Reflections on Learning at Learning 2.012

My head is full and buzzing. I have just returned from the Learning 2.012 Conference held at the Western Academy of Beijing. The conference was attended by educators from all over Asia. Learning to learn, learning to change and learning to lead. It was an unbelievable experience and my very first time to attend such an event. Workshop leaders were passionate beyond belief about learning. I feel privileged to have been a part of some extremely energetic discussions that focused on sound pedagogy and student learning. 

One of the most meaningful parts of the conference was connecting to people face to face. Meeting people I follow on Twitter who I know are doing amazing things with the students they work with. I recognised educators from their Twitter profile pictures, approached them and made contact. Some even approached me! I discussed ideas with dedicated leaders and teachers. Just being surrounded by so many educators committed to learning gave the already outstanding campus an electric buzz that I am certain was not just due to the amount of devices on site.

There were three overarching themes that I heard about in every extended session and workshop I attended. Three concepts that should guide everything we do in schools with regard to technology: 

1. Pedagogy is key. Tools will come and go so don’t stress about them and don’t focus on them. If the pedagogy is sound, everything else can be worked out. 

2. Connect and collaborate. To succeed you must connect online and share with other educators worldwide e.g. through Twitter. Everything is so much better when you are not going it alone.

3. Creativity and play are imperative to authentic, deep learning. 

Other big take aways – I’ve credited the educators who I got these ideas from at the end of each entry by their Twitter names: 

1. The age of sharing is here. Every single presenter and leader that I came into contact with was sharing as much as they possibly could. And more. No longer do serious, dedicated educators keep all the good tips to themselves. They share openly everything they know. For FREE. I’m going to do my best to ‘pay it forward’ and share what I know and discover.

2. If I am expecting my students to be creative and make things then I should be doing it too. From now on I am going to make time in my week to get creative. Make something. Solve a problem. Just create. Try to do the Daily Shoot (take a photo every single day and keep a record of the pictures online). @intrepidteacher 

3. The lines between ‘school life’ and ‘social life’ have become blurred and are disappearing. Now it is really just ‘LIFE’. @jutecht 

4. We have never needed creativity as much as we do right now. @betchaboy 

While the conference was really not about the tools, here are a few tools and strategies that I discovered during the weekend that I will definitely be using when I get back: 

1. ccMixter – “ccMixter is a community music site featuring remixes licensed under Creative Commons where you can listen to, sample, mash-up, or interact with music in whatever way you want”. I will definitely be using this. I love making movies and often spend hours searching for music tracks. @intrepidteacher 

2. DS106 – “Digital Storytelling (also affectionately known as ds106) is an open, online course that happens at various times throughout the year at the University of Mary Washington… but you can join in whenever you like and leave whenever you need. This course is free to anyone who wants to take it, and the only requirements are a real computer, a hardy internet connection, preferrably a domain of your own and some commodity web hosting, and all the creativity you can muster”. @intrepidteacher 

3. That your online space should mirror your physical classroom space. Make a warm, inviting classroom and then make a warm, inviting online space for your students. @intrepidteacher 

4. Use iPad apps to take handwritten notes – Notability, Remarks @teachwatts @brendancoreyb

5. CRAP – no, it’s not what you think! It’s about using design principles when creating posters and the  like – Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity. @wanderingnoah 

6. You can be serious and play. School should be more like Mythbusters… rather than like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. @betchaboy 

7. Global connection projects are a very good thing, even with younger students. Use Twitter, Skype and Google Docs to make it happen in an authentic way. @pagezoe @B_Sheridan @tashacowdy

8. iSwifter app – enables you to watch Flash videos on iPad. @teachwatts 

One last great thing that was shown to me during the conference: 

1. Chill Out – worth a read if you are feeling stressed. An amazing touch of human kindness. @intrepidteacher 

So. What am I going to do now? Well, I’ve just emailed the Learning and Teaching Technologies Convenor at school to set up a time to sit down and talk to her about where I could go next in my classroom. Whatever we decide, I am going to focus on creativity and play. 

A huge, huge thank you to the phenomenal Learning 2.012 Leaders and organisers, particularly those who led sessions that I attended. You were passionate about your craft and have inspired me to go further. To strive for greatness. 

#Learning #Learning2012 #Thinking #Creativity #Reflecting #EducationalTechnology #Conference