K12 Online Conference Goes Global
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Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 10/19/2009
Teachers, media specialists, and students around the world are gearing up for the 4th Annual K12 Online Conference—a chance for tech-savvy educators to virtually mingle and share, while those less familiar with Web 2.0 tools can learn about their use from the experts themselves. “We’re trying to empower people,” says Wesley Fryer, the executive director for Story Chasers Inc., and one of the co-conveners for this year’s conference scheduled to start the week of December 7. “Sometimes innovators feel isolated in their district, and we want to remind them they’re not alone.”
Take Kim Cofino, from International School Bangkok, who is delivering the preconference keynote the week of Nov. 30. She will discuss “Going Global: Culture Shock, Convergence and the Future of Education” from her post in Thailand.
Her point? That the expatriate life, characterized by new experiences and an openness to adapt to other cultures in all their nuance, reflects the skills 21st-century learners must have in order to succeed—the same skills media specialists and other educators will find helpful in their own teaching.
With its global perspective, the event will feature five sessions conducted in Spanish with English subtitles. Among them, the keynote for the strand “Kicking It Up a Notch” by educator Diego Ernesto Leal Fonseca, says José Rodriguez, a third-grade teacher from East Los Angeles, and one of the co-conveners of the conference. “We’re interested in having a wider audience beyond English-only,” he says.
More than 50,000 people from around the globe have accessed K12’s free materials since the event launched four years ago. While some content is presented live in fireside chats, most of the material is asynchronous, meaning educators can drop in as they have the time. Media specialists and teachers can also earn professional development credit by logging into a 20-minute session or two and downloading a letter to present to their districts—giving them few excuses not to catch at least a few sessions.
Other presenters this year range from educator and filmmaker Mathew Needleman’s chat on copyright, fair use, and piracy concerns in the classroom to the UK’s Drew Buddie and his Web 2.0 tips on teaching The Outsiders (Dell, 1967) to students.
“Ten years ago there was no way we could do this kind of conference,” says Fryer. “I really see this as an explosion of creativity.”
