Saturday, March 26, 2011

Week of March 28, 2011 - Live, Interactive, and Free Webinars in Elluminate

Below are this week's public, free, and interactive Webinars through LearnCentral.org, the social learning network for education that I work on for Elluminate.

The time of the events below will show up automatically in your own time zone when you are registered in LearnCentral and when you have chosen your time zone in your profile, or you can check the new event time converter on the event page. Event recordings are posted and available after the events if you aren't able to attend them live. If you are looking for an easy calendar import / RSS feed for these events, you'll now find a link on your calendar page or the calendar page of specific groups!

We hope you will consider hosting your own public webinars using the free LearnCentral public room--instructions are available by joining the "Host Your Own Webinar" group on the main announcement tab (http://www.learncentral.org/group/3432/host-your-own-webinars).

Thanks for your attention, and see you online!

EFACILITATE (Australia Series)
Mon 28 Mar 03:00AM New York / Mon 28 Mar 07:00AM GMT / Mon 28 Mar 07:00PM Sydney
Coach Carole. Why is it necessary to build online community when facilitating online? Join this webinar to participate in this discussion.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/145068

ET@LKING: WHERE TO START IMMERSING TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION, PART 2: THE STAFF! (Australia Series)
Mon 28 Mar 02:00PM New York / Mon 28 Mar 06:00PM GMT / Tue 29 Mar 06:00AM Sydney
Anne Mirtschin. This topic continues this week, looking at how we bring staff on board in immersing technology in education.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/148476

TECHNOLANGUAGES LIVE - IPADS IN THE LANGUAGES CLASSROOM (Australia Series)
Tue 29 Mar 05:00AM New York / Tue 29 Mar 09:00AM GMT / Tue 29 Mar 09:00PM Sydney
Jess McCulloch. Discussion about ideas on how to use iPads in the languages classroom - and whether or not this is a tool that we want to use. Also, a critical discussion about apps for language learning.
learncentral.org/event/143030/

APPLES AND ORANGES: EMPLOYEE SKILLS ASSESSMENT DRIVING BUSINESS PERFORMANCE (Elluminate)
Wed 30 Mar 01:00PM New York / Wed 30 Mar 05:00PM GMT / Thu 31 Mar 05:00AM Sydney
Ajay Pangarkar. This session directly addresses the need to develop and implement real-time employee training assessment strategies specifically designed to meet targeted business objectives. Utilizing an actual high-tech, consumer electronic Fortune 100 company renamed 'Orange Inc.' as a session case, participants discover how a company with exceptional customer support is driven in part by their focused training and employee assessment strategy.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/142223

ANVILL TRAINING WEBINAR (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Wed 30 Mar 06:00PM New York / Wed 30 Mar 10:00PM GMT / Thu 31 Mar 10:00AM Sydney
Jeff Magoto. This webinar will showcase course design and customization with ANVILL.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/138503

P2PU COURSE - CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT (Math 2.0 Series)
Wed 30 Mar 07:30PM New York / Wed 30 Mar 11:30PM GMT / Thu 31 Mar 11:30AM Sydney
Maria Droujkova.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/131370

EDUCATION'S 3GS: GPS, GEOCACHING, AND GOOGLE EARTH AND MAPS (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Wed 30 Mar 08:00PM New York / Thu 31 Mar 12:00AM GMT / Thu 31 Mar 12:00PM Sydney
Rushton Hurley. American students lack knowledge of world and local geography. Outdoor resources are being used less -- to the point that we could lose our natural treasures. The more physically engaged students are in their learning, the more effective and permanent the learning will be. Integrating GPS technology, geocaching, and Google Earth into all subject areas is one way to meet many students' needs all at once. Participants will learn about specific projects, including Google Earth placemarks, using wikis for collaborative planning, EduCaching ™ and other curricular uses of geocaching, and GPS units for data collection.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/144932

THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE COMMON CORE (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Thu 31 Mar 05:00PM New York / Thu 31 Mar 09:00PM GMT / Fri 1 Apr 09:00AM Sydney
Jason Borgen. Time will be spent to see how technology can assist in mastery of the standards and identify specific technologies and web 2.0 tools that can be used to assist teachers and schools in closing the digital-divide and most importantly, the achievement gap.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/143151

COLLABORIZE (Classroom 2.0 LIVE)
Sat 2 Apr 12:00PM New York / Sat 2 Apr 04:00PM GMT / Sun 3 Apr 04:00AM Sydney
Kim Caise, Lorna Costantini and Peggy George. Colt Briner, Co-Creator with Caitlin Tucker will join the Classroom 2.0 LIVE co-hosts to discuss the We Collaborize community.
http://www.learncentral.org/node/148708

LEARN TO BE - ONLINE LEADERSHIP EXCHANGE (Learn To Be - Online Leadership Exchange)
Sat 2 Apr 03:00PM New York / Sat 2 Apr 07:00PM GMT / Sun 3 Apr 07:00AM Sydney
Jingshen Zhao. Learn To Be is a non-profit that provides free online tutoring to children in underserved communities. The Online Leadership Exchange is a meeting open to the public where leaders from the various University Chapters come together to share updates and discuss best practices.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/147482

Sunday, March 20, 2011

March 22nd - Midday Interview with Frederick Hess on "How School Reformers Get Stuck in Yesterday's Ideas"

Join me Tuesday, March 22nd, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com webinar with Frederick M. Hess, Resident Scholar and Director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, and author of The Same Thing Over and Over: How School Reformers Get Stuck in Yesterday's Ideas.

Date: Tuesday, March 21st, 2011
Time: 11am Pacific / 2pm Eastern / 6pm GMT (next day--international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Elluminate. Log in at http://tr.im/futureofed. The Elluminate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Elluminate, please visit http://www.elluminate.com/support. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page.
Event and Recording Pagehttp://www.learncentral.org/event/142207

An educator, political scientist, and author, Frederick M. Hess studies a range of K-12 and higher education issues. He is the author of influential books on education including The Same Thing Over and Over, Education Unbound, Common Sense School Reform, Revolution at the Margins, and Spinning Wheels, and co-editor of the new volume Stretching the School Dollar, as well as author of the Education Week blog "Rick Hess Straight Up."  His work has appeared in scholarly and popular outlets such as Teachers College Record, Harvard Education Review, Social Science Quarterly, Urban Affairs Review, American Politics Quarterly, Chronicle of Higher Education, Phi Delta Kappan, Educational Leadership, U.S. News & World Report, The Washington Post, and National Review. He has edited widely-cited volumes on education philanthropy, urban school reform, the impact of education research, and No Child Left Behind.  He serves as executive editor of Education Next, as lead faculty member for the Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program, on the Review Board for the Broad Prize in Urban Education, and on the Boards of Directors of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, 4.0 Schools, and the American Board for the Certification of Teaching Excellence. A former high school social studies teacher, he has taught at the University of Virginia, the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, Rice University, and Harvard University. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University as well as an M.Ed. in Teaching and Curriculum.

The Same Thing Over and Over: How School Reformers Get Stuck in Yesterday's IdeasAmazon's Product Description of The Same Thing Over and Over:  In this genial and challenging overview of endless debates over school reform, Rick Hess shows that even bitter opponents in debates about how to improve schools agree on much more than they realize—and that much of it must change radically. Cutting through the tangled thickets of right- and left-wing dogma, he clears the ground for transformation of the American school system.

Whatever they think of school vouchers or charter schools, teacher merit pay or bilingual education, most educators and advocates take many other things for granted. The one-teacher–one-classroom model. The professional full-time teacher. Students grouped in age-defined grades. The nine-month calendar. Top-down local district control. All were innovative and exciting—in the nineteenth century. As Hess shows, the system hasn’t changed since most Americans lived on farms and in villages, since school taught you to read, write, and do arithmetic, and since only an elite went to high school, let alone college.

Arguing that a fundamentally nineteenth century system can’t be right for a twenty-first century world, Hess suggests that uniformity gets in the way of quality, and urges us to create a much wider variety of schools, to meet a greater range of needs for different kinds of talents, needed by a vastly more complex and demanding society.

March 21st - Interview with Bill Mathis from the National Education Policy Center on "Mistakes We Make in Thinking About Education and Reform."

Join me Monday, March 21st, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com webinar with William J. Mathis, Ph.D., the Managing Director of the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The Center conducts independent, non-partisan and peer-reviewed research on the most critical and current educational policy issues.

Date: Monday, March 21st, 2011
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern / 12am GMT (next day--international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Elluminate. Log in at http://tr.im/futureofed. The Elluminate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Elluminate, please visit http://www.elluminate.com/support. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page.
Event and Recording Pagehttp://www.learncentral.org/event/142206

William J. Mathis, Ph.D., is the Managing Director of the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Previously, Bill served as superintendent of schools in Brandon, Vermont where he was Vermont Superintendent of the Year and was one of four finalists for National Superintendent of the Year. In earlier positions, he was Deputy Assistant Commissioner in New Jersey where he headed assessment, research and evaluation activities. He has been invited to consult with the federal government and on state level issues in more than thirty states. Working with eight institutions of higher education over his career, his primary areas of expertise are school funding, assessment, accountability, and reform effectiveness. From popular magazines to technical reports to peer-reviewed research, Bill has authored over 200 articles.

Week of March 21, 2011 - Live, Interactive, and Free Webinars in Elluminate

Below are this week's public, free, and interactive Webinars through LearnCentral.org, the social learning network for education that I work on for Elluminate.

The time of the events below will show up automatically in your own time zone when you are registered in LearnCentral and when you have chosen your time zone in your profile, or you can check the new event time converter on the event page. Event recordings are posted and available after the events if you aren't able to attend them live. If you are looking for an easy calendar import / RSS feed for these events, you'll now find a link on your calendar page or the calendar page of specific groups!

We hope you will consider hosting your own public webinars using the free LearnCentral public room--instructions are available by joining the "Host Your Own Webinar" group on the main announcement tab (http://www.learncentral.org/group/3432/host-your-own-webinars).

Thanks for your attention, and see you online!

GCTM REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES MEETING - GEORGIA COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF MATHEMATICS (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Mon 21 Mar 07:00PM New York / Mon 21 Mar 11:00PM GMT / Tue 22 Mar 11:00AM Sydney
Jason Williams. Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics Regional Representative Meeting. Open to the public & discusses mathematics.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/146132

BILL MATTHIS FROM THE NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY CENTER ON "MISTAKES WE MAKE IN THINKING ABOUT EDUCATION AND REFORM." (Future of Education Series)
Mon 21 Mar 08:00PM New York / Tue 22 Mar 12:00AM GMT / Tue 22 Mar 12:00PM Sydney
Steve Hargadon. Steve will talk with Bill Matthis from the National Education Policy Center.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/142206

CREATING HIGH-IMPACT, AH-HA! LEARNING MOMENTS (Elluminate Live)
Tue 22 Mar 01:00PM New York / Tue 22 Mar 05:00PM GMT / Wed 23 Mar 05:00AM Sydney
Gailene Nelson. What participants look for in training are Ah-Ha! moments: the rare moments of inspiration and insights that help them understand and apply the learning ideas. Ah-Ha! moments don’t occur by accident, though. They are byproducts of well planned, highly motivational, and engaging design learning and training events. In the webinar, we will present proven techniques used in preparing and organizing videos, slides, webinars and games to immediately create long-lasting learning experiences.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/141476

FREDERICK HESS ON "THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER: HOW SCHOOL REFORMERS GET STUCK IN YESTERDAY'S IDEAS" (Future of Education Series)
Tue 22 Mar 11:00AM New York / Wed 23 Mar 06:00PM GMT / Wed 23 Mar 06:00AM Sydney
Steve Hargadon. Steve will interview Frederick Hess on his book, "The Same Thing Over and Over: How School Reformers Get Stuck in Yesterday's Ideas"
http://www.learncentral.org/event/142207

SABERES 2.0 - ¿APLICACIONES WEB 2.0 PODEMOS HABLAR DE CLÁSICOS EN EDUCACIÓN? (Aula 2.0)
Tue 22 Mar 09:00PM New York / Wed 23 Mar 01:00AM GMT / Wed 23 Mar 01:00PM Sydney
Tomas Chaskel. Nuestra presentadora quiere aprovechar este taller para compartir y realizar un conversatorio sobre unas ideas que viene delineando. BUENO TRAER MICROFONO Sería algo así como identificar en la web 2.0 algunas aplicaciones que van quedando como básicas y duraderas frente a otras que surgen, pero desde el sistema educativo se ignoran. Específicamente: estamos dando por sentado que un profe debe saber armar un blog, manejar una wiki y conocer herramientas de e-learning. Parece ser que esto... que fue lo primero que surgió en la web 2.0 ya se tiene incorporado y no se discute para el sistema educativo. Pero, cuando se incorpora algo nuevo, se hace como web 2.0. Digitalicemos las clases y no generemos cambio metodológico. ¿Estamos de acuerdo?
http://www.learncentral.org/event/147198

GLOBAL SCIENCE SEMINARS FEATURING DR. CHUCK KNAPP (Collaboration Innovation in STEM)
Wed 23 Mar 10:30AM New York / Wed 23 Mar 02:30PM GMT / Thu 24 Mar 02:30AM Sydney
Jim Gerry. Global Science Seminars brings scientists from the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium, the National Park Service and other agencies to students and classrooms allowing interactive live sessions with questions and answers. Prior to the video conference advance-reading materials are available for download via CoolHub.IMSA. Following each session the scientist continues to engage with participants for two weeks using Forums for extended learning. This session features Dr. Chuck Knapp from the Shedd Aquarium talking about "Conserving endangered iguanas in the Bahamas"
http://www.learncentral.org/event/147094

ESCAPE FROM THE TEXTBOOK! (Math 2.0 Series)
Wed 23 Mar 02:00PM New York / Wed 23 Mar 06:00PM GMT / Thu 24 Mar 06:00AM Sydney
Maria Droujkova. Henri Picciotto, the founder, will introduce his community for middle and high school teachers escaping the textbook.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/142388

GLOBAL SCIENCE SEMINARS FEATURING DR. CHUCK KNAPP (Collaboration Innovation in STEM)
Wed 23 Mar 03:30PM New York / Wed 23 Mar 07:30PM GMT / Thu 24 Mar 07:30AM Sydney
Jim Gerry. Global Science Seminars brings scientists from the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium, the National Park Service and other agencies to students and classrooms allowing interactive live sessions with questions and answers. Prior to the video conference advance-reading materials are available for download via CoolHub.IMSA. Following each session the scientist continues to engage with participants for two weeks using Forums for extended learning. This session features Dr. Chuck Knapp from the Shedd Aquarium talking about "Conserving endangered iguanas in the Bahamas"
http://www.learncentral.org/event/147346

P2PU COURSE - CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT (Math 2.0 Series)
Wed 23 Mar 07:30PM New York / Wed 23 Mar 11:30PM GMT / Thu 24 Mar 11:30AM Sydney
Maria Droujkova.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/131369

THE KNOWLEDGE SHARING PLACE (The Knowledge Sharing Place)
Thu 24 Mar 08:00PM New York / Fri 25 Mar 12:00AM GMT / Fri 25 Mar 12:00PM Sydney
Dean Mantz. Dean Mantz and the ladies of LiveBinders, Tina Schneider and Barbara Tallent, will provide another evening of Tips and Tricks for a successful integration of LiveBinders into education.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/143651

CSOV STUDENT NEWSCAST (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Fri 25 Mar 08:30AM New York / Fri 25 Mar 12:30PM GMT / Sat 26 Mar 12:30AM Sydney
Molly Williams. Join this webinar for a CSOV Student Newscast.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/137832

CONNECTED PRINCIPALS (Classroom 2.0 LIVE)
Sat 26 Mar 12:00PM New York / Sat 26 Mar 04:00PM GMT / Sun 27 Mar 04:00AM Sydney
George Couros. Join this webinar for a CSOV Student Newscast.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/147196

LEARN TO BE - ONLINE LEADERSHIP EXCHANGE (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Sat 26 Mar 03:00PM New York / Sat 26 Mar 07:00PM GMT / Sun 27 Mar 07:00AM Sydney
Jingshen Zhao. Learn To Be is a non-profit that provides free online tutoring to children in underserved communities. The Online Leadership Exchange is a meeting open to the public where leaders from the various University Chapters come together to share updates and discuss best practices. More information about Learn To Be is available at http://www.learntobe.org
http://www.learncentral.org/event/140773

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Ugh. Classic Politics Now Extends to Social Networking in Education.

The United States Department of Education is sponsoring a program called Connected Online Communities of Practice, a three-year initiative.

1.  I run what is arguably the largest social network for educators, Classroom 2.0 with 54,000 members.  Can anyone tell me why nobody from the Department of Education called to ask my advice on this project?

2.  If someone had called, I would have said that this is project has at it's core a mistaken idea:  that social media and personal learning networks can be directed from the top down.  There is a reason that so many acronyms in this arena start with P for "personal:"  PLN (Personal Learning Network), (PLC) Personal Learning Communities, and PLE (Personal Learning Environments).  It's because these are individual connections created by the individual, and that is their value:  they are personal.  Traditional institutions (and most professional development initiatives) operate from the top down, where someone believes that they have the best idea and pushes it down to others.  Social media works the opposite direction, as individuals build their own Web experiences, aggregate together based on their own ideas and preferences, and then ultimately build civic projects that come out of their authentic and personal passions.  Government or institutional attempts to harness (or co-opt) the social networking in education movement are still operating on the false assumption that this is about the brains at the top.

I give a talk at conferences on the lessons I've learned over four years of running social networks for educators, and someone always comes up to me afterwards and says, "now I understand why our initiatives in this area haven't ever really worked."

3.  Not unique to government or institutions is an understandable, but also mistaken, idea:  that someone from the top needs to choose the best resources.  This is closely related to, and maybe an inherent part, of seeing education as a set of outcomes rather than a process.  We see the process idea in Democracy--we believe that participation is often more important than the particular outcome, and that being involved and able to voice our personal opinions is at the core of what self-governance is, even as we disagree about particular laws or policies that are enacted.  But in education we forget, or don't believe, this.  I see this same thread when I hear discussions about recording the "best" lectures out there on subjects and having these available for teachers to show students.  Yes, there are great and compelling teachers or lecturers out there, and it's valuable to identify those resources.  But when we do so we often forget that the act of creation is often as or more important in education than the consumption of material.  So when upper level language students prepare learning material for lower-level students, even though the material isn't "the best available," both the upper level and the lower level students benefit--the upper level by teaching, the lower level by seeing their close peers actually speaking a foreign language and communicating with it.

When we believe that somebody at the top needs to make sure the "best" is available, that tells me they aren't thinking about the process of education, but that they are focused on and believe they can control the outcomes.  I hesitate to use this word, but can you hear the hubris in this quote from the Department of Education announcement?
"There are already many online communities through which educators can connect with people and resources, but these communities tend to be isolated from each other, leading to redundancy of effort, missed opportunities for collaboration, and difficulty in finding appropriate support and resources. Through more efficient and coordinated online participation, education professionals will be better able to share practices, access experts, and solve problems that require systemic solutions in order to improve the opportunity to learn."
 This seems to indicate that the hundreds to thousands of teacher-initiated social networks that are out there will be made better by "more efficient and coordinated" efforts.  Honestly, I don't think so.  I think a great part of their value is because they are not "efficient and coordinated," that they are autonomous places for conversation, where educators can pick and choose on their own who they want to talk to and what they want to talk about.  The problems identified in this statement aren't really the problems of social networks for educators, they are the problems that fit the narrative of centralized solutions.  The great efficiency trap is the same one that locks students and teachers into a education system that touts its efficiency but forgets the cost of those efficiencies:  personal control and agency.

This feels very human to me--an institution that feels the sea-change taking place in power all over the world naturally trying to tell a story that protects its role.  "We're the Department of Education, so we should be the ones to make this better."  This is being played out in so many ways, from the commercial to the political to education:  institutions are still believing that they should be the ones to control the ideas and narratives.

If the Department of Education had called me, I would have recommended building an infrastructure that made it easy for educators to build their own networks--take the ideas of Ning, but add the pieces that would allow for resource sharing and better searching for colleagues with similar curricular interests.  However, keep the brilliant Ning concept of letting people build their own networks.

This isn't about efficiency, it's about agency, experimentation, and conversation.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Week of March 14, 2011 - Live, Interactive, and Free Webinars in Elluminate

Below are this week's public, free, and interactive Webinars through LearnCentral.org, the social learning network for education that I work on for Elluminate.

The time of the events below will show up automatically in your own time zone when you are registered in LearnCentral and when you have chosen your time zone in your profile, or you can check the new event time converter on the event page. Event recordings are posted and available after the events if you aren't able to attend them live. If you are looking for an easy calendar import / RSS feed for these events, you'll now find a link on your calendar page or the calendar page of specific groups!

We hope you will consider hosting your own public webinars using the free LearnCentral public room--instructions are available by joining the "Host Your Own Webinar" group on the main announcement tab (http://www.learncentral.org/group/3432/host-your-own-webinars).

Thanks for your attention, and see you online!

COPYRIGHT CLARITY (TL Cafe)
Mon 14 Mar 07:00PM New York / Tue 15 Mar 12:00AM GMT / Tue 15 Mar 11:00AM Sydney
Gwyneth Jones. While copyright & fair use can be confusing to navigate you CAN use copyrighted material in your creative work!
http://www.learncentral.org/event/142405

TECH TALK TUESDAYS: KIDS ETALKING TO KIDS (Australia Series)
Tue 14 Mar 12:00AM New York / Tue 15 Mar 05:00AM GMT / Tue 15 Mar 04:00PM Sydney
Anne Mirtschin. Technology has enabled us to break down physical barriers and connect face-to-face with others around the world. Such connections can lead to global collaboration and mutual understanding. What could be more engaging than kids talking to kids across the world? What better way to encourage intercultural understanding, international-mindedness, and global awareness? The session will include examples of exciting collaborations which have enabled the ‘flattening of classroom walls’, allowing students to learn from and with people around the world. It will explore the ways learning can be enhanced through such interactions. It will highlight what we have learned, challenges and successes, and effective ways such connections can be established.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/145118

TECHNOLANGUAGES LIVE - REPORT FROM A CLASSROOM (Australia Series)
Tue 15 Mar 04:00AM New York / Tue 15 Mar 09:00AM GMT / Tue 15 Mar 08:00PM Sydney
Jess McCulloch. Andrew Jeppesen has been using technology in his classroom for the last few years and has had some great success. Andrew will share what he is currently doing with technology in his Japanese classroom.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/143029

ISTE SIGVE MEETUP (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Tue 15 Mar 08:00PM New York / Wed 16 Mar 01:00AM GMT / Wed 16 Mar 12:00PM Sydney
Scott Merrick. Second Life provides a robust platform for collaboration that provides educators with the opportunity to meet with friends all over the globe, all together, in one place. That place happens to be a virtual world. Join host Andy Wheelock (Spiff Whitfield in SL) as he chats with Linden Labs' Terence Linden, seeking a collective understanding of just where Linden Labs stands with our community in terms of the future of education in Second Life. Join us here or in Second Life or in both! Sponsored by ISTE Special Interest Group for Virtual Environments.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/140355

ET@LKING: YOUR PLN AND LIFE-LONG LEARNING: A MODEL FOR STUDENTS (Australia Series)
Wed 16 Mar 04:00AM New York / Wed 16 Mar 09:00AM GMT / Wed 16 Mar 08:00PM Sydney
Anne Mirtschin. Jo McLeay, a veteran web2.0 user, will speak about life long learning and the great benefits of a PLN (Personal Learning Network).Have you heard the word net.know as in someone you have net.known for years and what a real relationship that can be even without meeting f2f. So different from how the print media presents it. Come, listen to and share with Jo.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/145136

SUSTAINABILITY STUDIO GUEST SPEAKER (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Wed 16 Mar 12:00PM New York / Wed 16 Mar 05:00PM GMT / Thu 17 Mar 04:00AM Sydney
C. Geith.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/133455

P2PU COURSE - CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT (Math 2.0 Series)
Wed 16 Mar 07:30PM New York / Thu 17 Mar 12:30AM GMT / Thu 17 Mar 11:30AM Sydney
Maria Droujkova.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/131368

CANVAS OPEN SOURCE LMS. MATHEMATICS AND USABILITY. (Math 2.0 Series)
Wed 16 Mar 09:30PM New York / Thu 17 Mar 02:30AM GMT / Thu 17 Mar 01:30PM Sydney
Maria Droujkova. Open source, free Canvas LMS from Instructure features strong math support and built-in social media integration.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/142385

1 TOOL AT A TIME: GETTING STARTED WITH GLOGSTER EDU (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Thu 17 Mar 08:00PM New York / Fri 18 Mar 01:00AM GMT / Fri 18 Mar 12:00PM Sydney
Katie Christo. What do you get when you cross a digital poster with a blog? You get a Glog! Glogster EDU is a an exciting and free, online site for students and teachers to create multimedia pages to present projects and other course work. In this 30 minute session we will share examples of class Glogs and how to get started with your own Glogeter site.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/139907

MANAGING NON-DEDICATED TEAMS WHO DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOU (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Fri 18 Mar 01:30PM New York / Fri 18 Mar 06:30PM GMT / Sat 19 Mar 05:30AM Sydney
Lou Russell. Successful project management requires holding people accountable who do not directly report to you. These people don't have to do anything you say, technically. In this session, learn techniques and strategies for influencing people to help you get your projects done successfully, to increase overall accountability of everyone involved and get it all done at the quality, price and time your business needs.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/130259

VOICETHREAD UPDATE (Classroom 2.0 LIVE)
Sat 19 Mar 12:00PM New York / Sat 19 Mar 05:00PM GMT / Sun 20 Mar 04:00AM Sydney
Kim Caise, Lorna Costantini and Peggy George. Ben Pappell, Steve Muth & Katie Beck will share about the new features recently added to VoiceThread.
http://www.learncentral.org/node/145700

MATHEMATICS 1001 (Math 2.0 Series)
Sat 19 Mar 02:00PM New York / Sat 19 Mar 07:00PM GMT / Sun 20 Mar 06:00AM Sydney
Maria Droujkova. Richard will talk about his latest book "Mathematics 1001" and his other math popularization projects.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/142387

LEARN TO BE - ONLINE LEADERSHIP EXCHANGE (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Sat 19 Mar 03:00PM New York / Sat 19 Mar 08:00PM GMT / Sun 20 Mar 07:00AM Sydney
Jingshen Zhao. Learn To Be is a non-profit that provides free online tutoring to children in underserved communities. The Online Leadership Exchange is a meeting open to the public where leaders from the various University Chapters come together to share updates and discuss best practices. More information about Learn To Be is available at http://www.learntobe.org
http://www.learncentral.org/event/140772

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Me on the Big Screen at TED Talking About ELEV8ED.org

Thanks to Pamela Valentine for capturing this moment!  That's me being interviewed by Kelly Stoezel, the content director at TED, about the TEDActive education project ELEV8ED.  So maybe it was only a two-minute segment, and maybe I spoke for 20 seconds at most, but it was broadcast to the main screen TED audience in Long Beach!  :)

My kids would surely have asked, "When do you ever sit on a bean bag chair?!"  And the TEDActive education group had a lot of fun at my expense, laughing at my "glamour-casual" pose.  But hey, we got some good exposure!

Please do check out ELEV8ED, a site to encourage student participation in the broader conversation about education by sharing videos with their ideas, their visions, and their inspirations.

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Live Interview on Thursday, March 10th - Mitch Resnick from MIT Media Lab

Join me Thursday, March 10th, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com webinar with Mitch Resnick, Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab.

Date: Thursday, March 10th, 2011
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern / 1am GMT (next day--international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Elluminate. Log in at http://tr.im/futureofed. The Elluminate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Elluminate, please visit http://www.elluminate.com/support. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page.
Event and Recording Pagehttp://www.learncentral.org/node/142205

Mitchel Resnick directs the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the Media Laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  He develops new technologies to engage people (particularly children) in creative learning experiences, and serves as Academic Head of the Media Arts and Sciences program. His research projects include:

Scratch: Democratizing Digital Expression.  With the Scratch software, kids can create their own interactive stories, games, and animations - and share their creations online. Kids learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively, while learning important computational ideas. Scratch has been called "the YouTube of interactive media."

Programmable Bricks: Learning through Designing.  With Programmable Bricks, children can build and program their own robots, kinetic sculptures, and other interactive inventions - and learn science and engineering concepts in the process. Programmable Bricks served as inspiration for the LEGO MindStorms, PicoCricket, and LEGO WeDo robotics kits.

Computer Clubhouse: Bridging the Digital Divide.  He co-founded the Computer Clubhouse project, an international network of 100 after-school centers where youth from low-income communities learn to express themselves creatively with new technologies.

Monday, March 07, 2011

Live Interview on Tuesday, March 8th - Don Smithmier on Crowd-Sourced Learning and Sophia.org

Join me Tuesday, March 8th, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com webinar with Don Smithmier, founder and CEO of Sophia, a social teaching and learning platform.

Date: Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern / 1am GMT (next day--international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Elluminate. Log in at http://tr.im/futureofed. The Elluminate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Elluminate, please visit http://www.elluminate.com/support. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page.
Event and Recording Pagehttp://www.learncentral.org/node/142204

Don Smithmier is the founder and CEO of Sophia, which was created on the premise that there are millions of great ideas, methods, lessons and people who can contribute to society’s goal of spreading knowledge and making education better and more effective. His goal is to use innovation to bring education and technology together in an impactful way for students, teachers, parents, tutors and more.

Previously, Don was an early‐stage employee and ultimately Vice President at Capella University (NSDQ: CPLA), the first fully-online, accredited university. During his 14 years at Capella, Don held a succession of Marketing, Technology and Business leadership roles and was recognized as a pioneer in online advertising and the innovative use of web technologies. Don is a winner of the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” and founder of Matter Worldwide (www.matterworldwide.com), the parent company of three successful start‐ups including GoKart Labs, the digital innovation company that incubated and built Sophia. Don earned his MBA with honors from the University of Minnesota and his BA from the University of Wisconsin.

From the website:  "Sophia enables innovation by connecting learners, teachers, experts and parents. We provide an academic community where everyone has access to learning that surrounds and supports the traditional classroom. We encourage variety and creativity in teaching so that everyone can learn in a way that makes sense to them.

"Sophia is a social teaching and learning platform that taps the teacher in all of us and enhances the learning process by providing access to a wealth of knowledge, help, instruction, standards-aligned content, and expertise available to learners everywhere.

"We want to harness technology for the betterment of the educational system as a whole. We can all help others learn. And Sophia’s mission is to be a catalyst in this educational movement."

Sunday, March 06, 2011

Week of March 6, 2011 - Live, Interactive, and Free Webinars in Elluminate

Below are this week's public, free, and interactive Webinars through LearnCentral.org, the social learning network for education that I work on for Elluminate.

The time of the events below will show up automatically in your own time zone when you are registered in LearnCentral and when you have chosen your time zone in your profile, or you can check the new event time converter on the event page. Event recordings are posted and available after the events if you aren't able to attend them live. If you are looking for an easy calendar import / RSS feed for these events, you'll now find a link on your calendar page or the calendar page of specific groups!

We hope you will consider hosting your own public webinars using the free LearnCentral public room--instructions are available by joining the "Host Your Own Webinar" group on the main announcement tab (http://www.learncentral.org/group/3432/host-your-own-webinars).

Thanks for your attention, and see you online!

LEARN TO BE AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Sun 6 Mar 07:00PM New York / Mon 7 Mar 12:00AM GMT / Mon 7 Mar 11:00AM Sydney
Maria Droujkova. Learn To Be offers free tutoring online to economically disadvantaged students. Do you have ideas for our chapter at Syracuse University in New York? Come and meet the Steering Committee.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/143877

A SWEET WAY TO SEARCH THE WEB (TL Cafe)
Mon 7 Mar 07:00PM New York / Tue 8 Mar 12:00AM GMT / Tue 8 Mar 11:00AM Sydney
Gwyneth Jones. The economy has been hit hard and schools are feeling it - some states are not funding databases any longer - but don't fear - one Website curated the best of the Web for educators, and it's free to use! Shannon Miller, librarian at Van Meter Schools in Iowa, and Mark Moran, Founder of Dulcinea Media, will offer guidance and insight that helps teacher librarians teach students - and faculty - how to use the Web effectively, safely, efficiently and responsibly. They will show how educators and students can use SweetSearch and other Web sites to easily find primary sources and the best content on the Web for current events, history, language arts, science and culture.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/122155

CREATIVE IMAGE EDITING IN THE CLOUD (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Mon 7 Mar 08:00PM New York / Tue 8 Mar 01:00AM GMT / Tue 8 Mar 12:00PM Sydney
Rushton Hurley. Learn about all sorts of free, online tools for working creatively with digital images.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/135241

KEVIN KELLY ON WHAT TECHNOLOGY WANTS (Future of Education Series)
Mon 7 Mar 08:00PM New York / Tue 8 Mar 01:00AM GMT / Tue 8 Mar 12:00PM Sydney
Steve Hargadon. Steve will talk with Kevin Kelly about his brilliant book, What Technology Wants.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/142202

TECH TALK TUESDAYS: CHALLENGE BASED LEARNING (Australia Series)
Tue 7 Mar 12:00AM New York / Tue 8 Mar 05:00AM GMT / Tue 8 Mar 04:00PM Sydney
Anne Mirstchin. Find out how Challenge Based Learning was used with Primary and Middle Years students, by someone who has actually taught it.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/143028

DON SMITHMIER ON CROWD-SOURCED LEARNING (Future of Education Series)
Tue 8 Mar 08:00PM New York / Wed 9 Mar 01:00AM GMT / Wed 9 Mar 12:00PM Sydney
Steve Hargadon. Steve Hargadon will talk with Don Smithmier on Crowd-sourced Learning and Sophia.org
http://www.learncentral.org/event/142204

PSYCHOLOGY OF MATH LEARNING (Math 2.0 Series)
Tue 8 Mar 09:00PM New York / Wed 9 Mar 02:00AM GMT / Wed 9 Mar 01:00PM Sydney
Carol Cross.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/132599

SABERES 2.0 - ESTÁNDARES UNESCO DE COMPETENCIAS EN TIC PARA DOCENTES (Aula 2.0)
Tue 8 Mar 09:00PM New York / Wed 9 Mar 02:00AM GMT / Wed 9 Mar 01:00PM Sydney
Tomas Chaskel. La forma como nuestros estudiantes se comunican e interactuan hoy es muy diferente a como nosotros lo hacíamos hace algunas décadas. Es importante conocer las compentecias que los estudiantes de ahora deben desarrollar para vivir, aprender y trabajar con éxito en una sociedad cada vez más compleja; es por esto que el docente actualmente desempeña una tarea de gran importancia para que los estudiantes puedan alcanzar y desarrollar las competencias que necesitan. En esta charla se hablará de los estándares de las competencias en TIC para docentes propuestas por UNESCO en el año 2008, como punto de referencia y continuo mejoramiento en la labor como docentes del siglo XXI.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/143825

ET@LKING:- LET'S TALK ABOUT BLOGGING (Australia Series)
Wed 8 Mar 12:00AM New York / Wed 9 Mar 05:00AM GMT / Wed 9 Mar 04:00PM Sydney
Anne Mirstchin. This session will be a general sharing session where participants can ask questions about blogging from where to begin, how to write posts, tag, add categories, what to write etc about right through to advanced blogging and what makes an effective blog. What place does blogging have in eLearning? Come along and share your blogs and your questions and join in the conversations.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/143340

VISUAL LITERACY AND NONLINGUISTIC REPRESENTATIONS (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Wed 9 Mar 12:00PM New York / Wed 9 Mar 05:00PM GMT / Thu 10 Mar 04:00AM Sydney
C. Geith.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/133449

PRIMARY SOURCE GLOBAL READ (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Wed 9 Mar 03:00PM New York / Wed 9 Mar 08:00PM GMT / Thu 10 Mar 07:00AM Sydney
Maggie Kaiser. Global Read of "The Red Umbrella" by Christina Diaz Gonzalez - live chat with the author.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/134015

P2PU COURSE - CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT (Math 2.0 Series)
Wed 9 Mar 07:30PM New York / Thu 10 Mar 12:30AM GMT / Thu 10 Mar 11:30AM Sydney
Maria Droujkova.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/131367

VISUAL LITERACY AND NONLINGUISTIC REPRESENTATIONS (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Thu 10 Mar 04:00PM New York / Thu 10 Mar 09:00PM GMT / Fri 11 Mar 08:00AM Sydney
Kimberly Lightle. Science and literacy instruction in the elementary grades is the focus of a new series of web seminars for the 2010-2011 school year. The series is sponsored by Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, an NSF-funded project that provides professional development and instructional resources to elementary teachers.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/89910

MITCH RESNICK FROM MIT MEDIA LAB (Future of Education Series)
Thu 10 Mar 08:00PM New York / Fri 11 Mar 01:00AM GMT / Fri 11 Mar 12:00PM Sydney
Steve Hargadon. Steve will talk with Mitch Resnick from MIT Media Lab.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/142205

FEATURED TEACHER (Classroom 2.0 LIVE)
Sat 12 Mar 12:00PM New York / Sat 12 Mar 05:00PM GMT / Sun 13 Mar 04:00AM Sydney
Kim Caise, Lorna Costantini and Peggy George. Join Kim, Lorna and Peggy as they talk with Carol Broos, Music Teacher.
http://www.learncentral.org/node/143889

BUBBLZ MATH (Math 2.0 Series)
Sat 12 Mar 02:00PM New York / Sat 12 Mar 07:00PM GMT / Sun 13 Mar 06:00AM Sydney
Maria Droujkova. Bubblz the clown has metre balloons and is not afraid to use them at schools and conferences!
http://www.learncentral.org/event/142382

LEARN TO BE - ONLINE LEADERSHIP EXCHANGE (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Sat 12 Mar 03:00PM New York / Sat 12 Mar 08:00PM GMT / Sun 13 Mar 07:00AM Sydney
Jingshen Zhao. Learn To Be is a non-profit that provides free online tutoring to children in underserved communities. The Online Leadership Exchange is a meeting open to the public where leaders from the various University Chapters come together to share updates and discuss best practices. More information about Learn To Be is available at http://www.learntobe.org
http://www.learncentral.org/event/140771

HIGH TECH HIGH -- COLLEGIAL CONVERSATIONS (High Tech High Graduate School of Education)
Sat 12 Mar 03:00PM New York / Sat 12 Mar 08:00PM GMT / Sun 13 Mar 07:00AM Sydney
Ben Daley. Educators gather virtually to discuss student work and educator dilemmas.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/125299

Thursday, March 03, 2011

A Special Request for Student Videos on Changing Education!

I'm at the world-famous TED Conference--you know, where all the great videos come from.  :)  I'm actually part of a project called TEDActive, where as part of a group focused on education we were asked to consider a project we could do that would impact education, and especially would provide students with a chance to play a central role in that impact.

We launched our project tonight, http://www.elev8ed.org, a site for students to upload 2 - 3 minute videos that
  • Offer new ideas for what education could be
  • Inspire others to transform education
  • Propose specific actions you or others can take to improve education in your community
Tomorrow, I will give a short presentation on the TEDActive stage, calling on all those in attendance at TEDActive to reach out to at least one student and encourage or help him or her to upload a video.  It would be wonderful if there were a few videos already on the site from some students!  If you are in a position to help make this happen with a student or students by mid-morning tomorrow California Time (US Pacific GMT-8), we'd love the support.  If not, I hope you'll consider encouraging them to participate at some point soon.

Thanks so much!  In order to facilitate quick posting of content, I've turned off membership and video moderation overnight, but will turn it back tomorrow morning and will check to make sure nothing inappropriate is up.

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Don't Miss These Great Activities at CUE and ISTE!

There are two great ed tech conferences coming up that do a terrific job of supporting innovative, community-related projects around their annual events:  CUE (March 17 - 19 in Palm Springs) and ISTE (June 26 - 29 in Philadelphia).  And, as you'll see, we even can provide something for those who aren't even attending the events!  Each conference allows us to host:

AN EDUBLOGGERCON
The first ever EduBloggerCon took place at the Shakey's Pizza Parlor during CUE in Palm Springs five years ago, and there were just two of us there (my annual big shout out to Barbara Barreda)!  Now a regular event at several conferences each year, EduBloggerCon is an opportunity for those who are interested in the use of social media in education to gather in "unconference" style and share--the agenda gets set when we arrive together.  You don't have to be a blogger to come, beginners are MOST welcome, and EduBloggerCon is always free!  CUE EduBloggerCon is on Wednesday, March 26th, from 4 - 8pm.  CUE provides us with the meeting space and free power and wireless--so bring your laptop, your desire to learn, and join us from at the Palm Springs Convention Center in the Mesquite F room.  ISTE EduBloggerCon is on Saturday, June 25th, all day!  More details on both events can be found at http://www.EduBloggerCon.com.  Please join us!

AN "UNPLUGGED" PROGRAM
If you've ever wanted to speak at CUE, ISTE, or a conference at all, but have never had the chance, now is your time!  CUEunplugged and ISTEunplugged are series of concurrent sessions that are held in a  presentation area where anyone can sign up to give short presentations.  Really!  Maybe you've been trying to work up the courage to present, and just need this encouragement.  Or maybe you are an expert presenter, but a topic you wanted to speak on came up after the deadline to submit to speak.  In either case, or for any other reason, all you have to do to speak at CUE or ISTE this year is to sign up on the wiki in free slot:  http://www.CUEunplugged.com or http://www.ISTEunplugged.com.  All of the Unplugged sessions are also streamed live through Elluminate, so if you can't attend CUE or ISTE physically you can still watch some of the activity remotely!  (I'm also looking for some volunteers to help organize and attend to the Elluminate streaming at both shows.  Let me know if you can help by emailing steve@hargadon.com.)

AN OPEN SOURCE SPEAKERS SERIES
Check the programs of both conferences for these, but just a quick shout-out of appreciation to the show organizers for supporting Open Source.  CUE also lets us set up dozens of computers using Linux and Open Source Software in a lab setting so that you can see what Open Source is and how it works.  Look for the lab at CUE (it's hard to miss us because the lab becomes the conference evaluation station!), and consider coming to some of our sessions at either conference!

A BLOGGERS' CAFE
Look for the Bloggers' Cafe areas at CUE and ISTE--they are greats place to socialize, grab some network access, and relax with others.  You don't have to be a blogger here either, but it's a fun place to put faces to the names of your blogging, tweeting, Second Life, or other online friends!  Again, beginners MOST welcome!

Here's to the crowd-sourced activities at these conferences, and to forward-thinking conference organizers!

Live Event Wednesday - EPA WaterSense/WasteWater Curriculum Materials

This Wednesday, March 2nd, at 12 noon US Pacific Time / 3 pm US Eastern the EPA WaterSense and WasteWater Education will present a free hour seminar to introduce home school, elementary and high school teachers to the curriculum materials available from USEPA to promote March 14-20, 2011 "Fix A Leak Week!"

Name: EPA WaterSense/WasteWater Education: Fix-A-Leak Week!
When: Wed March 02, 2011, 12noon US Pacific / 3pm US Eastern
Location: In Elluminate. Log in at https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/dropin.jnlp?sid=lcevents&password=Webinar_Guest. The Elluminate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Elluminate, please visit http://www.elluminate.com/support. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page.
Event and Recording Page:  http://www.learncentral.org/node/139252

More information:  EPA WaterSense and WasteWater Education will present a free hour seminar to introduce home school, elementary and high school teachers to the curriculum materials available from USEPA to promote March 14-20, 2011 "Fix A Leak Week!" No registration is required. Click on the participant link at 2.45pm EST on March 2 to enter the meeting. Type in your name. The session will start promptly at 3pm EST.

In 2009, EPA WaterSense's 2,100 partners collectively saved over 36 BILLION gallons of precious drinking water. Which translates into 4.9 billion Kwh of electricity saved! Which means over 1.75 million metric tons of carbon dioxide didn't go into our atmosphere! This presentation is applicable for anyone who teaches physical sciences, environmental or social studies and would like to inspire their students to action!