{"success":true,"data":[{"ID":176,"Class":"Conversation","Created":1350839241,"CreatorID":62,"RevisionID":null,"Status":"Accepted","Title":"Hack On: The NWP Educon 2.5 Hack Jam","Handle":"Hack_On:The_NWP_Educon_2-5_Hack_Jam","ShortDescription":"What happens at the crossroads of hacking and schooling? How do these two seemingly disparate notions complement and inform one another? How can Candyland and HTML spark a learning revolution? Let\u2019s find out together. Join us for the second annual EduCon Hack Jam and be ready to play!","Description":"Hacking and schooling mean different things to different people, but at their crossroads we have the opportunity to look at the past, present, and future of both and to explore how the two seemingly disparate ideas of schooling (as building up) and hacking (as taking apart) can inform one another, our professional practice, and our students\u2019 learning.\r\n\r\nIn this session, participants will hack Candyland and the Web to provoke conversation about how and why educators, students, parents, and policy-makers might hack school to make it more fun, playful, and authentic for our kids and their learning. In pursuing a more compelling, hacked vision of school through their conversation, participants will have the opportunity unpack notions of bias, choice, hacking, organizing, pop media, resistance, technology, and youth in schools. Together, participants and facilitators will explore making and web-authoring as metaphors for broader change in how we school children.\r\n\r\nParticipants will leave as members of the hack jam community and with the kind of motivating discontent that leads to intensely meaningful inquiry-based learning as professional-development and substantive change in teaching practice.","Link":["http:\/\/educonphilly.org\/conversations\/Hacking_School-the_EduCon_2-4_Hackjam","http:\/\/davidwarlick.com\/2cents\/?p=3477","http:\/\/nwphackjam.tumblr.com\/"],"Audience":["All School Levels"],"Practice":"Play and conversation\r\nSharing hacks and artifacts on the NWP Hack Jam tumblr\r\nInviting and participating in social media backchannels","Presenter":["Meenoo Rami","Chad Sansing"],"PresenterAffiliation":["Meenoo Rami - Science Leadership Academy (SLA)","Chad Sansing - Community Public Charter School (CPCS)"],"PresenterEmail":["meenoo.rami@gmail.com","csansing@gmail.com"],"ScheduleSlotID":6,"ScheduleLocationID":9,"SubmitterID":62,"AdditionalComments":null,"LiveChannel":null,"Hashtag":null,"VokleID":null,"RecordingURL":null,"ConferenceID":2},{"ID":253,"Class":"Conversation","Created":1351828313,"CreatorID":62,"RevisionID":null,"Status":"Accepted","Title":"Unraveling the Textbook","Handle":"Unraveling_the_Textbook","ShortDescription":"The nature of information access allows for a whole new way of working with content in our schools.  Join us for a conversation deconstructing the concept of textbook and visioning what comes next.","Description":"The nature of information access allows for a whole new way of working with content in our schools.  Join us for a conversation deconstructing the concept of textbook and visioning what comes next.","Link":[],"Audience":["All School Levels"],"Practice":"Participants in the conversation will work through the concept of a 'unit of learning', issues of ownership and content, examples of successful OER, brainstorm ways to collect, curate and disseminate information differently than in a text format.","Presenter":["John Pederson","Diana Laufenberg"],"PresenterAffiliation":["WiscNet","Unveristy of Minnesota"],"PresenterEmail":["ijohnpederson@gmail.com","dlaufenberg@gmail.com"],"ScheduleSlotID":8,"ScheduleLocationID":9,"SubmitterID":62,"AdditionalComments":null,"LiveChannel":null,"Hashtag":null,"VokleID":null,"RecordingURL":null,"ConferenceID":2},{"ID":152,"Class":"Conversation","Created":1348242348,"CreatorID":62,"RevisionID":null,"Status":"Accepted","Title":"Reflecting on Reflection","Handle":"Reflecting_on_Reflection","ShortDescription":"On the whole, strong teachers tend to be reflective practitioners. There is research showing that reflecting is an important skill towards improving as a teacher. Accepting that, how do we become better at reflecting and how do we help new and pre-service teachers do the same?","Description":"For more than a decade I have been working with pre-service teachers in a partnership with our local university. In recent years a professor and I have begun researching ways to support these interns as they reflect on their professional experiences. I will briefly share our research and findings before guiding conversations around how and why teachers currently reflect, types of reflection, and ways to increase and improve reflection. This conversation will be one piece of ongoing research we are doing about the importance of reflection for teachers.","Link":["https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1RsnthLHnCSZTTt3uY7NHkIKnFl6k09rGc3WKNYKooPA\/edit"],"Audience":["All School Levels"],"Practice":"After a brief introduction to give background on current research, we will focus small group conversations on specific questions\/topics which will be shared during the session and recorded in a google doc.","Presenter":["Jennifer Orr"],"PresenterAffiliation":["Annandale Terrace Elementary School"],"PresenterEmail":["jaorr@fcps.edu"],"ScheduleSlotID":9,"ScheduleLocationID":9,"SubmitterID":62,"AdditionalComments":null,"LiveChannel":null,"Hashtag":null,"VokleID":null,"RecordingURL":null,"ConferenceID":2},{"ID":184,"Class":"Conversation","Created":1351095663,"CreatorID":62,"RevisionID":null,"Status":"Accepted","Title":"The Politics of Ed-Tech","Handle":"Ed-Tech_and_Ed_Reform","ShortDescription":"We have moved beyond a world where we can simply be cheerleaders for education technology. It isn\u2019t just that the stakes are high for pedagogy. They\u2019re high politically and professionally. What are the connections between ed-tech and education reform, between technology, profits and the privatization of education?","Description":"\u201cTechnology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral.\u201d\r\n\r\nFor decades now, many tech-savvy educators have argued that increased adoption of computers and other technologies in the classroom would help unlock problem solving skills, foster networked communication, and connect students and classes to the rest of the world beyond the physical restrictions of brick and mortar or the printed pages of a textbook \u2014 the whole \u201c21st century skill\u201d argument and more.  \r\n\r\nBut education technology is not necessarily built or implemented with progressive education in mind. Technology can just as easily reinforce, if not further, a world of standardized test-taking, Indeed, it\u2019s becoming increasingly clear that there\u2019s a significant amount of ed-tech \u2014 investors, philanthropic organizations, non-profits, politicians, and corporations \u2014 that is keen to privatize if not profit from education.\r\n\r\nThis session will explore these connections \u2014 connections between ed-tech and ALEC, for example \u2014 as well as strategies for responding.\r\n\r\nBecause the question no longer simply \u201chow do we implement technology effectively\u201d?  How do we navigate this world where technologies \u2014 education and otherwise \u2014 are becoming increasingly ubiquitous but may also be increasingly pedagogically, politically and professionally dangerous?","Link":[],"Audience":["All School Levels"],"Practice":"Short presentation, followed by a discussion of how to respond. Participants will work on a wiki (or collaborative doc). Topics to explore include: how to make smart decisions as ed-tech users and consomers, how to use ed-tech to subvert the system.","Presenter":["Audrey Watters"],"PresenterAffiliation":["Hack Education"],"PresenterEmail":["audrey.watters@gmail.com"],"ScheduleSlotID":14,"ScheduleLocationID":9,"SubmitterID":62,"AdditionalComments":null,"LiveChannel":null,"Hashtag":null,"VokleID":null,"RecordingURL":null,"ConferenceID":2},{"ID":162,"Class":"Conversation","Created":1349286576,"CreatorID":62,"RevisionID":null,"Status":"Accepted","Title":"Mind the Gap","Handle":"Mind_the_Gap","ShortDescription":"We have a vision for effective, student-centered next generation schools, but that's very different from the realities in our classrooms. How do we bridge the chasm between what schools are and what they ought to be? This session will collaboratively explore catalysts for effective change.","Description":"The session begins with a brief presentation outlining the problem. We know that we want inquiry-based schools that foster collaboration and problem-solving, that teach students to be effective learners, and that equip learners to be creators, producers, and innovators as they work to address the challenges of their generation. At the same time, though, increased pressure to improve test scores coupled with a vilainization of teachers and public schools and severe budget shortfalls has left many schools paralyzed. We all leave these conferences enthused about the possibilities. But when we go home and get back to work, we face the realities of the current situation, and our best laid schemes are cast aside.\r\n\r\nOnce the stage has been set, we will explore the question of who can effect change. All of the stakeholders seem to have the ability to scuttle change. Administrators, teachers, parents, students, and alumni all have an interest in maintaining the status quo. Working in homogeneous teams based on their roles, participants will be asked to address these questions: (1) What can I do to effect change in my school? (2) How can I support and encourage change among the other roles? (3) How can I create a sense of urgency for change in my environment?\r\n\r\nOnce the participants have had the opportunity to explore these questions in their homogeneous groups, we\u2019ll re-group into heterogeneous groups to share what we\u2019ve come up with. Teachers, administrators, parents, and students will share their perspectives with one another, developing an appreciation for the challenges of the other roles, and identifying ways we can work together to improve our schools.","Link":[],"Audience":["All School Levels"],"Practice":"Participants will conduct small-group discussions with one another in role-based groups initially. While this depends on the composition of the participants, the goal is to have a group of teachers, a group of principals, a group of educational support professionals, and hopefully groups of parents and students. Then, participants will represent their roles in heterogeneous groups that allow everyone to see these issues through each of the lenses represented. Finally, participants will share their conclusions with the larger group.","Presenter":["John Schinker"],"PresenterAffiliation":["Brecksville-Broadview Hts (OH) City Schools"],"PresenterEmail":["schinkerj@gmail.com"],"ScheduleSlotID":16,"ScheduleLocationID":9,"SubmitterID":62,"AdditionalComments":null,"LiveChannel":null,"Hashtag":null,"VokleID":null,"RecordingURL":null,"ConferenceID":2}],"conditions":{"Status":"Accepted","ConferenceID":2,"ScheduleLocationID":9},"total":5,"limit":false,"offset":false}