Keynotes

22nd Century Skills... Today!  Bringing future tech into the classroom

Why is everyone focusing on 21st century skills?  That skill-set is over a decade old!  Rather than looking back, we will look to the future and identify technology trends that educators need to know about.  From flying cars to nanotech, we'll explore the bleeding edge of technolgy and how to begin incorporating it into classrooms today.

Learning to Speak Native: How education is being transformed in 140 characters or less

We live in an era that has seen the democratization of knowledge, the flattening of the earth, and the rise of wikinomics. The amount of information online keeps increasing while the barriers to accessing it continue to decrease. 21st century students aren't merely products of these shifts, they are the instigators at the forefront of the next digital revolution. Are you prepared for students that live online in a state of transparency, defining 'private' as only being seen by a few thousand people? In order to guide students to safely navigate this new digital frontier, teachers have to learn to speak the same language. Thankfully, thousands of teachers are giving free lessons every hour of every day. While the tools may evolve at a dizzying pace, educators who create a personal learning network will always have the resources they need to stay ahead of the curve. Come learn how teachers worldwide have banded together to become their own best source of professional development.... and lost their digital accent along the way.

As presented at MEC 2010


Policies, Safety and Social Networking

In an era when student missteps can linger on the internet for years, and stories of predators and cyberbullies dominate the news, there are plenty of reasons for schools to tighten their firewalls. But is banning really a viable response? How do we help students learn to leverage the powerful new tools that are available to them? What policies do we set that ensure that learning and safety go hand in hand? See how some districts have embraced new technologies while still maintaining high standards and keeping their students safe.


Presentation and resources from ISTE 2010


The New Permanent Record

Teachers used to threaten that if students didn't behave, it would go down on their permanent record. While there was no such record in the past, there is now. Students are leaving a trail of their online activities behind them that will last far longer than they ever might expect. This presentation delves into specific actions that students are engaging in now that have long term consequences for them and how we, as educators, can guide them to the right path.

The Power of Glass Schools

Web 2.0 technologies such as Podcasting and Blogging break down the barriers to publishing teacher and student created content on the internet. Schools that do so are finding the benefits reach far beyond the classroom walls. By making learning transparent, many schools are creating a strong sense of community while offering their students the opportunity to collaborate with others on a global level. See how some districts have embraced these new technologies while still maintaining high standards and keeping their students safe.