Being in Sydney for the EdTechSummit featuring Google for Education was an exciting experience for me. And now being back in Adelaide I can reflect on how lucky I was to share this inspirational experience with two of my colleagues.
The next few blogs are about sharing the sessions that motivated me the most and what Google Apps I intend integrating into my lessons to engage students.
The opening presenter, Suan Yeo, set the tone for the summit with his talk on the future of learning. He described Google Apps and how they can give teachers and students the tools to;
- to create and connect
- to share experiences with others
- to share information with others
- to make learning relevant and personalised
His reference to flipping the teacher resonated with me as I had just used this idea to engage students in their learning through thinking critically. As Steve Wheeler says:
Act as a student, and ask your students awkward questions about what they have learnt. Challenge them to explain clearly what they know. This approach ensures that they must think more critically and reflectively about what they have learnt, and that they need to justify their decisions.
What was most interesting was how Saun Yeo explained the Non-googleable questions: questions that need analysis. How important it is to aim for 10% more and to think big. Other topics he mentioned were:
- Computational thinking
- Organise data and solving problems
- Having an open mind to new ways of teaching
- Make learning fun.
- Doing cool things that matter
- Google Science Fair
- Genius Hour http
- Get parents involved: self access anytime any where:
- Sharing and being opening
- Expand your personal learning network
Resources:
- To follow Suan, you can find him on Twitter
- Seth Godin blog: Search vs discovery
- The thinking Stick.com Jeff Utecht blog
- Google teacher academy
I look forward to hearing about the sharing sessions