At the ICT in Education Conference last Saturday, educators in Ireland and beyond joined together — in person in Thurles and virtually across the globe — to focus on learners, learning spaces and the future of education. The urgency of these issues cannot be understated. At #ICTEdu, we accepted the challenges we face, but focussed instead on what we can do. We were inspired by keynote speakers/sharers Ira Socol (@irasocol) and Pam Moran (@pammoran). Pam and Ira created whole-hearted, human-centred learning spaces with us (yes, it’s possible even in a fixed-seat, windowless lecture hall!) both modelling what is possible and inspiring us to do the same — beginning today.
I’ll write my overall reflections on the conference in a subsequent blog post, but the full tweetstream of the conference is available now. In addition, a special #edchatie Twitter chat focused on the conference theme of “Learning Spaces” takes place Monday, May 21st at 8:30 pm GMT. [Transcript of the chat – added 22nd May]
My session at the conference, “Social Media, Learning, Space and Time”, explored how social media helps us to break down the walls of the classroom. Connection and learning can extend beyond class time, beyond term time, and beyond the bounds of our classrooms and lecture halls. Students and educators communicating and sharing work using social media move beyond the artificial boundaries of formal and informal learning, and the rigid roles of “teacher” and “student”. I shared three examples of social media being used in these ways: my own experience using Twitter with students in higher education; the 100 Word Challenge, a creative writing blogging project for primary and secondary students, presented via video by Julia Skinner (@TheHeadsOffice); and the Madhouse of Ideas project, presented via video by Linda Castañeda (@lindacq, @MadhouseofIdeas). Both videos are included in the presentation above.
The social media activity at the conference certainly demonstrated this theme. Bernie Goldbach (@topgold) noted that although the activity at the conference was intense, “twice as many people were following the day’s events at a distance, using Twitter, YouTube, SlideShare, and the live video stream”. This was true in my own session. My sincere thanks to all participants who shared their thoughts and reflections in our room (where we created our own personalised, chaotic learning environment by moving tables and chairs!) and who amplified the session on Twitter so that others could participate. These tweets provide a vivid picture of our workshop — thank you all!
https://twitter.com/catherinecronin/status/203795947854118912 https://twitter.com/Pauiss/status/203798953551077376 https://twitter.com/FunkySockzLover/status/203796122362314752 https://twitter.com/mcnamaraali/status/203798045220024321 https://twitter.com/hobnobs22/status/203801753190281216 https://twitter.com/marloft/status/203798702501007360 https://twitter.com/mcnamaraali/status/203799404610727936 https://twitter.com/FunkySockzLover/status/203802807134978048 https://twitter.com/mcnamaraali/status/203799931994112001 https://twitter.com/mcnamaraali/status/203800182431813632 https://twitter.com/hobnobs22/status/203806568364523520 https://twitter.com/marloft/status/203801462046863360 https://twitter.com/mcnamaraali/status/203800719294341121 https://twitter.com/SabineMcKenna/status/203800974878445569 https://twitter.com/mcnamaraali/status/203801310762516480https://twitter.com/TheHeadsOffice/status/203802008912801792Weekly creative writing challenge for kids < 16y. Weekly prompt, pic, words, Julia Skinner, Bristol, coordinates. @catherinecronin #ictedu
— Sabine McKenna (@SabineMcKenna) May 19, 2012
https://twitter.com/TheHeadsOffice/status/203805754132668416 https://twitter.com/TheHeadsOffice/status/203802769369473024#100wc lets children then comment on others' writing (moderated) - very motivating! http://t.co/4E18VHtX #ictedu @catherinecronin
— Sabine McKenna (@SabineMcKenna) May 19, 2012
A @madhouseofideas moment RT @torresk: @catherinecronin @lindacq @theheadsoffice ...and @torresk 😉
— Linda Castañeda (@lindacq) May 19, 2012
help us to make it bigger, let's participate!! @suebecks @Madhouseofideas @cristinacost @torresk
— Linda Castañeda (@lindacq) May 19, 2012
We hope to get lots of new posts on our blog; help us spread the word and share your learning journey! http://t.co/hJJYnBmV #ictedu
— Madhouse of Ideas (@Madhouseofideas) May 19, 2012
Initiative @madhouseofideas http://t.co/z5zaRysy by educators who learned much on Twitter - @catherinecronin says like @fboss here #ictedu
— Sabine McKenna (@SabineMcKenna) May 19, 2012
Combining social and academic spaces... leveling developments in social media: @catherinecronin mentions http://t.co/E97oM42w #ictedu
— Sabine McKenna (@SabineMcKenna) May 19, 2012
@catherinecronin wraps up her inspiring workshop by thanking everyone on #edchatie for all the learning taking place for her there. #ictedu
— Sabine McKenna (@SabineMcKenna) May 19, 2012
https://twitter.com/catherinecronin/status/203808554111598592@catherinecronin a pleasure! Thanks for inviting us!
— Ricardo Torres K (@torresk) May 19, 2012
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