The model of providing professional development through podcasting shifts the power from the expert to the learner. Instead of hearing what they need to be told, the learner can choose what they need to hear, when they have heard enough, and what their next step is. It is relevant professional learning on demand, truly mobile, and is controlled by the learner. This session will tell the story of how a podcast focusing on interactive whiteboard lessons drew 30,000 listeners in its first year, engaged like minded educators from around the world into professional conversations, and are living proof of “The Tipping Point”, “The Long Tail” and that “The World is Flat”.

This session presents a case study of how a school district has integrated interactive whiteboards into its technology program. The Eastchester (NY) School District is a K-12 district with approximately 2800 students. Two years ago the district embarked on an initiative to place interactive whiteboards in all of its instructional spaces. To date, eighty percent of the districts classrooms are equipped with a SMART interactive whiteboard. Teachers, administrators, technology coordinators and directors will learn about the integration plan that covers the funding, deployment, technical support, professional development, results in the classroom and "lessons learned."

Why not take advantage of a 1:1 laptop deployment and get kids to publish their work in a Web2.0 manner on our local server? Our 1:1 laptop rollout was based on constructionist philosophies and our concentrated efforts were directed at our Middle School where teachers were grappling with changing their pedagogies to become more student centered and project based. Sounded like a good idea at the time. This session looks at the benefits and shortcomings of this approach, using student work samples and the action research of their teachers.

This session will explore how to use online collaborative environments to extend classroom learning, encourage school wide dialogue, and foster project planning between students, faculty, and administration. By joining in scenario planning activities, the audience will be able to identify key elements for planning school-wide projects.

Video iPods play through classroom televisions or projectors. They can show video clips, PowerPoints, shared tours and scavenger hunts. Create unit folders. Fill your iPod with standards-based videos, project starters, web videos, or DVDs. Learn how to import PowerPoints, download videos, input address books, email, and more into your iPod.

Generally adults help young people learn to drive safely before giving them car keys and turning them loose on the streets of the world. Young people also need guidance and adult assistance to learn how to safely navigate the virtual environments of the 21st Century. Schools must be proactive, rather than merely defensive, in helping students acquire the skills of digital citizenship needed today and in the future. Simply banning read/write web tools on school networks is an inadequate response: Educators must strive to learn alongside students and parents how these technologies can be safely and powerfully used to communicate and collaborate.

This session offers an overview of industry-standard hardware and software for recording, editing, composing and publishing audio within a K-12 context. Examples of collaborative student music composition will also be shared.

David Pogue Keynote

Back in the late 1980s, Bruce Dixon made it possible for schools to provide a laptop for every student. The Smithsonian has recognized his groundbreaking helping countless schools around the world "go 1:1." This session offers practical K-12 advice for schools thinking about the possibility of 1:1 computing or interested in sustaining innovation in existing laptop implementations.

Expand your knowledge of how to take, organize, edit, store and publish your digital photos. A tutorial on taking better photos and using editing software will be presented along with ideas for integrating digital photography across the curriculum.

Veteran “edublogger” Wes Fryer (speedofcreativity.org) offers a primer on the specific technologies of the Read/Write Web, explores classroom opportunities and shares best practices from the field.

Join Gary Stager as he moderates a conversation with one of the inventors of the personal computer. This is a rare opportunity for the audience to ask Dr. Kay questions of specific interest to the K-12 community.