educate

Will Richardson and Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach opened the ULearn08 conference with an inspirational presentation with examples of students using blogs to make a difference.

Laura is a young girl who lost her grandfather, she decided in his memory to make a difference to the world. She tells her story at her blog http://twentyfivedays.wordpress.com.

At a conference Laura was asked a question.

“Laura can you tell us how do you come up with your ideas of who to help?”
She replied “I ask my readers.”

Laura has a voice. She knows her opinions are valued. She feels empowered to make a difference and contribute. Do we allow this in our classrooms? I use the word ‘allow’ pointedly. Do our students get to use their voices?

It makes me think of the joke of the young girl spending her first week at school:
“Dad, I don’t think I’ll go to school anymore there really isn’t any point.”
“Why is that?”
“Well I can’t read and I can’t write … and they won’t let me talk.”

21st century technologies allow us to have voices, to voice our opinion, to make a difference. These technologies are available for our students, our children. We must let students have their voices and we must make sure they know how to use these voices in an ethical manner and in a safe way.

That is our job as educators.

We are pleased to be welcoming back Mark Treadwell to ULearn. Mark will give a number of presentations, starting with a pre-conference workshop, then a spotlight, a series of presentations, and a featured presentation. Mark’s combination of intelligent dialogue and a sharp wit mean that his sessions are always both thought-provoking and entertaining.

Mark’s bio and abstract for his spotlight presentation are as follows:

“Whatever!” The conceptual era and the evolution of School v 2.0: A new paradigm and a new renaissance in learning

New Zealand leads the world in so many aspects of innovative education practice. In this session Mark will take you on a nationwide tour looking at innovative practices surrounding curriculum, school and centre management, assessment, use of ICT and transformation leadership. Schools and centres highlighted range from early childhood, primary, middle school, and secondary.

Our next challenge as a nation is to learn from this exemplary practice and integrate these practices across the board. Mark will briefly speak on the central nature of school and centre culture as the driving force behind systemic change within schools and centres, given that the iterative approach to professional development is simply not applicable in a time of exponential rates of change across almost every aspect of education.

Mark Treadwell has been lecturing, providing teacher seminars, and speaking at national and international conferences for over 15 years. Mark speaks on a wide range of topics including curriculum information and communications technology, thinking, teaching pedagogy for the 21st century, authentic assessment, competencies, wisdom and values.

Mark is a director of Dataview, a high-tech company which focuses on developing technology solutions for companies as well as for education authorities and schools. Dataview is involved in several MOE projects which centre on the interoperability of Student Management Systems (SMSs) and Online Learning Environments (OLEs).

Our third invited guest at ULearn08 is Tony Ryan, from Australia. Tony was a popular presenter at ULearn06 and ULearn07 and we are delighted to have him back as part of our conference this year. Tony will present a large group session during breakouts 1-4 and a smaller workshop in breakouts 5-7.

Transformational teachers

For some, the present exponential rates of educational change are a curse designed to overwhelm their lives. For others, this rapid reshaping of schooling is a powerful opportunity for redesigning the very essence of the classroom.

For those who are intent upon creating the very best that education can offer, this practical and entertaining session will clarify some of the facilitative skill sets necessary for redefining the 2014 classroom.

These transformational learning environments will be facilitated by teachers who have developed personal and professional skills for:

1. initiating valued-based and ethical learning opportunities
2. encouraging creative thinking intent within everyday interactions
3. offering solution-focused inquiry-based units of work within personal, community and global contexts
4. providing students with the capacity to manage their own learning and their self.

Most importantly, this session will help you to believe in the worth and power of teaching.

A former teacher, Tony Ryan is an educational consultant and writer, and offers professional support to school organisations throughout the world on issues such as change leadership, lifelong learning and quality classroom practice. He has presented numerous keynotes and workshops at state, national and world conferences in the past 10 years.

He has been engaged as a teacher-in-residence in over 400 schools throughout several countries. In this role, he teaches extensively, and offers guidance to teachers with their everyday practice. Many of his ideas used in his work can be found in his blog at http://tonyryan.edublogs.org

Tony is a prolific author of books on effective thinking and learning. These books include The Ripple Effect, Thinkers Keys for Kids, Mindlinks, Brainstorms, Thinkfest and The Clever Country Kits. His latest CD-Rom features a comprehensive update of Thinkers Keys. His site at www.tonyryan.com.au contains numerous free downloads of his material.

Tony is a director of School Aid (www.schoolaid.org), a non-profit organisation that co-ordinates post-tragedy fundraising and social justice programs within 10000 schools around Australia.

We are pleased to have Dr Rosemary Hipkins, a special invited guest, present at ULearn08. Rose will be presenting during breakouts 5 and 7. Her abstract and bio are as follows:

Assessment issues associated with the implementation of the New Zealand Curriculum

Rose Hipkins, New Zealand Council of Educational Research (New Zealand)

In this talk, Rose will address debates about assessment of newer aspects of the curriculum – in particular the key competencies. Should we do this, and if so, for what purpose? She will link these questions to the challenge of so-called “21st century learning” and introduce some possible strategies for addressing assessment issues that arise.

Dr Rosemary Hipkins is a chief researcher at the New Zealand Council for Educational Research. She works in a range of projects, and is currently serving on two national advisory panels with a focus on assessment, as well as another two focused on New Zealand’s curriculum reforms.

Rose has a strong interest in science education, and is currently working on two assessment projects in this area. These are part of a future-focused programme of work investigating how the OECD key competencies (as described in the revised national curriculum) might help transform teaching and assessment practice.

Our seven spotlight sessions feature recognised leaders in education and will be held during each breakout in the Christchurch Town Hall Auditorium. This year we have invited presenters from Australia and New Zealand.

• Julia Atkin, from Australia, returns to provide some clarity on collected and distributed leadership in relation to the curriculum.
• Westley Field, from the MLC School in Sydney, will talk about the Skoolaborate initiative, emerging technologies, and their implication for learning.
• Greg Gebhart, from IT Vision in Australia, will focus on the shift from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 tools, highlighting a range of free and engaging applications that can enhance student learning.
• Nicola Yelland, Research Professor of Education at Victoria University in Melbourne, will discuss what it means to be literate in new times and the ways in which teachers can provide relevant contexts that support children to become multi-literate by extending their modalities of learning. This spotlight is particularly relevant for early childhood educators.
• Mark Treadwell, from Dataview in New Zealand, will take you on a nationwide tour looking at innovative practices surrounding curriculum, including school and centre management, assessment, the use of ICT, and transformational leadership.
• Cheryl Doig, from Think Beyond, will round off our local contribution by asking leaders to “walk the talk!”.
• Joan Dalton, from Australia, returns again to focus on 21st century learning in a digital, networked world, and asks us what this shifting landscape will mean for teachers.

ULearn’s very first unconference will take place on Friday 10 October during breakouts 6 and 7. An unconference is a conference where the content of the sessions is created and managed by the participants during the course of the event. It is a BYO session in which delegates can introduce a topic, discuss an opinion, or share a viewpoint about a subject.

The principles of ‘Open Space’ unconferences are:

1. Whoever comes are the right people.
2. Whatever happens is the only thing that could have.
3. Whenever it starts is the right time.
4. Whenever it is over it is over.

And, finally, the Law of Two Feet is a guide to people attending an unconference: “If you are not learning or contributing, it is your responsibility to respectfully find another place where you are.”

Remember that whoever comes to your session will depend on who is present at the time, and whatever happens on the day is meant to happen! So, think about what you might like to talk about and be ready to share your ideas at the unconference.