Friday, October 26, 2012

Join us in Yokahama, Japan! Flat Classroom Conference Asia 2013

Be the change we all need to see in education and learning. Come to a conference with a difference - both students and teachers working together on a challenge-based and action-based theme.

Press Release October 2012

Join us in Yokohama for Flat Classroom® Conference Asia 2013
It’s time to put your plans into place to attend the very next Flat Classroom® Conference to be held on March 8-10, at the Yokohama International School. Flat Classroom® co-founders, Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis and conference organisers have put together another magnificent program and invite YOU to REGISTER now.

The Flat Classroom® Conference is a unique event that includes both students and educators as they use leading technology tools such as wikis, blogs, social networking and digital storytelling. The conference is diverse in participation while allowing smaller groups to work with leading world-class presenters in a "flattened" environment where virtual participants also join in the conversation and action from remote corners of the world. The conference is technology-rich, expecting participants to use a variety of creative and collaborative tools to develop exciting and innovative multimedia messages. The conference environment is 1:1, and provides a sound model for those schools that are already 1:1 or are moving in that direction.

In order to recognize and appreciate the challenges facing our host country, Japan, our Conference theme will be: How do we help each other? We are fortunate to have very close relations with two intermediate schools in the tsunami-hit Tohoku region of Japan, as well the Tohoku International School. In order to highlight the opportunities that we have to support others, in our local environments, participants will be asked to develop project ideas that respond to the conference theme, while working in small groups.

This event is targeted to all teachers and students of past, current and future global collaborations as well as Information Technology teachers and Directors and school administrators who are responsible for pedagogical development with curriculum design, global collaboration, global competency, and international mindedness in their schools. Educators will leave the conference understanding how to collaborate globally and with skills and contacts in hand to start projects. Students will leave the conference with leadership skills, technology skills, presentation skills, and a better understanding of diverse cultures and collaboration. Read more details about the exciting Conference Format and Conference Schedule for joining us in Japan in March 2013.

Internationally acclaimed leaders include Alan Levine, Sharon Peters Julie Lindsay, and Kim Cofino!
 
Read more about the Flat Classroom® Conference on the website. Come and join the Flat Classroom® Conference community and learn more about previous live events. Learn more about Flat Classroom® through the book: Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds: Move to Global Collaboration One Step at a Time.

Make your plans now! REGISTRATION for Flat Classroom® Conference Japan March 8-10, 2013 is OPEN NOW.

Brought to you by Flat Classroom® Conference and Live Events Inc.
Directors, Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay
Flat Classroom Administrator, Steve Madsen: conference@flatclassroom.org

Website: flatclassroomconference.com
Community: flatclassroomconference.ning.com
Website for Japan 2013: blogs.yis.ac.jp/fcc/
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Sunday, October 21, 2012

Global Education Highlights (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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Sunday, October 14, 2012

Global Education Highlights (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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Sunday, October 07, 2012

Global Education Highlights (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Sunday, September 30, 2012

Global Education Highlights (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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Sunday, September 23, 2012

Global Education Highlights (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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Sunday, September 16, 2012

Global Education Highlights (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Sunday, September 09, 2012

How can YOU flatten your classroom....let me count the ways

Are you thinking of flattening your classroom this year? Are you aiming to join a Flat Classroom® Project, or considering volunteering as an expert adviser or judge? Let me count the ways YOU can become involved in the award winning global collaborative projects with Flat Classroom®.

  1.  We have projects for K-2, Gr 3-5, Middle school, and High school, some of which e.g. Digiteen and Eracism, are available for MS and HS. 
  2. The Flat Classroom® Project kicks off this week. There is still time to join if you are quick! It continues to be the optimal project for connected and collaborative research and multimedia creation
  3. We have over 600 students already signed up for the A Week in the Life... Gr 3-5 project, but there is room for more! Best be quick, the kick-off is also this week.
  4. Are you interested in developing digital citizenship skills with your students? Not just talking about digital citizenship, but actually immersing students into an online learning community that includes a research component and an action project. The Digiteen Project continues to grow and offer something for every class. We now have two levels: Under 13 years old, and 13 and older. We are scaffolding the project to cater for needs of both age levels. Join Digiteen now, kick-off is in just over one week!
  5. Our newest project, K-2 Building Bridges to Tomorrow, is such a joy. Teachers and students from diverse global locations collaborate and share both synchronously and asynchronously using Web 2.0 tools. The challenge is to show that co-creation at this level of education is possible and that this project can in fact be a bridge to better cultural understanding and digital literacy for all participants. This K-2 project is gathering momentum again now and kicks off in 2 weeks time. Join us!
  6. Wait, there's more! Announcing, the Eracism Project 2012-2, (another Flat Classroom® Project) - a global student debate that joins diverse cultures and includes authentic debate for global competence and international mindedness.

    Fact based debate is a very essential skill with students who often equate the term "debate" with argument.  The Eracism project: A Flat Classroom® Project was envisioned by the winning student team from the 2009 Flat Classroom Conference held in Doha, Qatar and their concept was to hold debates using Web 2.0 tools to improve cultural understanding. 

    Schools selected for the Eracism Project 2012-2 will be asked to enter a 4 person debate team, with the remaining students in the class being researchers around the topic,


    "Global management of natural resources will cause conflict between cultures" 

    We welcome applications NOW from teachers and their classrooms around the world. We also need judges and volunteers to help with debate coaching. To apply for this project as a class or judge or volunteer or request to be involved in the teacher information meeting, please complete this form. Application deadline is September 24, debating starts in October. Read the full Press release.
  7. Flat Classroom Conference Europe: Germany and Flat Classroom Conference Asia: Japan. Flatten your learning even further by joining us either in Germany December 2012, or in Japan March 2013 for a Flat Classroom Conference. These live events immerse participants in a challenge based event that combines students and educators in activities that enhance understanding of what it means to go global, as well as supporting cultural understanding.
  8. Learn with and from the best global collaborators across the globe by joining our Flat Classrooms community Ning. It is there you can find other like-minded educators and set up your own collaborations.

Remember: When you go flat, you never go back!
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Global Education Highlights (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Sunday, September 02, 2012

Global Education Highlights (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Sunday, August 26, 2012

Global Education Highlights (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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Sunday, August 19, 2012

Global Education Highlights (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Sunday, August 12, 2012

Global Education Highlights (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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Friday, August 03, 2012

A School in Sydney with a Vision for Learning

It was my great pleasure to visit the Northern Beaches Christian School in northern Sydney last week. NBCS is a private, non-denominational co-education, K-12 Christian school with a dynamic and visionary approach to learning. With Anne Knock Director of Development, as our host we were given the grand tour of the school and visited classrooms and learning areas across both Primary and Secondary levels. We also got to speak to Steve Collis and Mark Burgess, Innovation gurus at the on-campus Sydney Centre for Innovation in Learning.

Julie, Anne, Steve and Mark

The library at NBCS

(Pic taken by Anne Knock)
 What really impressed me:
  • Their motto: 'Do it, then Think!' - Well! How many educators get to work within an environment that really encourages risk-taking?
  • Many places and spaces designed or organised to meet the needs of a diverse range of learners
  • Cross-classroom AND cross-age teaching - for example all of Grade 5 and 6 together in the one very large learning space, with a 2-year curriculum 
  • A library with no books! At last I have found a school strong enough to get rid of the rows of (largely) books that nobody borrows or reads anymore in that environment. Wisely they have moved books to curriculum areas, or year levels, where they are still used as needed. But now the library is a SPACE with movable furniture and partitions ready for all sorts of purposes
  • The 'whiteboard' paint on the walls. I cannot remember seeing this in a school before, but knew it was a little costly. Such a wonderful innovation....and IMHO beats installing (expensive) whiteboards
  • Mobility and flexibility of learning while mobile - YES! Similar to my school in Beijing, NBCS has a BYOD policy, where students and teachers can bring whatever device they need to connect to the robust wireless network. This was supported by 'trolley's' of laptops for loan in the library space, as well as collections of desktop computers in many classrooms with particular software for curriculum needs
  • A faculty that actually enjoyed talking about pedagogy and was encouraged to be innovative. Such a joy! Not that this is uncommon in other schools......or is it?
  • The general aesthetics of the buildings and surrounds - yes a beautiful Australian setting, with many building design innovations
  • The link with the Sydney Centre for Innovation in Learning - started by the existing Principal, Stephen Harris, who was awarded the Australian Principal of the Year, NSW last year.
  • The fact that a number of NBCS teachers connected with me and tweeted with me during and after our visit.....a connected and collaborative working environment with confidence using Web 2.0 tools and technology for learning
We are currently talking about NBCS possibly hosting a Flat Classroom Conference in late 2013. What an excellent venue, and what wonderful teachers and students to be hosts for an international community-based, project-based event. Stay tuned for more updates!

Great NBCS teachers to follow on Twitter (apologies if I have missed anyone I met or connected with last week!): Chris Woldhuis, Jonathan Pugh, Mark Burgess, Steve Collis, Anne Knock, Mark Liddell, Louise Deibe, Chantelle Morrisson, Liam Dunphy, Stephen Harris.

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