Weekend Conference

Hi guys! I attended the conference that Edsa was holding this weekend. The keynote speaker was awesome! Look him up on Google and YouTube. His name is Dr. Alec Couros, from Saskatchewan. His talk was on social and open network learning and we as teachers need to use all the social networks and media that is out there like Twitter, blogging, Wordpress, Kidblog etc. in order to be effective teachers. Amazing speaker! Here is a link to one of his videos:< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOlzOy-tmFU>

So, my view on open network learning is that it can have negative consequences as well. For example, (this is an extreme case) a teacher in the united states was fired because there was a picture of her drinking on facebook. I understand rules and regulations are probably different in Canada and even in BC, but I feel it’s hard to monitor yourself on the internet, and even more so if a third party has posted inappropriate pictures of you that you may not even be aware of. But I see Dr. Couros’s point of view of how using this media can be such a great tool towards education and learning. I understand balance, private settings and caution are important things to remember, but I feel it still can backfire. One of the students during the workshop mentioned that BCTIF is very against in using social network media (such as Twitter etc) in classroom learning. The BCTIF member that visited their class had said that it’s best to completely stay away from it so you don’t land yourself in trouble. Some students mentioned having two different accounts, one for work and one for personal.

The second workshop I went to was on Interactive Tecnologies for Teaching and Learing by Dr. Valerie Irvine. She mentioned super-intendant Chris Kennedy is highly keen and for open network learning and recommended looking him up on Twitter. She also brought up another interesting point that instead of completely banning technology, cellphones, Ipads etc, the schools and the teachers need to bring it in their classrooms so they can learn how to be responsibly while using this technology. She said that we need to change, adapt and incorporate technology into our classroom learning. Can’t remember the names of the schools…but she mentioned BC schools are using IPADs and Smart-boards in their classroom learning. Even kindergarten kids are using IPADs!!! The cost of Smart board technology is roughly $2000 and IPADs she said approximately $900. How does the school district and school board fund this?? I asked if the parents are paying extra and she said no. It’s being funded by the school district/board. She was saying education in the 21^st century is becoming very modernized and we as teachers need to use technology into our classroom learning.

Cheers,

Ravinder

(There is still another workshop on different topics tomorrow, you can get the tickets at the David Lam auditorium. You get to pick the morning and afternoon workshop. More information on the topics is posted on Edsa website. It starts at 9am and finishes around 4pm).