Monday, December 13, 2010

Edublog Awards Live Show, and Last Chance to Vote!

We've just announced the time and date for the 2010 Edublog Awards Ceremony, which will be this Wednesday, December 15th US Time 4:00pm PST / 7:00pm EST (international times here). 

Remember, voting closes before this -- at 11:59pm US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday December 14th.  That's 8:59pm US PST.  (International times here.)  Don't delay!  Vote now!

The Awards Ceremony will be held in Elluminate again this year (my favorite real-time web meeting platform, and--of course--my employer :).  Sue Waters from Edublogs and I will be co-hosting the show and announcing the winners in this live ceremony.  The link to enter the show is https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2008350&password=M.4B894D4EAF91C3FB2995800EC6F804.

If you are new to Elluminate — please make sure that your computer is configured for Elluminate before the event by visiting Elluminate Support.  We'll open up the Elluminate room 30 minutes before we start, and we encourage you to come in a few minutes early to set your microphone up and make sure you're connected.   We’ll hold a special introduction to Elluminate 15 minutes before the awards ceremony is scheduled to begin for those that have never used it before. Those who would prefer, or have any difficulty connecting, can use the telephone bridge by dialing 913-312-1029 (US toll-free at 877-880-7307) and then using the PIN 495124.  

If you are a potential award winner we just want to make sure you know that should you win we'll give you a minute or two to say a few words.  We expect the show will last around 90 minutes, but we make no guarantees!  Following the show we'll open the mics and webcams and have a "virtual" post-show / year-end party.  We hope you'll join us for what you can.

I want to express my personal appreciation to all who are involved in education and contribute through blogging, social networking, social media, and other educational technologies.  The Edublog Awards voting system is admittedly an imperfect methodology for recognizing all of those contributions, but hopefully it is a way of celebrating some of the contributions that we accomplish together.  If you feel someone was overlooked or under-recognized, we'll have a chance for you to shout out "well done" to them during the show!  And from me, Thank You!

See you online!

Live Thursday Dec. 16th with Writer Alfie Kohn (note early time)

Join me Thursday, December 16th, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com webinar with Alfie Kohn, author of eleven books, including The Homework Myth:  Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing and Punished By Rewards:  The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes.  Kohn writes and speaks widely on human behavior, education, and parenting. His criticisms of competition and rewards have been widely discussed and debated, and he has been described in Time magazine as "perhaps the country's most outspoken critic of education's fixation on grades [and] test scores."

Date: Thursday, December 16th, 2010
Time: 12pm Pacific / 3pm Eastern / 8pm GMT (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Elluminate. Log in at http://tr.im/futureofed. The Elluminate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Elluminate, please visit http://www.elluminate.com/support. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page.
Event and Recording Pagehttp://www.learncentral.org/event/125470

Alfie Kohn's criticisms of competition and rewards have helped to shape the thinking of educators -- as well as parents and managers -- across the country and abroad. Kohn has been featured on hundreds of TV and radio programs, including the "Today" show and two appearances on "Oprah"; he has been profiled in the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, while his work has been described and debated in many other leading publications.

Kohn lectures widely at universities and to school faculties, parent groups, and corporations. In addition to speaking at staff development seminars and keynoting national education conferences on a regular basis, he conducts workshops for teachers and administrators on various topics. Among them: "Motivation from the Inside Out: Rethinking Rewards, Assessment, and Learning" and "Beyond Bribes and Threats: Realistic Alternatives to Controlling Students' Behavior." The latter corresponds to his book BEYOND DISCIPLINE: From Compliance to Community (ASCD, 1996), which he describes as "a modest attempt to overthrow the entire field of classroom management."

Kohn's various books have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, German, Italian, Swedish, Dutch, Bulgarian, Portuguese, Arabic, Hebrew, Thai, and Malaysian. He has also contributed to publications ranging from the Journal of Education to Ladies Home Journal, and from the Nation to the Harvard Business Review ("Why Incentive Plans Cannot Work"). His efforts to make research in human behavior accessible to a general audience have also been published in the Atlantic Monthly, Parents, and Psychology Today.

His many articles on education include a dozen widely reprinted essays in Phi Delta Kappan from 1991 to 2008. Among them: "Choices for Children: Why and How to Let Students Decide," "How Not to Teach Values: A Critical Look at Character Education," "Test Today, Privatize Tomorrow," and "Why Self-Discipline is Overrated."

Kohn lives (actually) in the Boston area with his wife and two children, and (virtually) at www.alfiekohn.org.

The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing

Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason

What Does it Mean to Be Well Educated? And Other Essays on Standards, Grading, and Other Follies

The Case Against Standardized Testing: Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools

The Schools Our Children Deserve: Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and "Tougher Standards"

What to Look for in a Classroom: And Other Essays

Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community

Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes

The Brighter Side Of Human Nature: Altruism And Empathy In Everyday Life

You Know What They Say: The Truth About Popular Beliefs

No Contest: The Case Against Competition

Education, Inc.: Turning Learning into a Business

Live Tuesday Dec. 14th with Deborah Meier--Education Reformer, Writer, and Activist.

Join me Tuesday, December 14th, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com webinar with Deborah Meier, education reformer, writer, and activist. Deborah is currently at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education, as senior scholar as well as Board member and director of New Ventures at Mission Hill, director and advisor to Forum for Democracy and Education, and on the Board of The Coalition of Essential Schools.

Date: Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern / 1am (next day) GMT (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Elluminate. Log in at http://tr.im/futureofed. The Elluminate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Elluminate, please visit http://www.elluminate.com/support. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page.
Event and Recording Pagehttp://www.learncentral.org/event/124181

Deborah Meier has spent more than four decades working in public education as a teacher, writer and public advocate. She began her teaching career as a kindergarten and headstart teacher in Chicago, Philadelphia and New York City schools. She was the founder and teacher-director of a network of highly successful public elementary schools in East Harlem. In 1985 she founded Central Park East Secondary School, a New York City public high school in which more than 90% of the entering students went on to college, mostly to 4-year schools. During this period she founded a local Coalition center, which networked approximately fifty small Coalition-style K-12 schools in the city.

Between 1992-96 she also served as co-director of a project (Coalition Campus Project) that successfully redesigned two large failing city high schools, and created a dozen new small Coalition schools.  She was an advisor to New York City’s Annenberg Challenge and Senior Fellow at the Annenberg Institute at Brown University from 1995-1997.

From 1997 to 2005 she was the founder and principal of the Mission Hill School a K-8 Boston Public Pilot school serving 180 children in the Roxbury community.

The schools she has helped create serve predominantly low-income African-American and Latino students, and include a typical range of students in terms of academic skills, special needs, etc. There are no entrance requirements. These schools are considered exemplars of reform nationally and affiliates of the national Coalition of Essential Schools founded by Dr. Ted Sizer.

A learning theorist, she encourages new approaches that enhance democracy and equity in public education. Meier is on the editorial board of Dissent magazine, The Nation and the Harvard Education Letter. She is a Board member of the Association of Union Democracy, Educators for Social Responsibility, the Panasonic Foundation, and a founding member of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, the North Dakota Study Group on Evaluation and the Forum for Democracy and Education, among others.

Meier was born April 6, 1931 in New York City; she attended Antioch College (1949-51) and received an MA in History from the University of Chicago (1955). She has received honorary degrees from Bank Street College of Education, Brown, Bard, Clark, Teachers College of Columbia University, Dartmouth, Harvard, Hebrew Union College, Hofstra, The New School, Lesley College, SUNY Albany, UMASS Lowell, and Yale. She was a recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in 1987.

Her books, The Power of Their Ideas, Lessons to America from a Small School in Harlem (1995), Will Standards Save Public Education (2000), In Schools We Trust (2002), Keeping School, with Ted and Nancy Sizer  (2004) and Many Children Left Behind (2004) are all published by Beacon Press, as well as her latest, Playing for Keeps, with Breda Engel and Beth Taylor published by Teachers College Press.

The Power of Their Ideas: Lessons for America from a Small School in Harlem

Will Standards Save Public Education

In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing and S tandardization

Keeping School: Letters to Families from Principals of Two Small Schools

Many Children Left Behind: How the No Child Left Behind Act Is Damaging Our Children and Our Schools

Playing for Keeps: Life and Learning on a Public School Playground (0)

Week of December 13, 2010 - Live, Interactive, and Free Webinars in Elluminate

Below are this week's public, free, and interactive Webinars through LearnCentral.org, the social learning network for education that I work on for Elluminate.

The time of the events below will show up automatically in your own time zone when you are registered in LearnCentral and when you have chosen your time zone in your profile, or you can check the new event time converter on the event page. Event recordings are posted and available after the events if you aren't able to attend them live. If you are looking for an easy calendar import / RSS feed for these events, you'll now find a link on your calendar page or the calendar page of specific groups!

We hope you will consider hosting your own public webinars using the free LearnCentral public room--instructions are available by joining the "Host Your Own Webinar" group on the main announcement tab (http://www.learncentral.org/group/3432/host-your-own-webinars).

Thanks for your attention, and see you online!

"MINI-GEEK FEST" MONTHLY ONLINE CONVERSATION-DECEMBER, 2010 (AZTEA PD)
Mon 13 Dec 10:00PM New York / Tue 13 Dec 03:00AM GMT / Tue 14 Dec 02:00PM Sydney
Peggy George and Kim Thomas. Do you get excited and energized by talking with other educators about technology tools and resources? Do you often feel overwhelmed with all of the new tools and feel you don't have time to keep up with everything? If you do, then the Mini-Geek Fest is here for you! No homework, no assignments, no cost—just an hour online, once a month to listen, share and discuss technology tools for your classroom, websites and more. Join co-hosts Kim Thomas and Peggy George in AzTEA Elluminate from the comfort of your own home. Professional Development credit (1 hour) will be available. The show is on the second Monday of each month from 8-9PM (MST-AZ). It's not a presentation or a tutorial, but a conversation--think of it like a "show and tell" where ALL participants can contribute. Shows will be recorded and archived so if you can't participate in the live sessions, you can listen to the recordings later. We look forward to an exciting and interesting conversation! Feel free to share this invitation with your "tech-loving" colleagues.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/118428/

TECH TALK TUESDAYS: END OF YEAR AND CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS (THE AUSTRALIA SERIES)
Mon 13 Dec 11:45PM New York / Tue 13 Dec 04:45AM GMT / Tue 14 Dec 03:45PM Sydney
Anne Mirtschin. As this is the last session for 2010, let’s celebrate with some fun, games and general sharing. There will be presents for all, so wear some party/Christmas headgear and share it using the video cam & microphone. Bring a photo and share Christmas celebrations with those from other cultures. Bring some food for the virtual feast (copyright free images etc) Share your most exciting moment for 2010 Bring any ideas you may have for this last session for 2010.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/124994/

IMPROVE YOUR TRAINING SESSIONS THROUGH IMPROV GAMES (ELLUMINATE LIVE EVENTS)
Tue 14 Dec 01:00PM New York / Tue 14 Dec 06:00PM GMT / Wed 15 Dec 05:00AM Sydney
Tracy Tagliati and Dr. Sivasailam "Thiagi" Thiagarajan. Based on sarcastic slights from corporate types, we have identified three major objections to using improv sessions for training purposes. Using an interactive improv approach, we will explores strategies for reducing and removing these complaints. You learn how to adapt improv games to improve their instructional effectiveness. In this walk-the-talk session, you will explore and plagiarize improv strategies for improving human performance.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/122899

ED. RESOURCES (HOST YOUR OWN WEBINARS)
Tue 14 Dec 03:30PM New York / Tue 14 Dec 08:30PM GMT / Wed 15 Dec 07:30AM Sydney
Andrew Pass. A Discussion of useful educational resources in the 21st Century
http://www.learncentral.org/event/109629

INTRODUCTION TO MYSAKAI: AN ONLINE LEARNING MANAGEMENT TOOL (HOST YOUR OWN WEBINARS)
Tue 14 Dec 08:00PM New York / Wed 14 Dec 01:00AM GMT / Wed 15 Dec 12:00PM Sydney
Kimberly Lightle. Learn how to set up a basic classroom and use some of the basic tools in rSmart's mySakai, an online learning management tool similar to Blackboard and Moodle.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/123974

INTERVIEW WITH DEBORAH MEIER (FUTURE OF EDUCATION)
Tue 14 Dec 08:00PM New York / Wed 14 Dec 01:00AM GMT / Wed 15 Dec 12:00PM Sydney
Steve Hargadon. Steve Hargadon interviews Deborah Meier, education reformer, writer, and activist.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/124181

ET@LKING: A VIRTUAL PARTY AND CELEBRATION (THE AUSTRALIA SERIES)
Wed 15 Dec 04:00AM New York / Wed 15 Dec 09:00AM GMT / Wed 15 Dec 08:00PM Sydney
Anne Mirtschin. As this is the last session for 2010, we will have a party with fun, games, sharing conversations etc. Please bring along some or all of the following and share with us all:- A highlight for the yearA photo (resized) depicting where you live or your cultureYour favourite moments of 2010 – educational/personalA funny moment, a sad moment and a proud momentSomething new you tried this year educationallyFor those who celebrate Christmas, an object to share over the webcam or an image (resized) to place on the whiteboardMost importantly some virtual food (images, photos- copyright free)games or ideas
http://www.learncentral.org/event/124998

2010 EDUBLOG AWARDS LIVE CEREMONY (EDUBLOG AWARDS)
Wed 15 Dec 07:00PM New York / Thu 16 Dec 12:00AM GMT / Thu 16 Dec 11:00AM Sydney
Sue Waters and Steve Hargadon. The awards ceremony will be broadcast live in Elluminate and we’ll hold a special introduction to Elluminate 15 minutes before the awards ceremony is scheduled to begin for those that have never used it before. Those that are announced as winners in each category will be offered a chance to speak – so if you are nominated, you may want to be prepared with a microphone and a few words if you’d like. :)
http://www.learncentral.org/event/125956

FINNODE: IMPLEMENTING THE VIRTUAL SOCIAL LEARNING COMMUNITY (HOST YOUR OWN WEBINAR)
Thu 16 Dec 11:00AM New York / Thu 16 Dec 04:00PM GMT / Fri 17 Dec 03:00AM Sydney
Maria Pinnear. We are delighted to invite you to a FinNode Social eLearning webinar. During this webinar, school leaders from the US and Finland will discuss how they transferred their successful learning environments in their school to their virtual social learning environments and how it is transforming their already successful school.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/125028

INTERVIEW WITH ALFIE KOHN (FUTURE OF EDUCATION)
Thu 16 Dec 03:00PM New York / Thu 16 Dec 08:00PM GMT / Fri 17 Dec 07:00AM Sydney
Steve Hargadon. Steve Hargadon interviews education writer Alfie Kohn, author of eleven book, including "The Homework Myth" and "Punished by Rewards."
http://www.learncentral.org/event/125470

EDUBLOGS SERENDIPITY/FINE FOCUS - END OF YEAR VIRTUAL PARTY (THE AUSTRALIA SERIES)
Thu 16 Dec 06:00PM New York / Thu 16 Dec 11:00PM GMT / Fri 17 Dec 10:00AM Sydney
Jo Hart. Join us for our final Serendipity/Fine Focus for this year! Its time to party. This week we have a virtual party to celebrate another year of Serendipity/Fine Focus. We invite you to bring along your virtual goodies to share - there will definitely be chocolate! Share your ideas for the future of Serendipity/Fine focus and join us in some virtual games. PS if you have something to share in the New Year we would love you to present a session for us!
http://www.learncentral.org/event/122837

THE KNOWLEDGE SHARING PLACE - TIPS & TRICKS (HOST YOUR OWN WEBINAR)
Thu 16 Dec 07:00PM New York / Fri 16 Dec 12:00AM GMT / Fri 17 Dec 11:00AM Sydney
Dean Mantz. Join Tina Schneider and Barbara Tallent of LiveBinders along with Dean Mantz from Mantz's Mission as they talk tips and tricks for a successful experience using LiveBinders. Come join the fun!
http://www.learncentral.org/event/121445

FEATURED TEACHER - LEE KOLBERT (CLASSROOM 2.0 LIVE)
Sat 18 Dec 12:00PM New York / Sat 18 Dec 05:00PM GMT / Sun 19 Dec 04:00AM Sydney
Kim Caise, Lorna Costantini and Peggy George. Featured teacher, Lee Kolbert will share the ways she uses technology in her classroom.
http://www.learncentral.org/node/125548

Monday, December 06, 2010

The 2010 Edublog Award Nominations - Vote Now!

In their 7th year, the Edublog Awards are a chance to celebrate blogging, social media, and Web 2.0 in education.  I should note that I am co-host of the actual awards ceremony, that Classroom 2.0 is both a previous winner of an Edublog Award and the co-sponsor of the event, and that projects of mine have received 10 nominations this year.

With those appropriate caveats, let me encourage you to go to the award site and vote!  The full list of categories for the 2010 Edublog awards are listed below. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn about many terrific sites and individuals.

All nominees (and links!) for the categories below are at http://edublogawards.com/.

Best individual blog
Best individual tweeter
Best group blog
Best new blog
Best class blog
Best student blog
Best resource sharing blog
Most influential blog post
Most influential tweet / series of tweets / tweet based discussion
Best teacher blog
Best librarian / library blog
Best School Administrator blog
Best educational tech support blog
Best elearning / corporate education blog
Best educational use of audio
Best educational use of video / visual
Best educational wiki
Best educational podcast
Best educational webinar series
Best educational use of a social networking
Best educational use of a virtual world
Best use of a PLN
Lifetime achievement

The nominations that involve me are:

Friday, December 03, 2010

Week of December 6, 2010 - Live, Interactive, and Free Webinars in Elluminate

Below are this week's public, free, and interactive Webinars through LearnCentral.org, the social learning network for education that I work on for Elluminate.

The time of the events below will show up automatically in your own time zone when you are registered in LearnCentral and when you have chosen your time zone in your profile, or you can check the new event time converter on the event page. Event recordings are posted and available after the events if you aren't able to attend them live. If you are looking for an easy calendar import / RSS feed for these events, you'll now find a link on your calendar page or the calendar page of specific groups!

We hope you will consider hosting your own public webinars using the free LearnCentral public room--instructions are available by joining the "Host Your Own Webinar" group on the main announcement tab (http://www.learncentral.org/group/3432/host-your-own-webinars).

Thanks for your attention, and see you online!

PARENTS AS PARTNERS (HOST YOUR OWN WEBINAR)
Mon 6 Dec 09:00PM New York / Tue 6 Dec 02:00AM GMT / Tue 6 Dec 12:00PM Sydney
Lorna Costantini. Amanda Henson from Parentella will be joining us to share how they connect teachers and parents using their free software application.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/122519/

TECH TALK TUESDAYS: IPADS - QUESTIONS, APPS, RESOURCES & DISCUSSION (AUSTRALIA SERIES)
Mon 6 Dec 11:45PM New York / Tue 6 Dec 04:45AM GMT / Tue 6 Dec 02:45PM Sydney
Anne Mirtschin. What do you know about the iPad? What would you like to know? Why are you interested in using the iPad in your classroom? Is it the right piece of technology for you? This session is more of a conversation than a presentation and will cover these and more questions as well as a few iPad (and iPod Touch) apps that you might like to explore. So come along ready to ask, answer and share as well as pick up some ideas and resources along the way.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/123491

THE NEW BLENDED LEARNING (ELLUMINATE LIVE EVENTS)
Tue 7 Dec 01:00PM New York / Tue 7 Dec 06:00PM GMT / Wed 7 Dec 04:00AM Sydney
David Wilkins. Blended learning has become an accepted practice in the learning space. Blended today means some combination of online learning, classroom experiences, and on-the-job mentoring. It’s benefits and impacts are well-known and well-researched. But what if we’re not really blending the right stuff? What if the gains we’ve seen to date are just the tip of the iceberg? Today’s blended learning is a cocktail of ice, water, and seltzer water – all variations on a theme, the theme of top-down learning. We’re blending delivery models, but not the learning paradigm. The new blended learning mixes formal learning with collaborative and social learning, internal learning with training for the extended enterprise. In this session, we’re going to discussion what the new blending looks like, how it differs from the old, and why you should consider adding it to your mix. We’ll talk about when and how to blend social into your formal learning mix, and how to get started. Join us for this interactive webinar.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/122902

ED. RESOURCES (HOST YOUR OWN WEBINARS)
Tue 7 Dec 03:30PM New York / Tue 7 Dec 08:30PM GMT / Wed 7 Dec 06:30AM Sydney
Andrew Pass. A discussion of useful educational resources in the 21st Century.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/109621

MSP2 ONLINE BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION - UNSCIENTIFIC AMERICA (HOST YOUR OWN WEBINAR )
Tue 7 Dec 07:00PM New York / Wed 7 Dec 12:00AM GMT / Wed 7 Dec 10:00AM Sydney
Kimberly Lightle. In Unscientific America journalist and author Chris Mooney teams up with scientist Sheril Kirshenbaum to explain how religious ideologues, science-phobic politicians, a profit driven media, and hyper-specialized scientists have all helped create this dangerous state of affairs. They propose a broad array of initiatives to reverse the current trend, and bring about a greater integration of science into our national discourse—before it's too late.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/112625

INTERVIEW WITH KIERAN EGAN (FUTURE OF EDUCATION)
Tue 7 Dec 08:00PM New York / Wed 7 Dec 01:00AM GMT / Wed 7 Dec 11:00AM Sydney
Steve Hargadon. Steve Hargadon interviews Kieran Egan, director of the Imaginative Education Research Group. Dr. Egan's work focuses on a new educational theory and its implications for a changed curriculum, teaching practices, and the institution of the school. He is the author of over 20 books, including most recently The Future of Education: Reimagining Our Schools from the Ground Up, and Learning in Depth (coming 2011).
http://www.learncentral.org/node/124183

CAPTURING THE D N A: A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO KEEPING LEADERSHIP ALIVE ACROSS THE GENERATIONS (ELLUMINATE LIVE EVENTS)
Wed 8 Dec 01:00PM New York / Wed 8 Dec 06:00PM GMT / Thu 8 Dec 04:00AM Sydney
Gabriella Salvatore. Is a generation of leadership knowledge moving to Florida in 2014? How should we accommodate the changing face of our workforce as the Boomers retire? Capturing a generation’s knowledge (tacit and otherwise)—keeping what’s relevant for current business and sifting through that which no longer resonates—is THE leadership development charge and challenge of the day. In this complimentary webinar, learning strategist, Gabriella Salvatore, will talk about leadership development process and content, sharing data from a proprietary industry study she has been conducting that focuses on the learning needs of the next generation as well as the most practical and innovative methods for meeting them.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/122896/

CONCERNS ABOUT STUDENT'S ASSESSMENT. PART D (HOST YOUR OWN WEBINAR)
Wed 8 Dec 02:00PM New York / Wed 8 Dec 07:00PM GMT / Thu 8 Dec 05:00AM Sydney
George Panagiotakopoulos. Starting from the practices and personal views about the planning of an exam, we will try to make: i) a reflection via the personal views of other peers, ii) a presentation of the fundamental and problems of assessment, iii) a conversation about the criticism and the side-effects that have been found from the research. We will try to clear up the misunderstandings about the procedure and the role of student’s assessment. The protection from side - effects will be the webinar’s conclusion. Webinar will be held in Greek language.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/124019/

MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES AND MOODLE Q&A (HOST YOUR OWN WEBINAR)
Wed 8 Dec 03:30PM New York / Wed 8 Dec 08:30PM GMT / Thu 8 Dec 06:30AM Sydney
Laura Mikowychok. Are you interested in developing mobile apps or having your students develop mobile apps in the classroom? If so, then this presentation is for you! During this presentation we will discuss cases of m obile learning use and demonstrate how to develop mobile apps using Google’s easy-to-use App Inventor tool. This free tool requires no programming and allows you to publish real mobile apps. Dr. Ray Pastore, Assistant Professor of Instructional Technology at Watson School of Education, University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) will discuss Mobile Learning: How to use and develop mobile apps for the classroom.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/123294

ANVILL'S LESSON TOOLS (HOST YOUR OWN WEBINAR)
Wed 8 Dec 07:00PM New York / Thu 8 Dec 12:00AM GMT / Thu 8 Dec 10:00AM Sydney
Jeff Magoto. Authoring content -- making materials -- online or off is a challenge. Hopefully ANVILL's tools have made designing lessons around speaking activities considerably easier. Let's examine and discuss. some of the possibilities Tcasting, Voiceboards and others open up for language teachers who are trying to incorporate more task-based speaking in their courses
http://www.learncentral.org/event/122794

BUILDING CAMPUS COMMUNITY AND CONDUCTING STAFF TRAINING INSTANTLY WITH PRONTO (HOST YOUR OWN WEBINAR)
Thu 9 Dec 12:00PM New York / Thu 9 Dec 05:00PM GMT / Fri 9 Dec 03:00AM Sydney
Gailene Nelson. Learn how two schools have used Wimba Pronto for years to instantly connect classmates, IT departments, and staff
http://www.learncentral.org/event/123654

DO-IT-YOURSELF ELEARNING WITH FREE AND INSTANT DELIVERY TOOLS (ELLUMINATE LIVE EVENTS)
Thu 9 Dec 01:00PM New York / Thu 9 Dec 06:00PM GMT / Fri 9 Dec 04:00AM Sydney
Ray Jimenez. How do you drastically cut cost and immediately roll-out eLearning? Do-it-yourself. Whether you are a lone and single do-it-all eLearning department or part of the large development team, the skills of the do-it-yourself eLearning producer are of increasingly high value. Many eLearning initiatives have to be done and delivered now and you are expected to respond. In this webinar, you will learn quick and dirty - but effective - eLearning approaches. You will learn a simplified design and low costs solutions.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/122898/

CITIZEN SCIENCE AND INQUIRY (HOST YOUR OWN WEBINAR)
Thu 9 Dec 04:00PM New York / Thu 9 Dec 09:00PM GMT / Fri 9 Dec 07:00AM Sydney
Kimberly Lightle. The presenter will share how teachers and students can get involved with bird-related citizen-science projects and authentic outdoor inquiry!
http://www.learncentral.org/event/89906

INTERVIEW WITH JULIE YOUNG (FUTURE OF EDUCATION)
Thu 9 Dec 08:00PM New York / Fri 9 Dec 01:00AM GMT / Fri 9 Dec 11:00AM Sydney
Steve Hargadon. Steve Hargadon will interview Julie Young, President and Chief Executive Officer of Florida Virtual School. In 1997, Julie Young pioneered the launch of Florida Virtual School with the goal of providing high quality, online courses to students throughout the State of Florida. That vision has resulted in Florida Virtual School’s becoming the largest provider of Internet-based courseware and instruction for middle and high school students in Florida and around the globe.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/124184

FEATURED TEACHER - LEE KOLBERT (CLASSROOM 2.0 LIVE)
Sat 11 Dec 12:00PM New York / Sat 11 Dec 05:00PM GMT / Sun 11 Dec 03:00AM Sydney
Kim Caise, Lorna Costantini and Peggy George. Featured teacher, Lee Kolbert will share the ways she uses technology in her classroom.
http://www.learncentral.org/node/124178

Live Thursday Dec. 9th with Julie Young from Florida Virtual School

Join me Thursday, December 9th, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com webinar with Julie Young, President and Chief Executive Officer of Florida Virtual School.  In 1997, Julie Young pioneered the launch of Florida Virtual School with the goal of providing high quality, online courses to students throughout the State of Florida. That vision has resulted in Florida Virtual School’s becoming the largest provider of Internet-based courseware and instruction for middle and high school students in Florida and around the globe.

Date: Thursday, December 9th, 2010
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern / 12am (next day) GMT (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Elluminate. Log in at http://tr.im/futureofed. The Elluminate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Elluminate, please visit http://www.elluminate.com/support. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page.
Event and Recording Pagehttp://www.learncentral.org/event/124184

Julie Young began her career as a classroom teacher and has since served as an administrator and leading e-Learning expert and advocate. Today, as the president and chief executive officer of Florida Virtual School, she directs the work of more than 1200 faculty and administrators, courseware developers, web design specialists and technology support personnel. She is a frequent national conference speaker and has played an important role in charting the course of virtual K-12 education.

Ms. Young is the Chairman of the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) and serves on the boards of the International Association for K12 Online Learning and the Florida Learning Alliance. She is a member of the Southern Regional Education Board’s Distance Learning Task Force, the Florida Taxwatch Center for Educational Performance and Accountability, and the UT TeleCampus National Advisory Board. Ms. Young was recognized by Technology & Learning Magazine as one of the Top 30 influencers in Ed Tech, along with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. In 2003, she was inducted into the USDLA “Hall of Fame.”

Under Ms. Young’s leadership, Florida Virtual School has been recognized for its work by the National School Boards Association and the Canadian Association for Distance Education. Florida Virtual School has received two 2010 CODiE Awards: Best Reading/English Instructional Solution & Best Social Studies Instructional Solution. FLVS was also honored with the 2009 and 2007 USDLA 21st Century award for Best Practice in Distance Learning, the 2008 Better Government Competition Award from the Pioneer Institute, the EdNET 2007 Pioneer of the Year Award and the 2006 EdNET Impact award. In 2003, her school was named as one of the WebSmart Top 50 organizations by Business Week Magazine.

Ms. Young earned her Master of Science degree in Administration and Supervision from the University of South Florida, and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education from the University of Kentucky.

Live Tuesday Dec. 7th with Kieran Egan on "Re-imagining Education"

Join me Tuesday, December 7th, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com webinar with Kieran Egan, director of the Imaginative Education Research Group, which was founded by the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. The goal of this group is to improve education on a global scale, and Dr. Egan's work specifically focuses on a new educational theory and its implications for a changed curriculum, teaching practices, and the institution of the school.  He is the author of over 20 books, including most recently The Future of Education:  Reimagining Our Schools from the Ground Up, and Learning in Depth (coming 2011).

Date: Tuesday, December 7th, 2010
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern / 12am (next day) GMT (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Elluminate. Log in at http://tr.im/futureofed. The Elluminate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Elluminate, please visit http://www.elluminate.com/support. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page.
Event and Recording Pagehttp://www.learncentral.org/event/124183

Kieran Egan was born in Clonmel, Ireland in 1942. He was brought up and educated in England. He read History (Hons.) at the University of London, graduating with a B.A. in 1966. He worked for a year as a Research fellow at the Institute for Comparative Studies in Kingston-upon-Thames and then moved to the USA to begin a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Education at Stanford University. He worked concurrently as a consultant to the I.B.M. Corp. on adaptation of a programming method, called Structural Communication, to new computing systems. He completed his Ph.D. at Cornell University in 1972. His first job was at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, where he has remained ever since. He is the author of over 20 books, and co-author, editor, or co-editor of a few more. In 1991 he received the Grawemeyer Award in Education. In 1993 he was elected to the Royal Society of Canada, in 2000 he was elected as Foreign Associate member to U.S. National Academy of Education, he received a Canada Research Chair in 2001, won the Whitworth Award in 2007. His main area of interest is education. His work focuses on a new educational theory, which he has developed during the past two decades, and its implications for a changed curriculum, teaching practices, and the institution of the school. His work deals both with innovative educational theory and detailed practical methods whereby implications of his theory can be applied at the classroom level. Various of his books have been translated into about 10 European and Asian languages. His recent books include Teaching as Story Telling and Imagination in Teaching and Learning (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), The Educated Mind: How cognitive tools shape our understanding (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997), Getting it Wrong from the Beginning: Our progressivist inheritance from Herbert Spencer, John Dewey, and Jean Piaget (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002), An imaginative approach to teaching (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,2005), and Teaching literacy: Engaging the imagination of new readers and writers (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2006), and most recently The Future of Education: Reimagining our schools from the ground up (New Haven: Yale University Press).

The Future of Education: Reimagining Our Schools from the Ground Up

Teaching Literacy: Engaging the Imagination of New Readers and Writers

An Imaginative Approach to Teaching

Getting It Wrong from the Beginning: Our Progressivist Inheritance from Herbert Spencer, John Dewey, and Jean Piaget

The Educated Mind: How Cognitive Tools Shape Our Understanding

Teaching as Story Telling: An Alternative Approach to Teaching and Curriculum in the Elementary School