This weekend I along with 25 of my colleagues will be travelling north to Shanghai to attend the Learning 2.0 conference. The three day conference represents a progressive step forward in professional development as this conference will focus on the future of learning and what it means for the classrooms and teachers of today. The lineup of speakers is impressive. Check out all the action at http://www.learning2.net.cn/

I will be involved in two presentations over the weekend.

The first………….

Interactive Whiteboards - Reflections on a 5 year study - Justin Medved

Over the past 5 years I have been actively involved in implementing, developing and leading interactive white board programs at several different schools. As a teacher and trainer I have taught with this new tool and have come to develop a set of best practices that have enabled staff and students to deepen the teaching and learning process. This session will be a synthesis of my experiences and hopefully offer some helpful information to teachers and coordinators who are thinking about implementing interactive white boards into their classrooms This session will explore how Intern active whiteboards can enhance: Teaching Student Learning Staff Collaboration Staff Development Instructional Practices Classroom Management
Session 4: Saturday 1:15-2:00pm
Room: C-204

The second presentation is one that I am really excited to do with friend and colleague Dennis Harter. This presentation represents the culmination of a years worth of thinking, talking and reading about how schools should think differently about the information technology strands of their curriculum and offers an alternative to the skills and scope and sequence model that many schools are used to.

Information Technology Curriculum 2.0 - Justin Medved and Dennis Harter

At ISB, we believe that technology is a tool for learning. We believe that technology is used as a tool outside of formal schooling for communication, collaboration, understanding, and accessing knowledge. It is our goal in developing an integrated curriculum to ensure that the way students learn with technology agrees with the way they live with technology. At ISB we believe we must focus on the higher-order skills that are necessary for success in the 21st Century. These skills are not tied to any particular software or technology-type, but rather provide students with the opportunity to succeed no matter what their futures hold. In this session we will share our curriculum model and our implementation plan for the next three years.

Session 8: Sunday 10:15-11:00am
Room: C-228

Are you going ?

If so introduce yourself here and then again in person in Shanghai.

Looking forward to it.

Came across this interesting picture and accompanying story this week.

“A team of scientists engaged in military research recently came to the conclusion that when it comes to reading web pages,most readers read in “F” shaped pattern taking into consideration the eye movements of 232 readers,it was found that a reader generally reads in a horizontal movement first.This is followed by their eyes moving downwards a bit and then,ensues reading across in a second horizontal movement covering a shorter area than what it was previously.

…………………If a page contains some images or box at the top right,it is noticed that a viewer usually concentrates over there leading to some distortion in the “F” shape .All these movements when tracked through a heat map-with red color defining most of the viewed areas,yellow indicating the lesser and blue”F”. signifying the least viewed area-gave the shape of the letter

……………………The study reiterates the guidelines for web designing and writing web content-since the user does not read the text throughly,the first two paragraphs must contain the most important information comprising subheads,bullet points followed by information in the realms of the text.

The last few lines of this story are probably the most important as they speak to universal elements of good design. This information is nothing new or revolutionary however it still has me thinking and wondering about how many people know about it. We tend not to think about design when we find it easy to read, navigate or follow information across a page or sign. However are keenly very aware of it when we cannot?

I can’t think of a grade, subject area or teacher that does not have their students at some point in time create or display work for others to read, watch or consume. Visual presentations (movies, powerpoints, posters etc.) are often used as summative assessment tools for educators across the world. I do however wonder how often components of visual literacy are woven into the student preparation and planning of the assignments. Even more interesting would be to find out how often they are assessed!

Would an understanding of basic design elements be beneficial to students as they are asked to prepare presentations across different mediums? Should an understanding of visual literacy and how to take advantage of known and basic design techniques not be an important part of all curriculum no matter what the subject area? Should students be accountable for it? It seems to me that in todays info rich world design and ease of information delivery is sometimes just as important as the content itself.

Who’s responsibility is it to teach these skills?

Sound like we are calling for a Curriculum 2.0 !