K12 Online Conference 2008

Its Pre Conference week on K12 and I find setting the scene is my good friend Stephen Heppell who is talking about, “It Simply Isn’t the 20th Century Any More Is It?: So Why Would We Teach as Though It Was?”

Stephen says of his presentation:

We are in the throes of a financial crisis unparalleled on our lifetimes, and at the same time in front running 21st century schools around the world learning is seeing a transformation that seemed unthinkable in the dark days of 20th century factory schools.

As we move to a new tomorrow built on mutuality, collegiality, communication, community and ingenuity can we learn anything from the colossally expensive financial collapse of Wall Street, the City of London and many of the world’s financial centres.

In three sections, and in a conversational, intimate style, Stephen examines the certainties that stare us in the face from past learning projects that clearly mapped a new world of 21st century learning; he reflects on the impact on technology on the world around us, including the financial world, and ponders on what this means for education, for learning, and for the necessary pace of change as we experience the death of education and the dawn of learning.

This is a presentation not to be missed by this, one of the most influential educationalists of the moment.



PS

The K12 Conference has grown into being one of the most watched/listened to educational conferences on the planet. It is an amazing organisation which attracts the very best of speakers and thinkers to assist in plotting the pathways forward in 21C education. This is what they say for themselves:

The K-12 Online Conference invites participation from educators around the world interested in innovative ways Web 2.0 tools and technologies can be used to improve learning. This FREE conference is run by volunteers and open to everyone. The 2008 conference theme is “Amplifying Possibilities”. This year’s conference begins with a pre-conference keynote the week of October 13, 2008. The following two weeks, October 20-24 and October 27-31, forty presentations will be posted online to the conference blog (this website) for participants to download and view. Live Events in the form of three “Fireside Chats” and a culminating “When Night Falls” event will be announced. Everyone is encouraged to participate in both live events during the conference as well as asynchronous conversations.

This is truly an event not to be missed.