Will Richardson

Speaker, consultant, writer, learner, parent

How About a "Lower" Ed BloggerCon???

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Peterson’s is trying to get an online Higher Ed BlogCon going:

Thomson Peterson’s, PRNewswire, and CASE are proud to present HigherEd BlogCon – Transforming Academic Communities with New Tools of the Social Web. This brand-new, all-online event aims to bring together in a single Web space many of the leading players who are transforming academe with their use of the new tools of the Social Web.

The site has a pretty comprehensive list of topics, including these related to teaching:

  • The changing nature of in-class activity in the age of podcast lectures
  • Impact of new media on attendance patterns
  • Impact of new media on online learning
  • New media and course platforms
  • Challenges surrounding intellectual property
  • What do new media mean for the so-called digital divide?
  • Video versus screencast versus podcast
  • Wikis and learning
  • The RSS divide
  • The role of games in education
  • Open courseware
  • Changing expectations of the student and teacher at the educational interface

    Actually, I think that’s a pretty relevant list for those of us in K-12 land as well (aside from the attendance issue.) I might add:

  • Ethical use of social tools
  • Privacy and safety concerns
  • Blogs and learning
  • Changing expectations of writing and reading literacy
  • Challenges in teacher preparation
  • Effective practice in online environments

    What would you add? And what do you think about a K-12 Read/Write Web conference, virtual or otherwise???

    • Comments

    3. Clarence Fisher says

      I’m in.

      I think the additions you’ve made are important. Lookng at changing ideas of literacy is vital. I would also add ideas of sustaining change and collaboration.

    4. John Pederson says

      I have the magic gift of “all the time in the world”. Seriously, if there’s a critical mass that are willing to brainstorm the idea of planning/throwing a conference seriously, I’m willing to do some heavy lifting and help make this work.

      I can setup a wiki to brainstorm ideas if people are interested.

    5. Jack Macleod says

      I’m in. It would be great to get together with others who are keen on this stuff and using it or think they see the potential benefits to learning. While I don’t have “all the time in the world” that John does, I’d be up for helping to make this work.

    7. Darren says

      That’s a very generous offer John! As soon as you set up the wiki publish the link, I’ll do all I can to help. 😉

    8. John Pederson says

      Ok kids. I’m starting to play a little bit. It’s still play…give me some time to tweak, but the more I’ve let this set it over the past few days, the more excited I get about it. Special nod to Will for putting the idea out there.

      I just got a rejection letter from one of the new jobs I really wanted, so not I’m ready to kick some ____ and make this happen. :O)

      http://shiftedlearning.org. It’s still very young. Be kind.

    11. Vicki Davis says

      This is very exciting! The joke at CES was the best show was Dvorak’s virtual CES– and he wasn’t even there.

      I think virtual conferences make a lot of sense. I hope that we’ll not only include visionary “pie in the sky” but also best practices for doing wikis, podcasts, etc. in real classrooms– everything from the structure of the lesson to the hardware for setting it up.

      I’ll keep tuned in!