The 21Century Learners hosted Qatar’s first TEDx event, TEDxQA. The event was held in the spirit of the TEDTalks – promoting ideas worth spreading. The aim was to build a larger local community of knowledge-seekers, discuss new ideas and watch inspiring presentations in order to make a difference and help shape the future.
NOTE: This is NOT an official TED event, but an independently organized TEDx event. This event is NOT being organized by the TED organization.
March 20, 2009
Special guest David Warlick.
We will make this the usual brunch session. Arrive at 8:30, ready for a 9:00 start.
David Warlick is a former classroom teacher, programmer and public speaker Since 1985 he has worked as a consultant helping educators around the world to better understand today's changing information landscape.
More information about David at http://davidwarlick.com Find also Handouts from presentations
Personal Learning Networks - read this FREE until end of April article just published in the Learning and Leading magazine of ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), Grow Your Personal Learning Network
Kim Cofino is our special guest this month. Kim is the 21st Century Literacy Specialist based in the Primary School library at International School Bangkok. Kim works as an information and technology integration specialist across the Primary and Middle schools at ISB. We are lucky to have her here at QA in the Senior School working with 21st century literacy objectives.
In addition we are very fortunate to have as a consultant at QA Dr John Turner, digital educator, flat classroom teacher and educationla technology leader. John is working with teachers to support the 1:1 implementation and is developing approaches and skills for 21st century learning.
Our theme for the week and this session of 21st Century Learners is "Create the Future". Our PD sessions this week in the QA Senior School are about creating a new future at QA that includes mobile computing in a 1:1 learning environment for the senior schoo and also includes online learning modes. We are busily discussing what it means to be a 21st century learner, teacher and classroom and coming towards creating a workable document for ALL learners at QA that reflect the need and the application of these 21st century skills and attitudes.
read Wes Fryer's blog post about this and explore more of Wendy's resources, including her K12 Online 08 presentation "Teaching Web 2.0: Everything you need in one place"
November 20, 2008
This session will be with http://stager.org Gary Stager as our guest. The theme is "What if there are no 21st Century Skills?"
Getting ready for our next session.......
Reading material:
Footprints in the Digital Age by Will Richardson ASCD introduction - In the Web 2.0 world, self-directed learners must be adept at building and sustaining networks. The author of "Footprints in the Digital Age" examines how the Web 2.0 world has resulted in digital footprints -- the online portfolios of who we are, what we do and, by association, what we know -- becoming increasingly woven into the fabric of almost every aspect of our lives. This article in the latest Educational Leadership explains that if we embrace the moment, rather than recoil from it, we may find opportunities to empower students to learn deeply and continually in ways that we could scarcely have imagined just a decade ago.
Measuring Skills for the 21st Century by Elena Silva, Education Sector, November 2008 - New assessments like the CWRA, however, illustrate that the skills that really matter for the 21st century—the ability to think creatively and to evaluate and analyze information—can be measured accurately and in a common and comparable way. These emergent models also demonstrate the potential to measure these complex thinking skills at the same time that we measure a student's mastery of core content or basic skills and knowledge. There is, then, no need for more tests to measure advanced skills. Rather, there is a need for better tests that measure more of the skills students' need to succeed today. …
This session will continue to use the K12 Online Conference as the main catalyst for discussion.
Pre-meeting reading material "Rigor Redefined' by Tony Wagner, from Educational Leadership, online via the ASCD website
Read also: The Energy to Focus on Change by Kim Cofino
Today's guiding question: "What skills do students need to build successful careers, be good citizens and solve the problems of the 21st century?"
Getting started this session: Embedded Flatness by Terry Freedman, Flat Classroom Project 2008 Keynote
K12 Online Conference presentations - a selection from Week 2
As we move further into the 21st century and realize that schools are not always meeting the needs of teachers or students in terms of learning about and with e-Learning and mobile computing options we start to look at how we can make the shift to transform educational practice and embrace new methods that will help to support and improve learning.
Current accepted forms of professional development provide opportunities for small bites and quick-fix solutions but do not encourage immersion, ongoing conversations and collaborative sharing of experiences. Powerful learning practice amongst educators can and will make a difference to our objectives for implementing online learning and mobile computing at QA.
The move towards 21st Century Learners at Qatar Academy is aimed at those teachers who are ready to take on more, in fact take the next step towards shifting their practice to include new tools and e-learning/ICT embedded pedagogy. It is not compulsory at all, but caters for those who are willing and want an extra challenge.
Essential aims of 21st Century Learners
To cover and give equal importance to the three areas listed in the chart above: Research, Pedagogy, Tech Tools
To provide ongoing sessions throughout the year, of 2-3 hours per session
To establish a social learning environment that fosters collaboration and sharing as pre-requisites for knowledge construction
To support non-meeting times with online spaces that continue the conversations and inquiry-based learning mode
To support teachers in their preparation for teaching and as professional learners
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