In less than 2 months I’ll be going “down under” and keynoting the Australian Computers in Education Conference ACEC2010 in Melbourne Australia.
When: 6 – 9 April 2010
Where: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
Full details online: www.acec2010.info
I’m excited about this and will write more soon about my keynote topic, but first, some fun stuff!
From ACEC2010:
The ACEC2010: Digital Diversity conference opens in just 58 days. There’s a lot going on in the ICTEV office as we get ready to put on the biggest ICT event for educators in Australia this year. The program is now online – check http://acec2010.info/program-glance for an overview. Soon we’ll be inviting registered attendees to come back to the website, login and choose their sessions for the conference.
We’ve also got a couple of competitions coming up. Next month we’ll be running the Inaugural ACCE Australasian Educational Media Awards, proudly sponsored by Edsoft. At this ACEC2010 we’d like to acknowledge the contribution of Australasian educators who support the learning community through blogs, wikis, podcasts and other new media forums. Keep tuned for more information.
This is an opportunity to get your students involved and showcase their design talent or even have a go yourself. The winning design will go on the front of the official ACEC2010 conference t-shirt. Enter now to Feb 21, 2010.
Google is kicking off the third annual Doodle 4 Google competition. Doodle 4 Google is a competition open to K-12 students in U.S. schools who are invited to create their own Google doodle inspired by the theme, “If I Could Do Anything, I Would . . .” A “doodle” is the logo design that appears on the Google homepage periodically to celebrate special events, holidays, or the lives of artists and inventors.
There are a lot of great prizes, including a new “Extra Credit: Technology Booster” award in the form of netbook computers for schools that submit the maximum number of doodles by March 10, 2010 and have students that are selected to be a 400 State Finalist.
Schools must register to participate by March 17, 2010 and the entries are due March 31, 2010.
As part of the 30th anniversary celebrations of Tech&Learning Magazine, they are creating a compendium of important people in the creation and advancement of the use of technology in education.
The first set of honorees will be the pioneers— the founding fathers and mothers whose inventions, declarations, and theories set the table for where we are today.
And guess who is on the list of nominations – Generation YES founder Dr. Dennis Harper. For those of you who don’t know, Dr. Harper definitely belongs on this list.
Dennis wrote the first textbook for educators about computing and taught the first graduate level educational technology class in the world back in the 1980’s. He also he brought the first computers into K-12 schools in over 30 countries across Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean. He was one of the four founders of California Computer Using Educators (CUE) and ran the first computer camp for kids with David Thornburg (also on this list.) And all along the way, he has been a tireless advocate for student empowerment as the only path to true technology integration in schools.
Tech&Learning has created an online poll to vote for ten of of these leaders. There are some other names on the list that will surely catch your attention, for example, Seymour Papert, the undisputed father of educational technology.
You have 10 votes – it would be great if you used one of them to acknowledge Dennis Harper and his legacy of student empowerment and student ownership of their own learning through modern technology.
Tech & Learning invites K-12 students to participate in the seventh annual digital photography contest. The competition, open to all K-12 students, challenges you to capture — and share — your unique vision of the world. If you have an artistic side, you also have the option to digitally enhance your photos with your favorite imaging software.
The top 4 winners in each grade level (elementary, middle, and high school) win prizes and have their photo featured in the December Awards Issue of Tech & Learning.
On September 8, President Barack Obama called on the nation’s students to take greater responsibility for their education. Now, the U.S. Department of Education is asking students to respond by participating in a national video contest titled “I Am What I Learn.”
The website has a YouTube video introducing the contest to students.
The contest is open to active middle, secondary and college students, ages 13 and older. Starting September 21, through November 2, students can submit their videos on the contest website. The videos must be less than two minutes long, but otherwise, there are no restrictions on the style of the video. Winning videos will be chosen based on the following criteria: use of creativity, strength and originality of content, and ability to inspire.
November 9 – 24, the public can view the finalists’ videos and vote on their favorites. The top three finalists with the most votes will each win $1,000 prize issued by the U.S. Department of Education.
Winners will be announced the week of December 1.
Contest rules
Each video must be submitted by an active student, age 13 and older, and a U.S. citizen or legal resident.
Contestants chosen as finalists will be contacted through their YouTube account and must respond within seven business days to confirm eligibility.
Finalists under the age of 18 must submit a parental consent form.
My comments: This is an incredible opportunity for students to show their media and technology literacy skills to a wider audience! Don’t wait for your “video production” lesson set for May — if you can shuffle things around, why not?
And why limit the topic to “I am what I learn” – how about “I am what I do”, or how about some of our GenYES or TechYES student-mentors show “I am what I TEACH.” Learning is not just about input, but output too – it’s what students do that counts.
Yes, sigh, I know that YouTube is blocked at many schools. It’s ironic that the federal government is using this information channel without seeming to realize that their own regulations cause schools to block that channel.
And finally, several people commented on my previous post (President to speak to students) questioning the age limit. Why 13 years old? My guess is that because they are using YouTube to submit videos and also to contact contest winners, they are bound to the President to speak to students) questioning the age limit. Why 13 years old? My guess is that because they are using YouTube to submit videos and also to contact contest winners, they are bound to the terms of service set by YouTube. YouTube requires anyone creating an account to be at least 13. This, in turn, is a direct response to the federal government online child protection regulations that severely restrict any online interaction with children younger than 13.
Once again, Google is offering Doodle 4 Google, “…a competition where we invite K-12 students to play around with our homepage logo and see what new designs they come up with. This year we’re inviting U.S. kids to join in the doodling fun, around the intriguing theme “What I Wish for the World.”"
There will be regional winners and four age bands. Registration closes on March 17, 2009 and entries are due on March 31, 2009. Teachers must register their schools – no individual student entries are accepted.
Adobe has issued the call for entries to the 2009 Adobe School Innovation Awards program. The awards program honors creative and innovative technology design projects from high school students in the US and Canada. With the theme “The World is Your Stage,” students can submit entries using Adobe applications in three categories: Web Design and Development, Film and Video, and Graphic and Print Design. Category award winners will be named, in addition to a grand prize winner for best overall submission.
The purpose of the School Innovation Awards is to engage students in learning and to encourage them to communicate what they know and care about in the community.
Full-time students age 14-19 years in grades 9-12 from accredited public or private high schools in the US and Canada (except Quebec) are invited to submit through the Adobe School Innovation Awards website.
Submissions will be accepted through May 8, 2009.
Winners will be selected by a panel of Adobe judges based on their originality and effectiveness in communicating project objectives. The best of the best winner will receive Adobe® Creative Suite® 4 Master Collection and be recognized by Adobe in their community. The winning student’s teacher receives a trip to the 2009 National Education Computing Conference (NECC) in Washington D.C., and the winning student’s school will be awarded a site license of Adobe Creative Suite 4.
Futurework 2020 is a new contest for students in Middle and High School. Winning entries will be creative descriptions of new jobs that will be available in the year 2020 that are not available today.
Futurework 2020 is sponsored by the Thornburg Center for Space Exploration, a new venture by ed tech pioneer Dr. David Thornburg. The Center’s mission is to inspire students and improve STEM education through the design and implementation of an international multi-year elective or after-school program on Space Exploration.
Tech & Learning invites K-12 students to participate in Portraits of Learning, the seventh annual digital photography contest. The competition, open to all K-12 students, challenges you to capture – and share – your unique vision of the world. If you have an artistic side, you also have the option to digitally enhance your photos with your favorite imaging software. The best digitally enhanced photo wins a special prize from Adobe. Other prizes include a digital camera, Adobe Photoshop Elements, and more.
Open to US and Canadian students (international entries are allowed, but will not win the same prizes.)
DEADLINE: OCT. 1
Categories for elementary, middle school, and high school.
