Flat Classroom Educator Group

Keep up with Europe/UK IT education news through this blog produced by John Mikton.

"My best advice is to tap into an existing project. There are lots of them! But before you begin your search, take a few minutes to define what kind of project you're looking for. What areyour project goals? How will you incorporate your content area standards in addition to giving your students opportunities for developing global competencies? What time frame do you have in mind? Are you looking for a long-term project or a short-term one? What scope do you have in mind? Are you looking to connect with a single teacher/classroom/school or multiple partners? What kind of partner(s) are you looking for? Grade level? Subject area? Location?"

Join this group...over 600 people have already...and connect with others who are interested in joining classrooms together for learning.

Very excited about the potential of this tool! Co-creation of videos anywhere in the world. Can't wait to try it out!

A wonderful blog from a Grade 4 teacher, my friend and Flat Classroom educator in Beijing, Shannon O'Dwyer. This style of writing really brings the classroom out to the world and invites interaction from a global audience!

Flat Classroom, in conjunction with Taking IT Global - 'Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds' Starts August 22 5pm EST, (August 23 7am Australia) Followed by 3 further sessions over the next few weeks. Come and discuss global collaboration and how to flatten your classroom.

Resources recommended by @heyjude

Powerful Learning Practice one-day live conference September 28 in Philadelphia - lots of talking, lots of sessions, some innovation in conference design....but where are the students, and where is the true collaboration and co-creation?

Thinking of ways we can use this concept for Flat Classroom: AWL, K-2

Our Flat Classroom Global Community on Facebook. Come and share your flat learning experiences around the world. Flat Classroom updates posted regularly.

Flat Classroom in conjunction with Taking IT Global scheduled sessions for Connected Educator Month, August-September 2012. Highlight: Flat Classroom Book Club with TIGED - starts Wednesday August 22, 5pm EST

Tom Whitby writes a provocative blog post about Connected Educator Month, August 2012. He states: "No, to be a good teacher, one does not need to be connected. However, the question is if you are a good teacher and unconnected, could you be a better teacher if you were connected? Shouldn't we strive to be the best that we can be? It's not only an Army thing. Being connected offers not only exposure to content and ideas but also the ability to create and collaborate on ideas. Being connected fosters transparency and debunks myths of education that have been harbored in the previous isolation of the education profession. This is the stuff of a true learner's dreams, and, as educators, are we not all learners?"

Article by Andrew Churches, http://edorigami.edublogs.org/, talking about the benefits of global learning, and gives a great wrap for Flat Classroom. "Our classrooms are not limited to the four walls of the physical building we teach in but can encompass the entirety of the planet. Technology-much of which is free-has enabled us to push back the classroom walls and stretch our virtual arms across the globe to shake hands with classrooms and students almost anywhere."

Some excellent tips from Jennifer Carey. I know classrooms CAN move beyond the central control of a school imposed LMS - the students are ready, let's get the teachers ready!

Published by Action Stations authored by Anne Mirtschin, my Australian friend and colleague and Flat Classroom enthusiast. Congratulations on your excellent book!

Slideshow by Silvia Tolisano @langwitches. Excellent!

I agree with some of these reasons - there are two mains issues - 1) lack of good quality e-books (in other words 'e-books' that are really PDF format with limited hyperlinking, interaction and social media 2) a lack of vision amongst teachers to encourage students to write their OWN text books.