I have just attended a most memorable SchoolNet/Intel “ICT in the classroom” social-networking national conference hosted at St John’s School in Johannesburg last week. The Conference was held in the heart of winter and who would have thought Johannesburg could be even colder than Cape Town, but it was! I really appreciated the lovely St John’s school venue, as everything was so close and it was easy to navigate oneself around.
The hostel was right there in the middle of everything, and it used fingerprint recognition for entrance, so one didn’t have to worry about keys! The beds were ever so comfortable and the underfloor heating in the rooms made such a difference. I gave four presentations at the conference, and it was great to discover my venues were just ‘down the passage’ from the hostel, so to speak. Speaking of presentations I think I will add mine at this point from Slideshare so that I have them all in one place.
The Conference itself was very well-organized by Gerald Roos and the SchoolNet team. Everything seemed to happen seamlessly without a hitch, as far as I could see. The presentations looked very interesting and there was a great variety to choose from. The online booking that took place before the conference left everyone knowing exactly where they stand. The door keepers did a good job in making sure that only the people who had booked were the ones who were allowed to enter the sessions. In the keynote sessions Dezlin Jacobs, one of the SchoolNetters, held us spellbound with her housekeeping antics.
The keynote speakers were absolutely superb. They were well-known presenters from around the globe – Naomi Harm (http://blog.innovativeeducator.us/), John Davitt (http://www.davittlearning.net/), Jane Hart (http://janeknight.typepad.com/) and (Shelee George King via Skype). Wow their sessions were SO good. I managed to go to two of Naomi Harm’s classroom presentations as well, and wouldn’t have missed those for the world. The one on Google has left me itching to get back to the classroom next week to try out everything. Naomi Harm is an incredible presenter and so generous with everything. I couldn’t believe how she just gave us her Box.net link containing all her presentations she delivers around the world. It was like being given an overflowing treasure chest. She really epitomizes the sharing nature of the present age. I loved the one Ted video that she showed in her keynote, all about sharing. Here it is: (http://www.ted.com/talks/gel_gotta_share.html) .
I for one have been inspired to adopt this giving approach as fully as I can. What a great way to enhance the furtherance of ICT integration in schools.
Talking about sharing makes me think about the age in which we live – the social-networking age. It’s the age of collective intelligence that takes us so much further than we can go on our own. SchoolNet epitomized at the conference by embracing the help of local volunteers who are known experts in social-networking. Maggie Verster (http://maggiev.edublogs.org/) maintained an amazing conference blog (http://schoolnetsa11.blogspot.com) which kept us all very much on track and in touch. She made sure that:
SchoolNet’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/SchoolNet-SA/125361914200052 ),
their Diigo bookmarks (http://groups.diigo.com/group/school_net_sa),
their Slideshare page (http://www.slideshare.net/Schoolnetsa11/presentations) for the presentations, and of course the designated #Schoolnesa11 twitter stream all worked together perfectly in true social-networking fashion. She was ably assisted in the Twitter backchannel by Arthur Preston (http://headthoughts.co.za/), a Worcester headmaster who had not even heard of SchoolNet till a few months ago. I have to admit that I have come away absolutely more enthused and excited about social-networking than ever before as a result of the conference. It was, after all, a social-networking conference and it certainly showed us how it all works together.
I loved the way the conference delegates also observed the Awards Ceremony for the Microsoft Innovative Teachers Forum as a natural part of the conference. What a treat! I think that many of the teachers watching were unaware that such a great competition with such amazing prizes exists. Next year should see a growth in entries as a result.
Last but not least was the opportunity to meet up with Conference buddies from past years and exchange notes and ideas. This networking is always so priceless. I have already signed up four teachers from schools across South Africa for a Grade 3 ‘Flat Stanley’ Literacy project starting this term. The Conference Dinner where we socialised even more was excellent and exuberant. Whaaahooo!!!! (the conference expression of great joy!)
I think this conference has definitely done its bit for the furtherance of technology integration in education. It has shown the amazing thing that teachers are doing in the classroom as they incorporate technology. It has even inspired teachers beyond our borders. I’ll never forget the teacher from Zambia running after me when the conference was over to ask for my presentations. I was able to say to him “Conference blog….Slideshare”, and he knew exactly what I was talking about.
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