If you do nothing else this summer...you must work through/read/absorb/connect with Joyce Valenza's wiki 'Information Fluency'.
Joyce's session this morning, the last morning at NECC07 when we are all feeling a little worn out, was inspirational! Along with Ken Rodoff, the dynamic duo took their audience through new ideas and new tools for 'blending information fluency with Web 2.0'
Some brief messages from Joyce who considers herself to be Web 1.8 (not quite there yet) include:
It's OK to be in Beta!
Stone Soup: the soldier who inspired a village to make soup from a stone was in fact not running a scam but inspiring change and facilitating a collaborative community
The notion of information has changed....we want our students to find a variety of media rich resources
You need to create pathfinders...create wiki pathfinders!
The changing role and responsibility of information specialists (that would be every educator....right?) is to be information literate and encourage fluency with information tools, specifically Web 2.0 tools. Under Joyce's expert direction there is no excuse for not 'talking the talk' and 'walking the walk' in your own school. Yes, there is a lot to think about...I heard Barbara Barreda behind me during the session say '...there is so much to do!' but NOW is an excellent time to start.
I am so excited about sharing these resources with my own school media specialists. The wiki provides ALL the resources and links to numerous ideas and best-practice use of Web 2.0 tools.
'Mobile, Digital, Ubiquitous: Solutions for Learning with Handhelds' was held this morning in B213 at 8:30. This was a panel session moderated by myself and included Judy Breck, Graham Brown-Martin, Janice Kelly and Tony Vincent. Blog Posts / Blog RSS / Flickr / Flickr RSS
We had about 40 people in the audience all listening intently and trying to make sense of where the future lies with handheld technology. The panel members spoke on different topics and treated the audience to a diverse breadth and depth of knowledge to do with mobile computing.
Judy, Janice, Graham (me) and Tony
Main points I will take away from this session:
Graham's semantic preference for 'Learning while mobile' instead of 'Mobile Learning', meaning that the learning will come first and the mobility will enhance this.
Judy encouraging educators to the embrace individuality of being mobile.
Janice reminding us that educators have become part of the learning process.
Tony emphasising and showing new tools for web apps for mobile devices. See his learninginhand.com site.
More details about the presenters and links to resources can be found on the SIGHC wiki for this presentation. Also, check out posts from the live bloggers at the session: Mark Van 't Hooft and Cheri Toledo. Here is the Powerpoint I put together to introduce the session.
You know I can be as intense, reverent, astute, deep and meaningful and erudite as the next blogger but sometimes I just want to have fun like everybody else. After a long year at the blogface it is now time to laugh a little. Besides, I have worked hard all year completing the occasional, award winning online collaborative project, moving from one geographically diverse country to another and travelling long hours earning frequent flyer points. My colleagues have their own equally harrowing stories to tell as well. It is hard slog being at the cutting edge of educational reform in the 21st century, we deserve some time out (?)
Therefore, today some bloggers at NECC united in a specific extra-curricular activity that started with a few innocent Twitters.......
Of course, let's be sensible here, we are not in the business of promoting suppliers, no matter how big their bags may be. For preference I like this set of photos.
Here I go again with that Seuss channelling........the blogger pictures made me think of the infamous and hallowed poem found in its full version HERE:
One fish Two fish Red fish Blue fish.
Black fish Blue fish Old fish New fish
This one has a little star.
This one has a little car. Say! What a lot of fish there are.
Yes. Some are red. And some are blue. Some are old. And some are new. Some are sad. And some are glad. And some are very, very bad.
Why are they sad and glad and bad? I do not know. Go ask your dad
****************
Today is gone. Today was fun.
Tomorrow is another one. Every day, from here to there, funny things are everywhere.
Is it really only the second day at NECC07? So many interesting discussions and events...and the food.....
Today I attended the ISTE International Committee meeting in the Oak Room of the Omni Hotel. Led by Camilla Gagliola the committee comprises non-US and US representatives and aims to increase the internationalism of ISTE. I was invited to be part of this group 2 years ago, and despite a 2-year turnover regulation that seems to be vaguely not enforced, I am here again this year. Today we discussed ways to increase international membership (currently standing at about 700 out of the 16,000 total ISTE members) by possibly offering different types of membership (such as free, online, group, library etc). We also discussed the possibility of creating ambassador positions within ISTE whereby representatives of ISTE attend conferences and government-initiated events globally with the view to promoting and sharing knowledge about ISTE. The membership Committee joined us for a working lunch and we continued to discuss options and how best to support the integration of technology around the world. Some excellent ideas were minuted. I am hoping ISTE Board will show some insight and move towards implementing some new ideas....small steps at first.
This afternoon Vicki and I attended the ISTE Member Welcome and Conference Overview to accept our award. We are absolutely thrilled to be receiving this award from SIGTel (Special Interest Group Telelearning). It is the Online Learning Award for 2007 and has been awarded to us for our work on the Flat Classroom Project. The award was presented to us by Trina Davis, President of ISTE. It is a marble plaque, beautifully done and quite heavy (thinking of international travel...it's OK I will make room!). Congratulations goes to the other award winners this afternoon including Carole Colburn and Charlene Chasis.
Julie and Vicki and award ribbons with Yvonne Marie Andres (SIGTel)
For those at NECC who want to learn more about our Flat Classroom Project and about the more recent Horizon Project please come to the Poster session we are presenting on Tuesday at 1-3pm in the Galleria. We would both love to show you our work and talk, especially to prospective Flat Classroom teachers for next year!
The first keynote for NECC07 was given by Andrew Zolli. Andrew was upbeat and shared an interesting perspective about where the world is going and why we need to be more aware of trends as educators.....you know my 6pm jet lag was kicking in so I am not going to make any astute comments about this session except that I really enjoyed the drumming group beforehand.
OK, off to the aquarium....along with thousands of others. We found the queue (British term meaning line) too long and found our way to Ted's for dinner instead. Delightfully we gravitated towards other like-minded attendees including David, Jeff, Mario and Chris. I don't think as a group we have solved all of the worlds problems yet....we need a few more bison enriched dinners to do that... but a great time was had by all!
OK, that's it, after 12:30, have to up by 6 to start another action packed day. To quote my grandfather who always packed the most he could into his day, 'You can sleep when you are dead!'
I am reminded of the classic Dr Seuss poem as I start this post. You know, the one that goes like this: Oh, the Places You'll Go!
Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away!
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.
You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care. About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there." With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any you'll want to go down. In that case, of course, you'll head straight out of town.
It's opener there in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen, don't worry. Don't stew. Just go right along. You'll start happening too.
Like a new graduate with places to go the NECC Edubloggercon event yesterday organised by Steve Hargadon was a momentous day but only the start of great things to happen and great places to go. This event could be emulated at other conferences, nationally and internationally. It could also diversify and expand to offer a wider variety of sessions at different entry levels. However, right now it is grass roots and it is exciting to be part of it and to meet up with so many colleagues who I have only seen virtually for many months. I was thrilled to meet Vicki Davis and it was a natural transition from being online together to actually talking and sharing face to face. You will find this funny, Vicki skyped me in the middle of David Warlick's session....I was only sitting 2 seats away but she thought I should be responding to a point made and told me so....we are so used to communicating online! Also, during the same session a good looking young man came to sit with is, I looked up and...wow, it was Jeff Utecht...we have so much to still catch up on this week.
The Edubloggercon Group (sorry, it's a little blurry)
Vicki Davis, Jef Utecht and me!
Dinner at the Sundial including Terry Freedman, Vicki, Cheryl Oakes, Sharon Peters
The sessions I attended during the Edubloggercon day have helped me to consolidate and extend my thinking about what opportunities we all have now to improve learning situations in our schools. Learning is exciting with tech tools! How can we really get the message across without sounding like a tech nerd? There are many ways but one of the most important repeated ideas to come out of the day was that curriculum and approaches to learning must be dominant, not the technology itself. Anything is possible, the tools support the learning as long as the attitude of the teacher/facilitator allows for a broader more inclusive constructivist approach.
None of this is new of course, we cannot be fooled into thinking we are inventing the wheel just because we now have some new toys and online spaces to play with. However, never before has the immediacy of the Internet made it possible to interact, communicate and create and share in such a way. Increased bandwidth, online storage and networking sites (eg slideshare, YouTube, Flickr etc) have opened our eyes to more possibilities. Think laterally! Don't just give out the 'make a Powerpoint' asignment, include a wiki page, slideshare and embed the artefact on the wiki and invite discussion. Use the tools and invite analytical approaches in the classroom.
So we have brains in our head and feet in our shoes and we can steer ourselves in the direction we choose. Let's choose wisely! Let's be inclusive and not biased or prejudiced. Let's provide opportunities for ourselves and our students that improve understanding globally and aim for a holistic approach to learning.
Thank you to all edubloggers for your comraderie and for sharing ideas, desires and plans for a better future.
Edubloggercon Session 1: Expanding the Circle Chair: Steve Hargadon
Blogging is:
An historical moment
Cultural significance
Like Open Source SW: we know we have already 'won' and that blogging is here to stay!
Use of Classroom 2.0: helping educators get into the Web 2.0 world
Barriers created through misconceptions about what blogging and We 2.0 is. Why don't educators blog? Lack of time, misconceptions about what blogging is and can do. Fear of writing is an issue: lack of confidence. Issues with teacher philosophy and pedagogy Ning: provides a visual, snappy look and you can bring your 'junk' (pictures, music, videos) There is a responsibility to maintain a blog (?) Has to be a combination of top-down and grass roots.
Solutions:
Go for the 'heart': our students need this!
Aim to educate administrators
Need to move towards a more student-centred approach to teaching
Focus on life-long learning
Focus on the practice of reflective writing
Good instructional design needs to be embedded to enhance the experience
Creating a resource using existing practices
Conclusions
There are a lot of audiences here: teachers, students, administrators, parents
I am in Atlanta! It is after 1am and I have been travelling for way over 30 hours. It has also been 48 hours since I slept horizontally. I am so pleased to be here however...despite various obstacles along the way, the latest being a hotel that will not accept my credit card and also do not know how to let me make an international call to my UK CC emergency number! It was touch and go at Immigration at LAX earlier today also. I was taken to a different area to 'complete my paperwork' whereby, despite my pleas that I had to catch a connecting flight, the polite but insistent officials took over 30 minutes to sort out the problem. I was getting quite worried as 4 of them were staring intently at their computer screen at my details for a long time! We often have extra security checks coming into the USA, having middle eastern and muslim countries stamped in in my passport always generates a second look. Today however it turned out that someone had reported my passport stolen in Australia! Very odd!
Essentially as an international educator you have to be tough enough to break through these inconveniences. You have to be tough enough to emerge from hours of painful travel (I hate flying!) and want something bad enough to put yourself through this. My family left me at the Changi airport in Singapore (great Internet terminals but not free wifi) after a midnight flight from Dhaka, after an emotional last day in Bangladesh. They arrived in Melbourne hours ago and if I could dial internationally I would be able to speak to them! I subsequently flew went through Tokyo, LAX and then Atlanta. I am good with time zones but once I cross the international date line in the Pacific it gets confusing. Will have to look up dateandtime.com again.
At least I have good wifi in the hotel room. I loved flying into Atlanta! We flew right around the city and the lights were very pretty.
Don't forget we get a chance to discuss international issues, liaisons and Web 2.0 practices globally at Edubloggercon in a few hours. This is the session Vicki and I will host togetehr.
Description: Sharing ideas and experiences for harnessing the power of connectivity through Web 2.0 applications in schools to connect, communicate and create. This is an opportunity to focus on international issues and strategies and tools used for forging links and making online projects work. Also to have a discussion re an action plan for a standard set of requirements to be a Web 2.0 international collaborator. Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis.
Right, that's it, I deserve a bath and 5 hours sleep, if I'm lucky. See you tomorrow!
PS: credit card and international dialling issues now resolved, and the hotel receptionist and I are on speaking terms again...I did apologise and she was very understanding about my snappy disposition.....maybe the tears helped, sometimes it's unavoidable.....I have also spoken to my family and all is well there.......roll on NECC!
The rumors of my demise … yadda yadda yadda. No video this time, just an 
