Learning2 is not a technology conference; it is a learning conference infused with technology. Technology is the servant of learning, not the other way around. The conference started in 2007 in Asia, and was held in Europe this year for the first time.
This was my second time attending Learning2; my first attendance was in Shanghai, in 2010. I remember that I focused on Home-School communication last time. The framework in Milan was different from what I remembered it being, in both format and content.
I observed the following elements at the Learning2 conference in Milan:
- short talks on diverse topics by students and educators each day (TED style)
- teacher led sessions
- student led sessions
- extended sessions
- unconference workshops
- cohort meetings (Administrators, Design Technology, EAL/ESL, Elementary Generalist – Lower ES, Elementary Generalist – Upper ES, ELA, Humanities, Information Literacy/Library, Mathematics, Science, Technology Leader – ES, Technology Leader – MS/HS, Technology Leader – WS, World Languages)
- social gatherings (breakfast, lunch, aperitivo)
I led a teacher workshop on iPad Playdate: Apps for Language Learning, and attended a session on Making E-portfolios Work by Kimberly House from Bavarian International School (more on that in the future). I watched a professional chocolatier demonstrate how to make chocolate, and attended an unconference session on Genius Hour/20% time and skipped the second unconference session to work quietly in the library, processing all of the learning that I was doing. I also skipped the student led session; I tried to attend the one on Minecraft but it was full, so I went to the library and played with Minecraft Pocket Edition on my iPad for a while. I could have benefited from a student teacher.
The bulk of the time in Learning2 is spent in extended sessions. It’s less than 50% of the conference time, but the greatest amount of time spent on a single focus. I participated in two extended sessions, which are three hour long workshops. The first was called Connect Your Community, Connect Your Students, Connect Yourself by Marcello Mongardi, and the second was Students as Creators and Curators of Textbooks by Jeff Utecht. There were four other sessions: Designing Spaces that Build Community by Paula Guinto, Programmable Robots and Coding in the Primary Classroom by Warren Apel, Building a Culture of Collaboration by Tricia Friedman, and Living in Beta by Sheldon Bradshaw. Each session is a combination of presentation and hands-on experiences, with an opportunity to consider the relevance of what you’re learning to your classroom, and how you can apply the content to your own context. I found myself moving at my own pace, shaping my learning based on my interest and needs, and using fellow participants and the presenter to jump past some of the initial challenges when encountering a new idea or program. In the Curation workshop, there was a representative from Flipboard who was able to answer questions and helped me compare and contrast Flipboard to my existing tool, Feedly. As a result, I have a good idea of the difference between them and the value of each. I will keep using Feedly personally because I like the unread/read feature, but will use Flipboard for collaboration; I will share more about using Flipboard with students.
Learning2 is a great model for professional development. I suggest having a goal list for the conference, going with a team, making time to debrief and share learning after, and coming up with actions to improve teaching and learning. I encourage you to look into Learning2 when planning your professional development for the next academic year. It will be held in Warsaw, April 6-9, 2017.
Before you leave, take a few minutes to watch this talk by Scintilla.
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Cross-posted at ISP Elementary School IT.