David Warlick has been working hard on his preconference Keynote presentation for K12 Online 2006. And the conference kickoff is getting closer by the second … as you can see from the new counter in the sidebar over there –> at the right.David will kick off the conference on October 16. Later that evening, at 6 pm eastern time in North America, 10 pm GMT, we will have our first of three Fireside Chats. David and the four conference organizers (Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Will Richardson, Wesley Fryer and myself) will all be in attendance in an Elluminate room.You’re all invited to join us! There will be a link posted to the K12 Online blog. Watch for it … all you need to do is click it to get in … remember, everything about K12 Online is free. 😉

And one more thing … if you want to join the countdown on your blog here’s the code to copy and paste to your blog sidebar. You can edit the colours of the text and background using colour names or their html equivalents …

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David Warlick’s

<br>

Keynote Begins in</b>

<br><font size=”-1″>

<script language=”JavaScript”>

TargetDate = “10/16/2006 12:00 AM”;

BackColor = “white”;

ForeColor = “black”;

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LeadingZero = false;

DisplayFormat = “%%D%% Days, %%H%% Hrs, %%M%% M, %%S%% S”;

FinishMessage = “It is finally here!”;

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<script language=”JavaScript” xsrc=”http://scripts.hashemian.com/js/countdown.js” mce_src=”http://scripts.hashemian.com/js/countdown.js” ></script>

Tags: k12online, k12online06

Recently both Wes and Darren were interviewed about K12 Online … the preconference is just 8 days away and counting!

Wes was interviewed on October 1, 2006 by the folks over at EdTechTalk. Here is a direct link to the podcast (27 min 4 sec).

Darren was interviewed on  September 25, 2006 by Susan van Gelder who maintains the ICT Leaders and Learners web site in Quebec, Canada. Here is a direct link to the podcast (23 min 40 sec).

If you come across any mention of K12 Online in the press let us know by dropping a link in the comments to let everyone know.

Tools for Participants (viewing presentations)

Here is a list of plug-ins you might need to download to listen/watch the presentations:

Tools for Presenters

Free Screen Capture Software

You can use SmartBoard software to create screencasts. (The use license requires that you or your organization own a Smartboard. The software itself does not require that you be plugged into a SmartBoard at the time you install or use it, however.) The software will capture your desktop and audio through your microphone. The software is cross-platform and can be downloaded from the Smart website after entering your name and email address. AVI files created on Windows computers need to be converted to a more compatible WMV file. (Check this page for details and links.) For mac users it’s a little easier, just install and go. Files are saved as QuickTime .mov files which you can import into iMovie and edit if you like. There are a slew of little programs included in the bundle. The one you’re looking for is called “Recorder.”
Click on your operating system. (You may have to “sign up.” Also free.) Then click on the [Install Now] button.

Commercial Screen Capture Software

• Camtasia (Windows-only)
• Articulate Presenter (Windows-only)
• iShowU (Macintosh-only)

VoxMedia has a nice collection on their wiki of screencasting tools. If you know of other screen capture software tools, please add a comment here and include a link.

Video conversion and compression

FFmpegX is a free, open source program for Linux/Unix and Macs that will convert and compress most video formats, including Flash. If you know of a Windows-based program (open source or commercial) that has similar functionality, please let everyone know by commenting here.

Jeff Utecht over at The Thinking Stick posted about K12 Online and had this idea:

My plan is to gather everyone who wants to ‘attend’ this conference, give them all a laptop order a bunch of pizza and beer and listen, watch, and read the conference online. We will then create a podcasts of our discussions as we discuss the various presentations. I will then load the podcast either here or talk to the organizers of the conference and load them directly into the conference as a way to add to the conversation. Just think of the possibilities, the discussions and the learning. My goal is to get at least 10 teachers/administrators to attend the conference. I plan on making it a relaxed affair at someone’s house with drinks and food. Now, who wouldn’t want to come to a conference like that! I’m even working with our PD person to try and get teachers who attend credits through our partner university, University of Plymouth. I see that David Warlick has already set up a hitchhikr page for the conference which adds a whole new level of being able to follow the conference conversations.

He’s in China. Wouldn’t it be cool if others, across the world did the same? Imagine … people from around the world spontaneously create breakout sessions using skype or gizmo (gizmo has the advantage of making recording the call push button easy) … connecting … sharing … learning … does it get any better? 😉

If you’re planning a K12 Online LAN party like Jeff leave details about it here in the comments to this post. Include the date and time you’re planning to have your party. In the event you want to create a breakout session you can use the information here to connect with each other. Who knows, it may end up being a piece in the first ever WWAN (World Wide Area Network). 😉

Thanks to everyone who submitted a proposal for K-12 Online! The submitted proposals have been forwarded on to conveners of each thread who will be working with their evaluation teams to notify submitters by October 6th about their proposal status. (Refer to the K-12 Online Conference Timeline for more dates.) Submissions were received from educators living in the following places on the planet:

Adelaide, South Australia, AUSTRALIA.
Cambridge, MA, USA
Camilla, GA
Chardon, Ohio, USAQ
Corona, CA USA
Delran, New Jersey, USA
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Edmond, Oklahoma USA
Encinitas, California, USA
Essex, UK
Fort Valley VA USA
Fort Washakie, WY USA
Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Hull, UK
Irvine, CA
Jacksonville, Florida/ USA
Kenton, Ohio, USA
Lehigh Valley, PA
Lemoyne, PA, USA
Lexington, SC, USA
Liberty, Missouri USA
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Menlo Park, CA USA
Montreal QC Canada
Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada
New York, New York, USA
North Olmsted, Ohio , USA
Oakland, California United States
Open-Ended Response
Philadelphia, PA
Pinson, AL USA
Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Rock Hill, SC, USA
Scotland, UK
Seattle, WA, USA
Shanghai, China
Skokie, IL, USA
Snow Lake, MB. Canada
St. Clair Shores, MI
St. Francois Xavier, Manitoba, Canada
Stockton, NJ
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Toronto, Canada / New York, NY
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Trussville, Alabama, USA
Williamsburg, VA, USA
Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada

This conference is going to be great! 🙂

I shared briefly on EdTechTalk this evening about the K-12 Online Conference, and it was suggested that a promotional flyer be created that teachers can print and share with others about the conference. So, I created a one page flyer (PDF format) that you can download, print and share.

Extend the conversation, and let more people know about K-12 Online! You might also let people know about the upcoming “Global Learn Day” that will happen for the tenth year on October 7th and 8th, depending on where people are on our planet. A Global Learn Day blog is also available.

Technorati Tags: k12online, k12online06

Please tell others about the K-12 Online Conference by all means available!

A formal press release about our event is available. Please share this link and information with your local press sources.

A one page printable flyer in PDF format is available to print and share.

Use the following HTML code for a graphical link to the conference blog:

You can use the following as an announcement!

www.k12onlineconference.org

Announcing the first annual “K12 Online 2006” convention for teachers, administrators and educators around the world interested in the use of Web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice. This year’s conference is scheduled to be held over two weeks, Oct. 23-27 and Oct. 30- Nov. 3 with the theme “Unleashing the Potential.” The K12 Online 2006 blog has just gone live.

On the conference blog you will also find the web form we will be using for the submission of proposals. Everyone is encouraged to submit a proposal. More details are on the conference blog: www.k12onlineconference.org. The blog will be updated regularly with everything you need to know about the conference.

Tags: k12online, k12online06

We’ve received 31 session proposals to date for K-12 Online 2006. Submissions are being accepted online through September 30, 2006. If you have not already, please consider submitting a proposal! 10 proposals in each category will be accepted for the conference.

As of this evening we have received 28 submissions for K-12 online:

Keep ’em coming! 🙂