mahsati22

Presentation Description: This presentation will illustrate how I transformed my library, creating a learning space for exploration and invention. The video will highlight the steps I took to make this change, from rearranging the physical space to the creation of an after school STEAM club/MakerSpace. I will explain the rationale behind my plan, objectives that guide the program, and explain what STEAM means to my students and me. I will share the planned calendar of topics, resources for activities, and show how easy it is to create a space and time for students to explore and engineer. I will also include tips for gathering materials. The video will include links to files, photos, and audio reflections from teachers and students.

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
http://techtinkering.weebly.com/k12-online-conference-resources.html

Additional Information:
http://techtinkering.weebly.com/

2014 2014-Passion-Driven Learning

Genius Hour Passion Projects

Published by:

Presenter: JoAnn Delaney
Location: Hershey, PA USA
@jdelaneyJoAnn

Presentation Title: Genius Hour Passion Projects

Presentation Description: Genius Hour Passion Projects started with a pep talk from Kid President and 95 Hershey MS 6th grade students. The plan… What if students could learn whatever they wanted? What questions would students want to find out? What impact would students have on the world? Students were called to action to share their genius!

Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
https://docs.google.com/a/hershey.k12.pa.us/document/d/1YktaX3V8paNkRhDhA-mVY7SA9cbiWcM_uGCzkRHa2G0/edit

Additional Information:
Genius Hour Passion Project Weebly

More Genius Hour Passion Project Resources on Weebly