Here we go...my overwhelmed brain is going to spill on the page....

I attended as many workshops as I could, but the fantastic thing about ECOO is that the presenters & speakers are all about sharing...therefore I have tried to access as much as possible for us all.  Here is just a sample of some of the things I learned.

Digital Citizenship:
First I must of course do some shameless self promotion of the presentation that Rob Robson, Matt Arnold & I shared at the conference.  Be sure to check out the presentations & resources lists that we shared in the You are a Digital Citizen tab.  We've added some of the resources that participants in our workshop shared, including:
- Erin D.H.S. library website 
-  Kidsmart 
-  what the Ministry of Education in British Columbia is developing.

Also, other great presentations about Digital Citizenship were going on at the same time as ours.  Be sure to check out the following resources that were shared:
- Digital Citizenship Bootcamp (from Durhan D.S.B.)
- TDSB ICT Standards

Tools & Lesson Ideas:

Math - Ideas for using technology in Mathematics
Mind Mapping - Check out the fantastic diagram of Blooms Taxonomy connected to technology on slide 13.

On Day 2 the keynote speaker was Nora Young from the CBC.  She is an amazing speaker who linked the world of technology & media/social media to how we teach.

She spoke of the new world or "ecosystem" in which we live.  

An interesting observation she made is that she noted how there are many people who document what they eat on social media.  This is so true!  How many of you have seen a picture of someone's wonderfully prepared supper on their Twitter or Facebook feed.  She pointed out that we are living in a world that documents everything.   On Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, BBM, text messages, blogs & wiki's around the world we are documenting what we do, how we do it, where we are going or where we currently are.

How does this impact our teaching?  Are we documenting what we are doing?  Are our classrooms transparent?  How are we teaching students to share, collaborate & interact with the world around them.

She went on to speak of how we are creating a "dynamic feedback loop" that is a relationship between the digital world we are creating and the real world around us.  We leave a "digital trail" behind us as we interact with the digital world.

An example Nora Young gave was Ushahidi, which is a website that was created in Kenya following the post-election violence.   It was used for people to text in where violence was happening in the country.  A map was created to mark these places and to document them, but also to see where violence was occurring.

Young pondered if our new digital world will have an impact on what we consider valuable information and how we will decide if information is credible.  How are we going to allow students to use & engage with this information?  We need to create a critically minded generation.

How can we support our students in this new world?

She described PRIVACY as being one of the "thorny" questions" that arise:

There are potentially creepy situations out there.... One example she gave was the Gigapixel technology  which allows you to piece pictures together, zoom in & then easily tag people.  "Anonymity Used to Mean Privacy. Not Anymore."  This technology was used to identify people in the Vancouver Stanley Cup Riots.

She also mentioned a story about a new "Stalker App" which was used to combine two streams of data "Four Square" and "Facebook" to allow an app to identify  women as they check into bars & then connect to their Facebook page.  Young then explained that the third party capabilities were later turned off on Four Square to prevent this possibility.

I can't wait to use those examples in my DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP education for our Intermediate students.

An interesting fact she presented as well is that 75% of homeless youth are on Facebook.  That really makes you think!

We have a remarkable opportunity 

Check out the video of her presentation at ECOO 2012.

 Stay tuned for my blog update about  resources, links, programs & lesson ideas!

I have so much to share, this may take a couple posts!  I was able to spend Thursday Oct.25 & Friday Oct.26, 2012 at the ECOO conference in Richmond Hill.  Check out the website for more information about the conference & the Educational Computing Organization of Ontario.   I 100% recommend it for any educator.  If you are tech. minded, you will find tons of stuff to add to your bank of tools & lesson strategies.  If you are new to tech. you will find great beginner workshops & ideas to start you on your way.

Here is my summary of the major ideas presented by the keynote speakers on Day 1:

We are not teaching in the 21st  Century, we are teaching and learning in the "NOW" Century.  We are preparing students for "NOW"....or we should be.  Speakers John Seely Brown, Michael Fullan & Donna Fry  spoke about this needed shift in our thinking.  I appreciated that their ideas presented a balance between new philosophies and approaches and those that have been around for centuries.  Be sure to check out the video of John Seely Brown's keynote address. 

Interesting Fact:

- Did you know that YouTube uploads 72 hours of video per minute?  That fact from Google Senior Education Evangelist Jaime Casap.  

He was an entertaining speaker, who really engaged the audience.   He brought up some great things that really made us think about how we are educating children & what world we are preparing them for.  He made us think about the fact that we are teaching children who already know that it isn't possible for them to know everything, as a matter of fact, they aren't concerned about learning everything because they know the answer is out there...they just need to look it up.   When you consider that knowledge is at their fingertips, how does this change how we teach?  How they learn?  This is a huge shift.  

This is, of course, only a brief summary of some of the ideas presented yesterday.  

So much more to come...stay tuned for my upcoming blog posts which will contain a summary of the ideas presented by Friday's keynote speaker, as well as resources, tools & teaching strategies.  There will be something for everyone!

I can't believe that it is already the middle of October.  Time is absolutely flying this school year.  I've added a few new resources to our staff site.  Be sure to check out the following:

UG2GO has been updated and those changes and information about new programs are available by clicking on Online for Students.  Be sure to check out the program descriptions that Michelle Campbell, supervisor of Media Services, created to help staff and students get a quick overview of what is available.

Don't forget to order resources from the Terry James Resource Centre.  You can order resources online, through e-mail or by phone.   

Celebrations & special events are a great time to integrate technology into the classroom.  Check out the new Celebrations link I added to the Resources by Theme page.  I've now added resources and activities for Halloween.

Are you a kindergarten or early primary teacher looking for a fun site to engage your learners, that is easy to use?  Try this Boowa & Kwala  games site from Australia. It has 818 games that focus on basic skill development.  It is easy to use & navigate through.  It has been added to the primary links on the school library website.  It is absolutely worth checking out!

I'm excited to be going to the ECOO Conference later this week & even more excited to add new resources and ideas for you on this site, as I learn them.  

As I'm thinking ahead to this conference I'm reminded of a clip I saw a few years ago, of Bobby McFerrin speaking at a Neuroscience Conference.  Something to consider trying with your music class.  :)