The ULearn14 conference has ended for another year, with around 2000 people gathered at the Rotorua Events centre for four days (incuding pre-conference workshops) of professional stimulation, challenge and connecting. The #Ulearn14 Twitter stream was trending high through the conference and provides a great insight into the multi-faceted event. Many teachers have been active since the conference, providing their personal reflections on the conference, such as this blog from AnneMarie Hyde, or this storify from Vanessa Cancon. For a  number of years at this conference I have heard comments to the effect that "it's all about the pedagogy, not the … Continue reading ULearn14 Keynotes’ challenges

Keynote Three: Knowledge is a Blessing on your Mind   Those who didn’t have to rush away to catch a plane were privileged to hear eminent historian, writer and academic, and current New Zealander of the year,  Dame Anne Salmond as the final keynote at the ULearn13 conference. For me there couldn’t have been a more fitting climax to the conference. Dame Anne’s message brought the perspective I’d been hoping for – a well articulated case for why we must be striving to see change in our education system if we’re to prepare our young people for the future they face – … Continue reading ULearn Keynote: Dame Anne Salmond

The Sharing Nexus: Connecting, Learning and the 21st Century Educational Environment Mark Pesce’s opening line was “at this moment, education is at its biggest crisis that it’s been in for centuries!” Now there’s a comment bound to polarize people – and it seemed to work. Not that that’s a bad thing, because whatever side of the debate you might find yourself, it helps to sharpen the receptors for what’s coming next! Mark went on to explain that this crisis presents the greatest challenge and the greatest opportunity in education. So what is the crisis he was referring to? It’s the challenge … Continue reading ULearn keynote: Mark Pesce

Inspire and Motivate Through Transformational Teaching and Learning US Educator, Ken Shelton, was the opening keynote for this year’s Uearn13. When he received his invitation to come to NZ to speak at ULearn13 he said he was so excited he thought he might swim!     Ken’s presentation provided a perspective of a youthful, enthusiastic and optimistic user if ICTs as a vehicle to engage and motivate learners. He modeled this by making extensive use of online tools – including a collaborative backchannel on TodaysMeet which was used by delegates to record their responses and reflections on the things Ken shared. As he … Continue reading Ulearn13 – Keynote: Ken Shelton

I presented a workshop this morning at the NZ Commerce and Economics Teachers Association conference here in Christchurch. The topic was 'growing up digital' and the focus was on developing understandings about how the world of our learners has been and is being shaped by their interactions with technology, and how this in turn is shaping their expectations as learners. The slideshow is represented above.  One of the topics raised in the workshop discussion was the issue of attention span, and the observation that many of our students appear to be less focused on going 'deep' into their studies, preferring … Continue reading Growing up digital