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Cyber Summit on 21st Century Readiness


This is a free, online conference conducted over two and a half weeks by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Running from September 20 through to October 5 with daily webinars, online conversations, presentations, learning resources, videos and more, it will be the place to learn and be heard for anyone who has a stake in improving education. Check out the full schedule of webinars here.

Included are presentations from education leaders such as Bernie Trilling, co-author of 21st Century Skills, also featured are examples of how leading schools, districts and states are implementing policies and practices to ensure that students graduate prepared for success. School libraries get a guernsey with the webinar:
Engaging 21st Century Skills in the Middle with Leslie Preddy, AASL 2010 National School Library Media Program of the Year winner and 2010 Indiana Teacher of the Year Finalist.

This looks good and well worth tapping into during the holiday break.

Personal Learning for teachers

Started another series of Personal Learning sessions today.  Over the next few weeks we’ll take the journey of exploring Web 2.0 resources and their application to the classroom.  It’s not difficult to work with teachers and learning assistants who come along with a real willingness to learn.   This video helps to lighten the learning as it perfectly sums up the effort required to introduce changed practices while continuing with the regular hectic daily pace.

It’s timely to revisit the article I wrote last year about the value of an educator’s Personal Learning Network and the role of the teacher-librarian in supporting school staff to building and developing a network suited to their individual needs.

Elliott, C. (2009) ‘We are not alone: the power of personal learning networks’ in Synergy, 7 (1) pp. 47-50.

On my radar (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

On my radar (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

A Kindle per child in Africa

It’s fascinating to read about the trial distribution of Kindle ebook readers to school age children in Ghana.  The non-profit organisation at the centre of the project, Worldreader, was co-founded by David Risher, a former Amazon senior vice president.  We’ve seen how mobile phones and Nicholas Negroponte’s  one-laptop-per-child project have changed the face of learning and connectivity on the African continent. This momentum is now spreading to e-books which are being seen as an opportunity to leapfrog ahead in confronting literacy issues.

This week in Australia we celebrate CBCA Book Week as an opportunity to focus on quality Australian writing for the young.  In our school libraries we welcome such events as a week or two to nurture reading enjoyment and literacy.  It’s worth spending a moment or two considering how our programs compare with the learning that is being explored in developing countries such as Ghana and other African regions.  The similarities and the differences, all with literacy as a focus.

On my radar (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

On my radar (weekly)

  • The Math 2.0 interest group holds weekly events online on Wednesdays around 9:30 pm or Saturdays 2pm Eastern USA time. The goals are to share resources, to collaborate on our projects, and to save mathematics from its current obscurity in social media. From the comfort of your browser, join live conversations and debates with authors, community leaders, and innovators in mathematics education.  
    Time often doesn’t suit Australians, however, it’s possible to revisit the recorded session to get the presentation without participation.

    tags: maths mathematics online maz onmyradar Elluminate

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

On my radar (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

On my radar (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Joyce Valenza presenting in Australia – SLAV

School Library Association of Victoria is holding a one day conference Make, share do: active online learning in Melbourne on Friday 30th July and featuring acclaimed US school library professional, Joyce Valenza.

Although this is Joyce’s first visit to Australia, she is well known within the school library network and a member of many of our Personal Learning Networks.   She is internationally renowned within the education and library communities for her innovative and practical approach to learning and the changing nature of schooling, the delivery of learning resources and development of a digitally literate community.

I don’t normally promote events via my blog but is this is going to be a fabulous day for all educators interested in the integration of Web 2.0 resources into learning and for library staff seeking to guide students in today’s rich online environment.  Use this registration brochure or visit the SLAV website.