Beyond NECC (was ACCE Study Tour 2008) » necc08

Keynote #2 at NECC (Texas)

Colin Becker — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:03:41 +0000

The second keynote was a couch session, where a presenter from NBC interviewed Jim Carleton and Mali Bickley in Today show style. They are 2 Canadian educators who have become really involved in global projects with their students over the past 5-6 years.

These have been through the iearn.org web site and include some of the following projects:

My Hero Project – this is a good one to start off with. This project is done through learning circles which provides very good support for teachers new to global projects. A teachers guide to learning circles link.

Art Miles Project – also good for beginners.

My Dream World Project - This project provides an opportunity for the students in schools around the world to share their ideas about their dream world through writing essays, prose, poems and short stories or drawing pictures.

There is much agreement here that schools need to start teaching kids 21st century skills through authentic tasks that require higher order thinking skills. Global projects that can make a difference help our students to be global citizens and to develop the skills they will need.

More about the keynote. And more.

Keynote #1 at NECC (Texas)

Colin Becker — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:54:59 +0000

James Surowieki was the first keynote speaker and spoke about the irony of group wisdom- it is only when a group is unaware of its intelligence that it can be effective. He suggests that a group of mixed intelligence can predict future events and solve problems to a higher degree than the smartest member in the group.

itcetech2005-jamessurowieki-20050316

His book “Independent Individuals and Wise Crowds” discusses this in detail. An older presentation can be found here.

Focus Questions for the Tour

Colin Becker — Tue, 20 May 2008 23:31:28 +0000

To help get the most out of my Staff Travel Scholarship and the Study Tour to ISTE in San Antonio, I presented a series of questions to the Junior School Managment Team (see below). After feedback was received, I edited the questions and each page on this blog represents one question that I want to investigate. My aim is to explore each question throughout the study tour and for this blog to reflect this exploration. I invite you to follow the development of theis blog throughout June and July. Use the page links on the right to navigate through each page.

FOCUS QUESTIONS

1. What are the cutting edge teachers currently doing with ICTs?

a. What hardware does this require?

b. What software is needed?

c. How are handheld devices being used? Eg iPods, PDAs, Mobile Phones

2. How are IWBs being used in mainstream classrooms?

a. Junior Primary

b. Upper Primary

c. Secondary

3. Open source software allows schools to use quality programs at no cost, what is out there?

4. How are Web 2 technologies being used to enhance student learning?

a. Junior Primary

b. Upper Primary

c. Secondary

5. How are ICT Leaders getting their staff to engage and use ICT as a normal and frequent part of the curriculum?

a. What are schools doing to provide for this?

b. What are key staff doing?

c. What seems to work?

6. What roles do other ICT Leaders perform in the course of their work?