Welcome and Keynote


Well here I am at HKIS for the C21 Hong Kong Learning Conference HK. I'm at  the cocktail party and opening speech. There is a buzz! 500 participants from 17 countries and over 60 schools throughout Asia. The food is great and I am looking forward to seeing some great presentations.


Had a nice welcome from the principal.
Flat classroom project Sue Cofino and Julia Lindsay came out to tel us about it.
Talking about using Nings and wikis etc to "flatten" the classroom and get the learning the hands of the students.
"Erasism" new project to get rid of racism for students in grade 7/8. If you want to take part contact them online.

The Keynote Presenter: Wesley Fryer


The Gist: 
Create - Communicate Collaborate
-The 'Now' generation, steeped in technology. Used a Black Eyed Peas song to illustrate the idea.
-We aren't here to entertain..
-He mentioned the Obama speech to students the other day. Year 5 students made video blogs in response. Wes showed us one student's work. She paraphrased Obama saying "They made Twitter and Facebook 20 years ago" Just goes to show the perception of students. She ended up getting over 200k hits on her video uploaded to Youtube.
- Creating, Communicating and Collaborating much easier today
-We need to be bridges for our students, the digital divide. They can be bridges for us. People at the conference should be bridges for those who could't make it. Relationships are as important as ever.
- Not everyone needs to create a 'viral video' but we should all be creating.
- 1:1 learning is the future, a revolution
- How can we transform learning? Can't just replicate what we are already doing. Need to move on.
- Showed a video about a child with cancer who attends her school from home via Skype. Students interacting with the girl. She feels part of the class.
- Teachers are across the spectrum of technology use and ability. Wes saying that all teachers should become certified at creating with video. We need to learn the 'grammar'.
- Can now do things not dreamed possible in the near past.
- Media literacy is critical. Every single image we see is carefully crafted as a message. If we step into the creative space it opens up our mind to these things.
- Have to get past the 'accommodating' stage to the 'tranformative' stage with technology. Need to do more, bringing the technology doesn't bring the transformation. Need the pedagogy to change.
- Wes challenges us all to collaborate with one other classroom next semester.
-http://k12onlineconference.org "The K-12 Online Conference invites participation from educators around the world interested in innovative ways Web 2.0 tools and technologies can be used to improve learning. This FREE conference is run by volunteers and open to everyone."  theme this year is "Bridging the Divide". Gives us all access to amazing presenters in video form. We can all engage with them.
- "Create" is at the top of Bloom's taxonomy
-http://storychasers.org/  Check it out! "Story Chasers Inc. is a nonprofit organization empowering learners to become digital witnesses, safely and constructively sharing their voices on the global stage of the Internet."


Find his slides




My Thoughts:
Great! Emphasised the fact that pedagogy is the key. Doesn't matter what technology you have. Have to advance beyond chalk and talk.

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