The sounds of sunshine

The Leap video here featured and the article from the front cover of the Economist Magazine  Morals and the machine both highlight an important fact regarding technology, innovation and change. It is happening extremely fast, and the gadgets, concepts, systems and hardware being brought online at times seem to defy logic. The pace of change and how these changes impact us as individuals and groups can seem overwhelming. Often it is easier to ignore these or just let them occur on the sideline of our lives. This tactic can be a good one at some level, leaving us to focus on the things that are important to us. The issue at hand which the article highlights Morals and the machine is when suddenly the devices and digital tools we rely on start being autonomous in their decision making and leave us out. How do autonomous machines impact us as individuals and groups. It might still seem somewhat premature to worry or engage with this conversation or should schools and educators be engaging our learning communities with these questions? Both the video and article provide good talking points on this topic. In the context of our schools and respective roles as Educators and Leaders in Information Technology some of this seems disconnected from the reality of our day to day work but at some point we might be the ones dealing with these new tools and mediums…. some food for thoughts for the summer downtime…..

Bytes of the Month

Flipping the Classroom
http://www.techlearning.com/article/52462

1 to 1 Laptop Institute Frankfurt International School September  27, 28 and 29/9/12 2012
Leadership event on the afternoon September 27th: Keynote speakers Ian Jukes, Scott Klososky and Jeff Utecht will each present a 20-30 minute session ,Full day September 28th, half day September 29th of workshopsRegister : http://www.fis.edu/page.cfm?p=695For those interested in presenting at the conference, please check back to our website for information as it’s posted, or email: euro1-1learning@fis.edu.

Google Apps for Education European Summit will be at the International School of Prague
Saturday and Sunday October 13-14 2012
For full details : http://www.praguesummit.org/
Registration: http://www.praguesummit.org/Learning 2.012

October 11-13, 2012 – Western Academy of Beijing What will Learning 2.012 look like?
Learning 2.0 is a trans-formative, challenging experience for all participants; it is the conference that leads the change. We want to ensure that the learning continues after the conference is over by facilitating network-building opportunities through both face-to-face experiences which are then extended, sustained and supported online through this site.
http://www.learning2.asia/blog/conference/learning-2-012

Flat Classroom™ Conference Europe 2012 (Germany) and Flat Classroom™ Conference Asia 2013(Japan).
Flat Classroom : On December 6-8, 2012, the International School of Düsseldorf e.V. (ISD) and on March 8-10, 2013, Yokohama International School (YIS) will host live Flat Classroom events that include a Student Summit and a Leadership Workshop.  For more details on the Flatclassroom see this link: Flat Classroom Conference community

March 2013 ECIS ICT Conference International School Cobham