Thursday, May 22, 2008

What am I doing at NECC in San Antonio??

Here in Qatar we do not break for the summer until June 18. Between now and then I have final assessment and 250 reports to write as well as numerous administrative tasks closing down the year and opening the next one. It is an exciting time here at Qatar Academy as the shift is starting and there is anticipation as well as fear in the air. You know the saying, 'be afraid, be very afraid'. Well, it's true....but more about that later.

This blog post (my first in 2 weeks!!!!) is about one event I am really looking forward to and planning for, NECC 2008 in San Antonio. I am so pleased and proud to be taking a team of ICT and information literacy educators from Qatar to NECC this year. There will be 5 of us and we are carefully planning what the main objectives are and what we need to see and do to bring back to school in August. What a great opportunity!

Before I continue, did you know NECC 2008 now has a Ning! Come and join today!

I have a busy schedule already at NECC and hope to meet a lot of people who I have interacted with online over the past year. So, here is the list of events I am directly involved with either as a presenter or helper:
  • Edublogger Con and Classroom 2.0 (Pre-NECC event on Saturday June 28) - last year EdubloggerCon was one of the highlights of the entire conference. Yes, I know it means you need to arrive a little earlier but it is worth it! Run in 'unconference' style it is an opportunity to mix with other bloggers and people interested in pushing the boundaries of education and learnign from each other in an informal setting.
  • Leadership Symposium (Sunday June 29, 8-12.30) - I don't have a URL for this one yet as it was added to my list just this week. I was delighted to be invited by Leslie Conery, Deputy CEO of ISTE, to help present at an invitation-only event on the Sunday morning. This session is looking at what NETS.S refresh looks like in the classroom, what activities and projects exemplify NETS and what leaders can do to make this happen and proliferate. I have been asked to create a 15 minute 'lesson' or activity showing what I do in the classroom to foster critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and collaboration using technology. This I will deliver 4 times as groups of leaders rotate around different rooms and areas. I have some ideas.....will share via this blog soon!
  • SIGTel Forum: Connectivism, Curriculum and the Virtual Classroom in 21st century Telecollaboration (Sunday, 1-4) - This is the SIGTel event with Judi Harris, Alison Powell and David Thornburg connecting theory with practice to address these questions "How is the read-write Web appropriated for connectivist learning and teaching? What are the implications for teacher knowledge-building, professional development, and assessment? As part of this event there is planned a 'gallery' of organisations who will be available to speak about their projects. I will be there representing Flat Classroom Projects, along with iEARN and others.
  • International Networking reception (Sunday, 3.15-4.15) - Yes, I will be running from the Forum to this one. Don't miss it! A great opportunity to mix with international attendees. As a member of the ISTE International Committee I know how hard our leader, Camilla Gagliolo works, as do others, towards this event each year.
  • Flat Classroom Project and Horizon Project Birds of a Feather session (Monday, 2-3) - Come and meet my great colleague and friend, Vicki Davis and me during this session. We hope to gather together people who have been involved in the projects over the past 2 years as well as new comers who want to learn more about what a flat classroom project is and how to 'flatten' the classroom walls. Yhis promises to be a fun, informal session, with lots of great ideas bouncing around!
  • 'Catch your Flat Classroom in the Net' (Monday, 3.30-4) - If you missed the Birds of Feather come and meet Vicki and I at the NETS connect lounge. For 30 minutes we will be presenting informally and sharing how the Flat Classroom type of project meets all the NETS.S standards!
  • 3-hour workshop: We teach the world: the global collaborative classroom (Wednesday, 8.30-11.30) - This is a SIGTel sponsored workshop that Vicki and I have put together to share how to run your own flat classroom project. We originally had a full-day workshop planned, however have now modified it to fit into 3 hours. So, the pace will be fast but we will have some fun. There are still seats available for this....why not come and join us!
So, in between all these sessions I plan to spend some time at Bloggers Cafe, the mandatory walk through (and more!) of the trade hall as well as catch as many other sessions as I can!

If you are coming to NECC in San Antonio I do hope you drop by and say g'day.

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2 comments:

Jane Krauss said...

You will be a busy bee at NECC! It's great you can bring a group from Qatar, divide and conquer I say! Thank you so much for meeting with the workshop gang in Philadelphia last Wednesday. During the debrief they mentioned meeting you was a high point of the day. Thanks again Julie.

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