What were your big 'take-aways' from #21CLHK?
- Sarah Hodgson
- Jan 27, 2013
- 3 min read
I’ve just completed three days at the 21st Century Learning Conference in Hong Kong. It is probably too early to gauge which (if any) ideas will cause the greatest impact, which become embedded in my brain and ultimately affect the way I approach teaching and learning experiences. My initial thoughts are that there was nothing earth-shatteringly new, but it was a great opportunity to meet with fellow educators and discuss more deeply the role of technology in education.
There were a few things that resonated with me and have given me more to think about…
Capture, Share and Resolve Perplexity – for me, Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) presented the most interesting keynote of the conference. He was a dynamic and engaging speaker and I didn’t find my attention drifting elsewhere. His ideas were simple and doable. Capture perplexity – write it down, take a photo of it, record it on your phone… the possibilities are endless. There was also the added bonus that he validated things I am already doing… I have my RSS reader, I use social bookmarking, I’m blogging… felt so good to hear someone up on a podium saying that these things are valuable. Yee haa!
“Fail. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett quoted by Jamie Schmitz in the opening address. This reminded me to keep on and not give up. Failure is a good thing and I truly believe that we cannot learn without it.
Teachers need to get creating content too. I felt inspired by @klbeasely at the iBooks workshop and have made it a goal to publish a book in iTunes U before the year is out!
I have said this before (many times) and I’ll say it again. Twitter is an incredibly powerful learning tool. There weren’t as many tweeters at #21CLHK as I had expected, but the tweeps who were tweeting were sharing resources openly. In some ways I felt like I was attending some of the sessions without actually physically being there. I have to say that I was surprised to hear Twitter being mentioned on more than one occasion as if it was something new (?). Seriously? It seems there are still a huge amount of educators who are not aware of the way Twitter can be used in education. Well, there are two less now – I managed to convince a couple of teachers to try it and got them set up. It’s the small things that matter, right?
Here are a couple of resources that I was introduced to at the conference – ones that I will definitely be looking at and hopefully using somehow in the near future:
Twitter: A Cultural Guidebook – authored by @klbeasley and @intrepidteacher – more amazing open sharing
MakeyMakey – @briancsmith introduced us to this fascinating tool in his Creativity and Innovation workshop. I’ve just ordered one online for my five-year-old to tinker with! GREAT creative play.
I’d love to hear what your biggest take-aways were!! Please feel free to comment below.
What follows is just a list of the sessions I joined – for my own records more than anything else!
iPads in Education – Pre Conference with Dr. Jenny Lane (@edujen)
21st Century Education and Understanding iGeneration and Generation C Learning: How Technology Rewires Brains and How We Can Best Teach Our Young Learners – Keynote by Dr. Larry Rosen
Digital Youth Network: Developing 21st Century Learners Through The Integration of Overlapping Affinity Spaces – Keynote by Dr. Nichole Pinkard
The Great Debate
iPads in Education – Keynote by Dr. Jenny Lane
21st Century Education: A Model for Teaching High-Tech Learners based on Brain Science, Psychology and Best Educational Practices – Workshop with Dr. Larry Rosen
iBooks: What is possible and how to get there – Workshop with Keri-Lee Beasley (@klbeasley)
Essential Transdisciplinary Skills in R1 – Grade 2 – what are they? Workshop with Sandra Oliver and Marty Ruthaivilavan (@sandoo and @mmruthai)
Forum 6: How can we leverage students passion and interest in technology and media for learning whilst keeping focus on key content and big ideas?
Creativity and Innovation – The Power of Play and Tinkering – Workshop with Brian C. Smith (@briancsmith)
Teaching for Perplexity – Keynote by Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer)
Image: ‘Take Out‘ http://www.flickr.com/photos/53323105@N02/5766995864 Found on flickrcc.net
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