Moving forward: digital citizenship and re-defining classrooms

ASLA (NSW) State Library Day was a wonderful day with delegates across sectors and levels expressing how inspired and refreshed they felt after the day long professional learning event. Comments included 'best State Library Day ever', speakers were 'inspiring', 'fabulous', 'challenging', and 'wise'. Suggestions for the future included more on Web 2.0, all day Literature festival, and bring Andrew Douch back!

Keynote Address : Values + 21C Environments = Digital Citizenship

Robyn Treyvaud

www.cybersafekids.com.au

This keynote explores the elements of digital citizenship: respect, responsibility, ethics, and resilience.  Issues that are challenging schools and their communities are:   

• What are children & young people doing online?
• What are the online safety issues they are dealing with?
• What do adults need to know and do to keep children and young people safe online?

Robyn will present current research and resources that support the explicit teaching of digital citizenship. 

Robyn Treyvaud's presentation PowerPoint is available to members only.

Keynote Address : Re-defining 'classroom'

Andrew Douch 

http://web.mac.com/andrewdouch/

Andrew Douch believes it is necessary for teachers to adopt new approaches to teaching a new generation of learners. His intention is not to promote "high-tech" skills in teachers, but rather to encourage widespread adoption of easy-to-use technologies that are 'high-concept' and have the power to transform classroom interactions.

In the last decade, informal communication between young people has been revolutionized by social networking sites, instant messaging, mobile phones and numerous other technologies that give them instant access to information and people any time, anywhere.  Schools have been slow to respond appropriately to these fundamental societal changes.

In his presentation Andrew will show how any teacher is able to change the way he or she communicates with students, taking advantage of the very same digital communication tools that  Gen-Y students use. From podcasting to online forums to mobile phones, this presentation will explore the potential in digital communication technologies to challenge where, when and how class members interact, and even who the class members are. 

Andrew is adamant in his belief that teachers don't need 'computer skills' to transform their classrooms, but a willingness to question their 20thC paradigms and rethink their role as an educator in a world where information is available on-demand and communication is instantaneous.

He will show real-world examples of the ways in which teachers have used the ideas he promotes, across a range of subjects and year levels, to make a profound impact on student engagement and learning outcomes. 

Andrew says,

“What we need in the 21st Century is not teachers with computer skills, but teachers with minds open to change, teachers with new ideas.” 

Note - due to the highly interactive nature of Andrew Douch's presentations, we are unable to provide you with a copy.  However,  DO go to his website and absorb his ideas from both his blog and screen casts.