| | Hi all--
August is coming to a close this week, and although there are a number of elements of CEM that will continue after the month is over (more on this later in the week), there will be a series of special wrap-up and next step sessions to close the formal festivities for now.
We opened the month with panels of education influencers and thought leaders to provide us all with a little direction and inspiration as we headed into the 400+ events and activities that celebrated the month. And there will be notable thought leaders and influencers participating in the month's final conversations, too.
But CEM is a celebration of online communities, and CEM itself is a community. And communities belong to their members, all members, stepping forward to be heard and counted. So while there are expert panels on some relevant issues we haven't covered yet in the month, these final sessions are not about sitting and listening to experts. They're about YOU, open conversations and discussions about what you've learned, and what you've concluded about the key educational issues that have been running themes throughout the month. They're about all of us coming together to provide direction for the field for the coming year.
Wednesday, August 29, 1–2:30 PM ET Connected Education & Badges
In today's environment, there can be too little recognition of the effort you're making to become a connected educator and help others. Into this void largely informal forms of recognition have evolved, especially badges. We kickoff the CEM wrap-up with a special panel that will discuss badges in general, but more particularly potential criteria for and implementation of a new series of cross-community, cross-organizational, series of badges specifically for connected educators and connected communities, designed to complement, supplement, include, promote, and draw on existing badge systems. During the session, we also plan to unveil a new catalog of badges from a range of issuers related to being a connected educator. - Moderator: Darren Cambridge
- Panelists: Richard Culatta, Lisa Dawley, Tom de Boor, Dan Hickey, Erin Knight
- Location (no registration required): http://bit.ly/connecteded_badges
Wednesday, August 29, 3–4:30 PM ET Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due
Beyond badges lies the broader question and CEM theme of how we should be incenting and recognizing educators for what we (or they, if you're an administrator) do to invest in developing our practice and our craft. Drawing on discussions in the Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due forum, as well as on other relevant CEM events, activities, and resources, with the help of thought leaders in the field like Al Byers, Claudia Lamoreaux, Pam Moran, Lisa Schmucki, and more, we will collectively generate takeaways and action items on the subject for the Department of Education and the field. Wednesday, August 29, 7–8:30 PM ET Connected Education: Students Speak!
For most, if not all educators, the ultimate incentive to develop our practices is student learning and achievement: we're willing to do anything for our students if it helps them learn. A special panel of students will share what connected learning has meant to them and, especially, what it's meant to have a connected educator (or two) in their lives. They'll also share their own tips for educators and ideas for a more connected educational world. Thursday, August 30, 10–11:30 AM ET It's Personal: Personalized Learning for Students & Educators
There's a revolution afoot in education, and at its core are two interrelated concepts—connected education and personalized learning. Personalized learning has been the focus of one of our kick off panels, a month-long forum, and a number of CEM events and activities created by participating organizations. Drawing on discussions in the It's Personal forum, as well as on other relevant CEM events, activities, and resources, with the help of thought leaders in the field like Barbara Bray, Steve Nordmark, Nicole Pinkard, and James Rickabaugh, we will collectively generate takeaways and action items on this key subject for the coming school year and beyond. Thursday, August 30, 12–1:30 PM ET Beyond Top Down: Distributed Leadership & Teacher-Led Change
Connected education provides unique opportunities for educators to take the lead in the redefining of the profession that's going on, to insure it meets our needs and the needs of our students. Distributed leadership and teacher-led change was the subject of another CEM kick-off panel and a month-long forum; it's also been implicitly in the DNA of the entire Connected Educator Month endeavor, including these final sessions. So it's especially important that we hear from you as we strategize together (with thought leaders like Shelly Blake-Plock, David Loertscher, and Shelly Terrell) about the best ways we can all use online communities and networks to insure the voice of practice is heard at the highest levels and drives the direction of education. Thursday, August 30, 2–3:30 PM ET Knocking On the Door: Connected Education & New Technologies
What tools do we have available to us today to begin the re-imagination of education, and what's on the horizon for us? New technologies and innovations were the subject of one of our kick-off panels and a month long forum; the CEM calendar has also been chock-full of events and activities showcasing new platforms, offerings, elements, and techniques. Drawing on all the above, and with the help of thought leaders like Bobbi Kurshan, Sylvia Martinez, Jeff Piontek, Robin Raskin, and Audrey Watters, we'll collectively weave a vision for the connected future as we want to see it unfold, the new technologies and innovations we most want to see developed, as well as those we simply want to see made more available and used in our classrooms and beyond. Thursday, August 30, 4–5:30 PM ET Systems Conveners in Education
Getting better at doing things across different geographies, departments or other silos is an increasing challenge for many of us. It calls for a new kind of leadership, which we are calling systems convening. Who are these systems conveners and what are the challenges they face? Join us for a special panel discussion to look at some early work on systems convening and to hear from people who have taken up this role. - Moderators: Darren Cambridge, Julie Duffield
- Panelists: Etienne Wenger-Trayner, Beverly Wenger-Trayner, Patrice Linehan, Nancy Movall, Leisa Gallagher, Sylvia Currie
- Location: Register for this session here today
Friday, August 31, 11–12:30 PM ET: Professional Learning & The Learning Profession: 21st Century PD
So the revolution is underway, but so is the school year, or it's about to be. What we can and should be doing to develop ourselves as 21st century educators was the focus of another CEM kick-off panel and month-long forum, and many, if not all, CEM events and activities created by participating groups were focused on professional development in one form or another. We'll use all of the above, and the help of thought leaders like Jackie Gerstein, Will Richardson, Kathy Schrock (and more) to communally generate a PD road map for ourselves, as well as action items to share with the department and the field. Friday, August 31, 1–2:30 PM ET The First Six Weeks: Getting 2012-13 Off To The Right Start
Even more immediately upon us are the critical first six weeks of the school year, which so often set the tone for what we can achieve throughout. For this reason, the first six weeks were a final CEM kick-off and forum focus, and an implicit target of many CEM events and activities. Of all the main CEM themes, this is the one we most fully control ourselves today, and as result this open discussion, drawing on the First Six Weeks forum and other relevant CEM events/activities (as well as the expertise of Suzie Boss, Lyn Hilt, David Rosas, and others) will be about generating takeaways and action items not for the Department or 'the field,' but for ourselves, to begin to put in place today. Friday, August 31, 3–4:30 PM ET Connected Educator Month: What We've Learned
Beyond the explicit themes of CEM, there have been a huge range of events and activities during the month. And even within the areas most explicitly covered, there has probably been more learned than we can all assimilate right away. In this final CEM session of the month, and with the help of a number of special guests, including Barnett Barry, Milton Chen, Gavin Dykes, Stephanie Sandifer, and others, we consider the entire expanse of CEM activities and seek to distill them down to a handful of the top takeaways we can and should all carry with us into the school year and beyond, as well as the top policy implications of the month. For more CEM help and resources, see the CEM Calendar and the CEM Getting Started page, which includes links to our CEM Starter Kit, Help Desk, Book Club, District Starter Kit, CEM Supporter Kit and more. The Connected Educators project is funded by the U.S. Department of Education under contract (ED-PEP-10-C-0059) with the American Institutes for Research in partnership with five organizations, including the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), Forum One Communications, the Friday Institute for Education Innovation, Grunwald Associates LLC, and the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA). | | | | |
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