Lifelong Learning 2.0

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I am so excited to attend this web meeting about encouraging students in the area of social media and innovation!

The National Center for Technology Innovation is putting on a free webinar this week.  Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders Through Innovative Technology is taking place on May 20th, from 3:00-4:15 ET.  Check out this website for more information.  If you plan on attending, register early here.

Read about the presenters below. (Taken from the NCTi website.)

Learn about forward-thinking technology solutions from four leading educational entrepreneurs who have unleashed student talent through the use of online, interactive platforms. Join Steve Hargadon, Founder of Classroom 2.0 and an architect of LearnCentral.org; Paul Kim, Chief Technology Officer for Stanford University School of Education and a leading researcher for Programmable Open Mobile Internet; Jennifer Corriero, Executive Director of TakingITGlobal; and Emily Briggs, Program Manager of Sprout e-course, as they discuss successful strategies for developing the entrepreneurial spirit of global youth in advancing social media and innovation. The Webinar will take place on May 20th from 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm ET.

Have you attended an Unconference?  Recently, the opportunity to attend a free workshop on Web 2.0 came my way, and I quickly registered.  (Did I mention free?)

The first of the 2-day conference began with introductions and a few rules of the loosely structured format.  Steve shared the “rule of two feet,” commenting that anyone could get up and leave if this wasn’t what they were looking for.  The first day was interesting, but it was the afternoon session and the entire next day that really took off.

Here are a few notes about the sessions:

Friday’s Sessions…

Google Maps/Earth: Joe Wood presented on creating tours using Google Maps and Google Earth.  I’ve heard him present it first at the ILC, and several times since.  I seem to get something new from it every time.  (Besides the fact that his birthplace seems to change every time he presents. LOL)  He speaks with enthusiasm and a confidence that makes you want to bust out the laptop and give it a try.  And I have.  (More about my park-hoppin’ Google tour in another post.)

Backchanneling: Interesting thoughts were shared by Zack Dowell on this topic.  Back-channeling involves having “sidebar” electronic conversations during a presentation or conference.  I get in trouble for that during Professional Development meetings all the time.  Apparently, some see it as good practice.  Cool!  Zack had us join in on a live back-channel discussion using Today’s Meet.

Storage: One of the participants told us about adrive.  50 gigabytes of storage backup goodness! And free too!

Saturday’s Sessions…

If Friday was a cup of drip coffee, then Saturday would have to have been a iced venti double Americano. I couldn’t get enough.

Blogging: Larry Ferlazzo and Alice Mercer did a fabulous presentation!  They shared tips, tools, and examples of their innovative teaching practices.  Check out Larry’s blog here. Man, can he blog!  He not only manages to add blog content daily, but he often has several posts per day.  Alice’s blog is here. Alice is a computer lab instructor, talented presenter, and blogging queen.  She is a wealth of information.  In fact, I just saw her last night at a CTAP meeting, at CUE, and recently, at this conference.  I told her last night that I’m really not stalking her. Really.

Speed Demos: The lightning round speed demos were faced-paced.  I heard about slideshare, scribd, delicious, diigo, and jing, to name a few.  Even though I am familiar with these tools, it is fun to see how teachers use them for learning.  Steve shared that even though he is not a huge Twitter fan, he organizes his seven Twitter accounts using Netvibes.  (Yes, I said 7.)

Here are 3 Things I Learned about Myself from this Conference:

I love the format of the unconference.

It is organic and fluid, allowing for diversions and restructuring of ideas.

It is collaborative, allowing for brainstorming and trouble-shooting.

It is more intimate, allowing for deeper conversations.

I value networking.

Anytime the focus of the sessions turned to social networking, I was all over it.  I am active on at least 5 Nings, and 2 other social networks.  I value people.

Participants took over the agenda by volunteering to  share ideas, present, or ask questions. This opened doors for networking at the breaks, and even to this day in subsequent online communication.  Larry Ferlazzo shared links with me with samples of student work, to answer some questions I had thrown out.  Alice Mercer invited me to get the word out in our efforts to plan follow-up meetings in Sacramento.   Several teachers gave me suggestions for a virtual open house project I’m tackling.  The discussions continue in a forum post on CR20, offering great feedback.  Zack Dowell asked me to be the K-12 Liaison for a Web 2.0 conference coming up next fall, at Folsom Lake College.  Networking can not only bring greater results, it has the potential to help us become better people. I’ve always preferred the team teaching model. Vince Lombardi said it well:

“Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”
- Vince Lombardi

I need to take bigger action steps.

Steve Hargadon was kind enough to chat with me and gave me a couple of “pep talks” over the conference breaks.  He asked questions of which he seemed to already know the answers.  He encouraged me to take bigger steps and told me that he belived in me.  I was inspired!  And I took his advice immediately.  Several things have fallen into place since then.  When sharing about these opportunities in an email yesterday, Steve responded that I’m becoming a “web 2.0 mover and shaker”. Wow!  I’m not sure about that, but I do know that my professional development, educational goals, and perspective have been movin’ and shakin’ and I can’t wait to see where it takes me!

Many thanks to Steve Hargadon, of Classroom 2.0 and Melissa Green, of Sac City College, who hosted the event.