This sounded interesting, so  I took action, visited the website and reserved a ticket.

I meet teacher Andrew Bieronski at the door.

The Program:

I was very impressed with the TEDx Youth event that Andrew and his class put together.   The program featured a number of speakers well balanced with male/female and a variety of ages.  In addition to the tradition voice based presentations, the speakers used different approaches to presenting including music, dance, video and poetry.  I particularly enjoyed the slam dunk poetry session with a good message about bullying and a personal presentation about dealing with diabetes.

I was struck by one common element over the evening.  All of the presenters were obviously passionate about what they were doing, and their topics of choice.  All of the presenters were awesome in their own way, and  had an important message to share out to a broader audience.

Congratulations to all presenters, and to the class who that took on the task of organizing the evening.  I understand that a similar event may in the works for next year, so I will be watching for details!

Thanks for a great evening at Huron Heights Secondary School.

~Mark

The last comment, raises a number of points and questions about whether or not Twitter becomes in echo chamber.  While I do understand that concept, and have seen it happen, there is also the idea of reach – communication reach through social media tools. Reach, and the notion of the 6 degrees of separation make explain some of this.  None the less, there are some solid points to consider when navigating this space.

1. Given the number of your followers, and the number you follow, how do you best get traction in important conversations?
2. Although Twitter arguably represents only a ‘slice of society’ what strategies yield the best diversity for enriching your experience
3. Engagement styles:  depth vs skimming – how do you keep your learning rich? and your contributions worthwhile?
4. Finally, I believe it is important to contribute by contributing content through blogging etc.  and asking good questions.  I wonder what percentage of Twitter users are also actively contributing?

Please join this conversation.  How are you maximizing your Twitter experience?

~Mark

First, hats off to the organizing committee for planning a great event  — lots of positive energy and opportunity for networking —  take a bow.

I arrived early enough to take advantage of the opportunity to network prior to the official kickoff. It was wonderful to greet friends, meet online acquaintances for the first time and make new connections.

The day followed the traditional ed camp format with a group kickoff to pose questions to form the basis for the days discussion.  The submissions were sorted into groupings and assigned to room locations to facilitate the proceedings of the day.  Each of the discussions I attended was thought provoking:

•  shift
• motivating colleagues to change, try new things and take risks when they are reluctant
• the role of administrators
• innovation: grass roots, top down, or both
• what other ingredients are needed for change
• assessment: do current practices hinder change?
• the squashing of innovate practice by some of those who fear change and risk taking

Great discussion, no easy answers, nuggets to chew on, things to ponder, take aways to try, ideas to share — awesome!  In addition to the excellent session discussion, three additional conversations are still rattling around in my mind.  One conversation started with Ron Millar and continued with Jenni van Rees  — new ideas for scaling a PD plan for next year.  Hold that thought and perhaps watch for a future blog post.

The second conversation started in the lunch line with Jane Mitchinson and Carlo Fusco, then continued at the lunch table with Ron and Jenni joining us.  We got talking about socialization, the impact of that process and when important conversations become too big and lose focus.  I believe we agreed that one of the hot topics and key elements of change in education right now is the “hot ball” of putting the conditions  of change in place, the shift to technology enabled learning, continued focus on pedagogical improvement and building capacity for change and risk taking. In essence, I believe this synergy  burns brightly because events such as ECOO, the OTRK12 conference,  the Ontario GAFE Summit and this Ed Camp event keep fuelling the flame  for continued learning, sharing and professional reflection.  Sustained energy is SO important right now.

BUT, what happens when the conversations become blurred by the big paint brushes — questions that could take the collective us off our game. Questions that are too big and too general to ever be wrestled to the ground.  Loss of focus would be a major hinderance.  Do people supporting change NOW, have to also be guardians of the focus of the journey?

The third conversation happened after the event – a very engaging conversation with Donna Fry. We talked further about the challenges of creating opportunities for change, and sustaining the energy to keep things going.  Donna has great ideas and big plans for her area — what an amazing educator! I hope I can be a part of the action.

Thanks again to team Ed Camp Hamilton for arranging this successful event.  For those that could not attend, check out the #edcampham twitter stream.  Until the next event, see you online and keep the learning, sharing and reflecting GOING.

Related Resources

Now Thats PD  by  Jane Mitchinson
The revolution will be tweeted … at the Shifting Ideas  blog by Carlo Fusco
Ed Camp Hamilton Reflection by David Fife (www.davidfife.ca)
EdCampHam left me with more questions …. by Karen Wilson

~Mark

The first the ECOO sponsored, Waterloo Region District School Board  hosted Google Apps For Educators (gafe) held on April 20/21 at  was an amazing success. I loved the energy and synergy in the building.  Awesome learning, connecting with new people, reconnecting with friends, solid pedagogical practice, technology as an enabler  and lots of sharing — simply amazing.

What do you do next?  Well, how about attending  Ed Camp Hamilton  on May 4th?   I know the organizers have put a lot of hard work into planning a great day.

#edcampham

Will I see you there? 

~Mark

Today was an amazing day. After many months of preparation the ECOO sponsored, Waterloo Region District School Board hosted Google Apps For Educators (gafe) event launched at 8:30 this morning. Mark Wagner from the Google Ed Tech team provided a warm welcome and overview from the day. Linda Fabi, Director of Education for the Waterloo Region District School Board delivered greetings to the 525  attendees.

Jim Sill delivered an outstanding keynote address challenging attendees to define the type of world we live in. Jim used effective examples to portray a world of will and reckless creativity, cleverly referencing twitter, sub tweets, selfies, personal branding and digital footprints. I am glad I livescribed this session so I can enjoy listening to it again!

Most of the balance of the day provided a wide variety of  workshop  strands addressing a variety of skill levels. A closing session provided an opportunity to  showcase some awesome tips and clever uses of Google Apps in a 3 minute window. Each presenter concluded with a resounding expression of “SLAM” !

On a personal note, I enjoyed connecting and sharing this experience with so many dedicated educators I know across the province, and of course, meeting new people too.  I learned more about using google maps more effectively, leveraging extensions to Google Drive and tucked away a variety of nifty tips and tricks.

I am looking forward to GAFE day 2 tomorrow!!!

~Mark

Digital Footprint sharing document

Greatest Records Management Challenge sharing document

Article Review sharing document

Related Resources

Todaysmeet  (back channel discussion tool)
ARMA website
ARMA Canada website
ARMA SWO website
Livescribe
Evernote
Evernote and Moleskine
Cloud computing meets K12
Google Chromebook
Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
Article: Rising Tide of BYOD
Article: Conquering BYOD Challenges
Article: Implementing a Secure BYOD Strategy
Museum of Me   (from Today’s Meet Discussion)

BOLD

DISRUPTIVE

PERSONALIZED

WATCH the iDoctor

~Mark

The visit began with an opportunity to meet with Gwen in her office to discuss some background information and leadership philosophies. Gwen is very interested in how technology can support and enable learning. Gwen states emphatically that she is “NOT a techie”, but has worked hard to establish a culture to leverage the best uses within her school. One of the resources that is shaping Gwen’s thinking is the book Visible Learning. She has noted a few key quotes from the book that really resonated with her, and reads them often. Some of the key points include:

• teachers need to understand learning through the eyes of the student
• what works is not just the tool or the structure
• students learn best when they understand the learning process
• learning is an:  explicit goal, appropriate challenge or  measuring progress towards meeting a learning goal
• in this context, effective use of technology makes a difference to student learning
• technology can add a level of accountability
• when students explain their thinking, they become their own teachers

Millen Woods P. S. has 60 iPads at this point in time – some from their start up funds 3 years ago, some purchased by the school and 20 from our  central allocation this year.  Principal McCutcheon views iPads as the most versatile piece of equipment in the school. She has been impressed with how well staff have adapted to thinking in a technology enabled framework and using iPads to support small group instruction, rather than taking a 1:1 approach.  She is proud of the way the staff have focused on using technology to enable, support and capture student learning – making student learning visible, exploring critical questions and sharing thinking. Students enjoy the hands on approach and many staff feel that this has increased accountability.  One example of students capturing their work is by using the Explain Everything app.

I enjoyed meeting teacher Stephanie Ringwood and her French immersion class.  I was very impressed with seeing how her students used the iPads to support their learning. Listen to  Stephanie’s perspective  (video) on the shift to using technology in her classroom.

At the time the school opened two years ago, one of the big changes for staff was having the computers dispersed in pods around the school.  While it took some time for all staff to adjust, Gwen feels they have “mad the transformational journey” and see the value in this approach.

As we walked the school, I saw other groups of students working in classrooms, pods and in hallway groups using technology to capture their learning — making movie trailers regarding physical fitness.  I could tell from the way the students interacted with Principal McCutcheon that they were used to seeing her out and about in the school.  I noted that there were some interactive white boards in the school, perhaps in roughly 25% of the classroom.  Gwen feels this number is quite appropriate for the school and that there is no need to have one in every classroom.  I do concur with her views on this as many teachers find it challenging to move past the teacher centered instruction early phases of using them. I also took note of some students working at their literacy skills using electronic books.

As we returned to the office area, the large flat screen TV in the hallway captured my interest.  It is used to display student work the Millen Woods way – students teaching other students and students capturing their learning — AWESOME!

One video example of a student demonstrating their work is evidenced in Roane’s Video (posted with permission).

iPad syncing trays and Mac Mini (side mount) for syncing

Hallway TV displaying student work

Laptop controlling hallway TV

Thank you for sharing your learning journey!

~Mark

There are more exciting events happening just on the horizon. Help spread the word. 

1.  ECOO has partnered with WRDSB to host Ontario’s first Google Summit event at Eastwood Collegiate Institute on April 20/21, 2013. There are still a few seats left. Click here to register.

2.  Ed Camp Hamilton is set to go on Saturday May 4, 2013 at Ancaster Sr. Public School

3.  CONNECT 2013 – Canada’s Learning and Technology Conference is running May 6 and 7 in the Niagara area.

Looking ahead to the fall, plans for ECOO 2013 are well under way.

Keep connecting, learning, reflecting and sharing!

~Mark

• Meeting Desire2Learn owner John Baker  for the first time and noting the focus on product improvement
• Listening to the excellent and thought provoking presentation by HWDSB Director John Malloy
• connecting with so many passionate educators and
• the awesome post conference discussion with Harry Niezen, Donna Fry, Stacey Wallwin and Colleen Rose.

There was a notable energy during the event which continued right through to the last session.  I attended an identifying barriers and moving forward session. It was quite interesting to listen to the various challenges raised:

• great admin support, but teachers are resisting change
• wonderful grass roots energy to change, need more admin support
• interest and participation in blended learning is growing but bandwidth capacity is an issue
• need more wifi coverage

All in all, it was a great passionate discussion  by caring educators.  Upon reflection, the things that really resonated with me were:

• it is critical to continue investment into bandwidth (internal and internet) and stay ahead of the need
• I believe leveraging access by including BYOD as part of the mix is important
• the grass roots up/top down needs to become a planned path with expectations and annual goals
• continue to focus solving problems and sharing solutions

There are 2 more critical pieces to the puzzle in my mind. There are a wealth of teachers who already use many web 2.0 and social media tools as part of their instructional practice in curriculum delivery. I seems to me, a plan is needed to bring this body of ‘casual’ blended learning into the D2L portal used by the Ministry of Education. Part of this plan would address the need for an easy path to connect existing resources used in the casual approach into D2L – a transition, not a do over for teachers.  Secondly, the D2L environment needs to be “lego like”  — easy to snap outside resources into the portal and minimizing the need for custom interfaces or complicated conversions.

Related Resources 

Conference Twitter chat stream
Presentation: The Traditional Classroom by Diana Hughes
Reflections from Donna Fry
Colleen Rose’s Reflection
OTRK12 Part 1 by Ferdinand Krauss
OTRK12 Part 2 by Ferdinand Krauss
Reflections from Brandon Grasley
Conference Site

I look forward to attending next year’s event.

~Mark