Learning 2.008 – Teachers Teaching Teachers and a Whole Lot More

On September 18, 2008, almost 600 teachers and leaders from all over Southeast Asia (and beyond) gathered on the Hongqiao Campus of Shanghai Community International Schools to tackle issues related to the future of education. As the name implies, there was a wide range of topics that considered the future of education and how emerging technology tools can help pave way to a brighter future for all of the children we serve. The sequel to Learning 2.0 BETA last year, this conference built on the foundation of the first and expanded its offerings to include teachers from an even broader range of age levels and disciplines. Additionally, many school heads and principals joined us to provide more leadership strands in the overall conference.

David Warlick, one of the six headline speakers at the confer ence, summed it up in a blog post to the conference website:

-27- “How does the future find me? In what condition does it find me? Am I intellectually, emotionally, attitudinally, oriented to accept, evaluate, adopt, and reject the future that finds me? I think that this is part of our challenge at Learning 2.008, that we must discover the formula that unlocks futurereadiness in all teachers.”

Other headline speakers included David Jakes, Clarence Fish er, Ewan McIntosh, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Alan Levine, Jeff Utecht, and Brian Crosby. Search any of these names on the internet and you’ll find the results synonymous with leading edge thinking and practices in the art of technology and learning. Teachers all carried laptops throughout the classrooms of the SCIS host campus as they listened to these key speakers and their own colleagues deliver sessions on learning and technology concepts that covered a wide spectrum of topics. A large number of recruited students from all the coordinating Shanghai campuses were duly named the “Geek Squad” and they assisted conference participants and presenters with all of their technological needs throughout the weekend. One of the key features of the conference included sessions set aside as “un-conference” meetings that allowed for any topic to be proposed and discussed. All of the thoughts of participants were also captured electronically on the pages of the conference social networking website. Thus, the collaboration continues long after the last day of the conference as the site continues to thrive throughout the year ahead.

The Learning 2.0 conference series, now in its second year, was born out of a multi-school collaboration in Shanghai. Orig inally discussed five years ago at a joint meeting of technology directors from five schools, this year’s conference was jointly coordinated by Shanghai Community International Schools (SCIS), Concordia International School Shanghai (CISS), Shanghai American School (SAS), and British International School Shanghai (BISS). Core committee members included returning members Jon Zurfluh (head of school, SCIS Pudong), Michael Weber (recently retired director of technology at CISS), Jeff Utecht (originally from SAS, but now residing and inspiring technology innovation at the International School of Bangkok), Michael Lambert (teacher at CISS), Andy Torris (assistant superintendent at SAS), Simon May (technology teacher at SAS), and David Gran (tech nology teacher at SAS). Joining the committee this year were Michael Boll (teacher at CISS), Chris McAnally (campus technology coordinator at SCIS Hongqiao), Matt Seigal (ICT subject leader at BISS), Samran Wiriyaphong (technology teacher at SCIS Hongqiao), and Tim Chan (technology integration coordinator at SCIS). Also new to the group and assisting in the days leading up to and during the conference were Wayne Voogt (classroom technology integration specialist at SCIS Hongqiao), Mikey McKillip (classroom technology integration specialist at SCIS Pudong), Steve Clark (campus technology coordinator at SCIS Pudong), and Emily Zurfluh (pre-school and IT teacher at SCIS Pudong). There were also countless others who contributed to the success of the conference, and special appreciation goes to the finance and operations staff at the SCIS Hongqiao Campus, the finance staff at CISS, and the transportation coordination at SAS. It is also important to thank the board members, headmasters, and/or superintendents of each of the participating schools for their continued support of this conference.

The Learning 2.0 conference series has been jointly funded and sponsored by two key regional organizations. EARCOS, the East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools, and ACAMIS, the Association of China and Mongolia International Schools both share common strategic plans that call for increased attention to learning initiatives and technology integration amongst the schools they serve. Representatives from each organization were on hand at the opening and closing ceremonies to greet and inspire partici pants. For more information on the Learning 2.0 conference series, you can join us on the conference website at: http://learning2cn. ning.com/.

Jon P. Zurfluh Head of School, SCIS Pudong