While smelly eggs did not not deter the intrepid explorer from the sunny shores of lake Rotorua, it is fair to say that one had a slight brain faze as we were overloaded with knowledge and collaborative sharing of information at Ulearn2014.
Talk about being thrown in the deep end of the pool with tech savvy educators all absorbing the content of the conference like variable sponges, And then there was me.......
Key Learning's from Ulearn:
- If using or sharing images we should all use a creative commons search to protect the integrity of people work. http://search.creativecommons.org/
- Just because a school says that it is going digital it doesn't mean that they are using digital tools in a way that adds meaning to the classroom or learning experience. The SAMR model is a good way to examine and create shift in the way that we use tools for learning experiences. http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/06/samr-model-explained-for-teachers.html
- Based on the session aptly named 'how to become a social media ninja' run by Karenmelhuishspencer#virtuallykaren , I am an orange belt..... I would really recommend reading what Karen has to say on her website as it is poignant and interesting.
- I was left wondering, if teenage girls in New Zealand have built resiliency against online 'drama' through desensitising it over time... as a result of the research lecture from our own #23research group member Eunice Price. https://plus.google.com/+EunicePrice/posts .
- The most interesting thing I took out of the conference, was from the last keynote speaker 'Quin Norton' http://quinnnorton.com/ who spoke about the hackerspace movement, in the US and slowly spreading across the rest of the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackerspace It took me by surprise a little that we have moved so far into the digital realm that there are groups of people creating spaces where people can come together and make stuff... huh. The whole idea of the burning man festival http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFbk4CH2pq8 where thousands of people come together for a week, create a city in the desert and then leave without leaving a footprint fascinates me beyond belief and is now number one thing to do on my bucket list. Also I had the realisation that Technology education within the New Zealand curriculum is an embodiment of promoting the ideals of independent free thinking/ problem solving in our young people. Here are the collaborate notes from the presentation. https://docs.google.com/a/aucklanduni.ac.nz/document/d/19OFn86V-Saz2FM13TcmahbARZtGLRV1molImD_ZNuCk/edit#heading=h.smmpckjna6dz
Wow - you learnt a lot! Awesome. Thanks for the mention. As for me, I think networking was my main takeaway from ULearn, particularly people like Tom Barrett (design thinking) and Jennie Magiera (using social media tools in the classroom). Oh, and I won a stuffed dog from one of the stands. Haha. Burning Man is something I'd love to go to, too but maybe I will just try for Splore which is a bit more local (South Auckland) for now - plus it's family friendly. Anyway, your summary of what you learnt from ULearn is great. I think it's important to write these down else it's very easy to forget and it just becomes a distant memory. I find it also quite hard to remember things when I don't get to action them out, e.g. with a classroom.
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