Christa McAuliffe Conference 2008

A year ago, I went to the Christa McAuliffe Conference and heard Will Richardson speak.  His keynote that day, A Web of Connections:  Why the Read/Write Web Changes Everything changed the way I looked at education and inspired me to learn to use web 2.0 tools.  I now maintain two web pages, two blogs, have learned podcasting, and have experimented a little bit with wikis.  Last year's conference helped me to see the educational value of web 2.0 interactive tools. 

Yesterday, I went back to the Christa McAuliffe Conference.  David Warlick spoke About Our Students Our Worlds - Flat World/Flat Classrooms.  He said teachers need to be master learners to prepare our children for a future we can not clearly describe.  We must teach children how to teach themselves in an information abundant environment.  Networks help students to find people who can help them to know how to do what they want to do.  There is power in what a community of learners that are connected can do.  He described these skills as key:

not just literacy, it's learning literacy

not just literacy skills, it's literacy habits

not just lifelong learning, it's a learning lifestyle.

I learned that all this can begin at a very young age when I heard Maria Knee's presentation Creating Global Communities.  Maria Knee's kindergarten communicates and does projects with other classrooms from around the world.  Mrs. Knee's class took a field trip to her house to learn how maple syrup was made.  This knowledge was shared with a classroom in Australia.  The 2M Gems shared a recipe and slide show from their Pancake Day, and a classroom from Canada joined in the fun.  Students were able to share their thoughts by commenting in a blog.

This year's conference has helped me to see the power and  importance of building and using learning networks.