Our Learning Community.

A learning community is what all of us are involved with as educators in the International Schools. This last month many of us connected online and offline through the ECIS Conference in Lisbon which gave us all an opportunity to share, explore, learn and chat with peers from around the globe. One of the events which we shared with many of you was the ECIS ICT Pre_Conference dedicated IT day, with members of the ECIS ICT Committee, Finalsite and John Davitt collaborating with you to explore a variety of topics tied to our day to day work in schools. As always while the conference and sessions took place many side bar conversations occurred, which can be as rewarding of a learning experience as the main conference sessions.  Personally the day was rich in learning as a presenter, and the many conversations and side bar chats provided me with so much food for thought and opportunity to reflect on my own practice as an IT Director. It was evident that getting folks together and providing a space and venue both online and offline to collaborate generated a unique opportunity to learn and grow. This short video does a wonderful job of sharing some of the learning from the day Hands: Learning from the day.

In an effort to extend the Pre-Conference and Conference below we am sharing a series of links for your reference posted on our ICT iSkoodle course which we encourage you to explore and share further with your faculty.

One of the many challenges we all face as IT folks in schools, is knowing what will stay current, what systems and devices will be around long enough for us to implement. How to judge and juggle the variables. Often our budget cycles and purchasing timelines are out of sink with new product enhancements or launches, similar with Operating Systems. In the video below these issues are explored with the lens of what IT companies are in the forefront and what does the future hold for them, and us as consumers ….

 

New topic on iSkoodle: iPad, iTouch, and Tablet Devices share area

We have started a new area on iSkoodle for folks to collaborate and share resources on the topic of iPads and similar devices being implemented in schools,

Bytes of the Month

Gapminder: Unveiling the beauty of statistics for a fact based world view. – Gapminder.org
http://www.diigo.com/user/jmikton/integration

Google Public Data Explorer
http://www.diigo.com/user/jmikton/integration

Your Genetic Journey – The Genographic Project – National Geographic
http://www.diigo.com/user/jmikton/integration

Pedagoo.org » Some teaching and learning tools to assist the revolution!
http://www.diigo.com/user/jmikton/integration

How to Use Google Search More Effectively, an excellent resource presented graphically
http://mashable.com/2011/11/24/google-search-infographic/

Professional Development

Mark your calendars:

Watch this space for more details !

Apple Education European Leadership Summit, London – 10-11.1.2011
Educational conference BETT http://www.bettshow.com in London attracts lots of educators from around the world. Apple Europe is organising 2 day conference and workshops  on 10th and 11th January for the key customers and prospecs. The first day is aimed for the primary segment, second day for the secondary segment with lots of attention being on iPad use in the classroom.

ASB Un-Plugged 2012 February 22, 23, 24, and 25, 2012
Come to ASB Un-Plugged to engage in developing and articulating a vision for a 1-to-1 learning environment. Bring a team from your school for inspiration and best practices to help you steer an intentional course.

http://www.asbunplugged.org/unplugged2012.htm

Your words, your input…..
Please remember your links, your thoughts, your resources are important to this blog if you have something you wish to have featured drop into our wiki area on iSkoodle and add it there, I will make sure it is featured in our January edition.

To all wishing you a restful and relaxing holiday season and our warmest wishes from the ECIS ICT Committee

John
ECIS ICT Chair
http://beyonddigital.org/ 

 

 

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