Learning 2.008

An alternative title for this post might have been:

The Small Town Guy Heads to the Big (Huge Actually) City

It's finally here. I'm sitting here in my classroom about an hour before school begins on Friday morning. This is the last day I'll have to teach before heading out to Shanghai for the Learning 2.008 conference and it's finally hit me: I'm going to China! It's been a crazy few weeks with the beginning if school, trying to write six days of sub plans and finishing my presentations so I really haven't had time to think that much about actually going. In fact, up until yesterday I hadn't even had time to stick "things to do in Shanghai" into Google. If you've got any must see things, please let me know about them.

What's really pumped me up now is that all of the sessions have been posted on the conference ning. Jeff Utecht and his awesome wife spent a few evenings this week putting them all up. Just looking through them, I'm glad I'm going to get to go. There is going to be some powerful learning available in Shanghai next week for those who want to scoop some of it up, turn it over and enter the discussions.

I'm also really excited to be able to meet a whole entire other side of my own learning network that I might never have gotten to know in person. So lets hope through the fog of a 13 hour time change, I'll have enough brain power left in me to learn something from this group.

My session descriptions are posted on the ning, but here they are as well:

Be Kind Rewind: Our Kids are Different

Kids today are different. Period. But just how different are they? There have been many theories about immigrants and natives, about Google making us stupid and about how students don't even know how to read anymore. Is this true? Is any of it true? What kinds of classrooms are kid friendly? How can we organize learning spaces and places to promote the kinds of learners we want our students to become?

Click: Classroom Life in the Fast Lane

A globally connected classroom is a different kind of space. Classroom life is collaborative and fast paced. Tools and time zones come and go, but what do the days actually look like? How do the different technologies fit together? We'll explore how teaching, learning and assessment look different when you connect your classroom with the world.

Literate Online: Reading and Writing are Different on the Web

What it means to be literate is changing. Electronic text is very different from print text. Teaching students how to read and write in these new forms can be complex . This session will also examine how the easy to use technology of RSS has the power to change your classroom. Information on a daily basis from leading experts around the world personalized for every student in your classroom at absolutely no cost. What are some of your options for setting up RSS feeds for use in your classroom?

As well, the one that is giving all of us fits is that we've all been asked to spend 10 minutes in a TED Talks type format the night before the conference begins to try to get people thinking about what this is all about. A small task... Thanks guys.

If you're in Shanghai please come and prop me up against a wall somewhere if you see me curled up in a corner trying to catch a nap!

Tags: learning2.008, shanghai, jeff utecht

Comments

[Claire Thompson]

Clarence, do you know if your sessions will be Ustreamed? I've been interested for quite awhile with what you do with RSS and I'd love to listen in on your 'Literate Online' session.
All the best in Shanghai!

[Jon Hoff]

So so so would love to be in Shanghai for this. Hopefully next year...

[Jenny Luca]

I'll be at the conference Clarence and intend to join some of your sessions. Feel like I've got a lot to learn from you. See you soon. I'm excited too. I'm coming from Australia by myself. Anxious, but above all else really excited and thrilled to have the opportunity to join the conversations.