Hi there to all out there in the blogosphere - apologies for a lack of postings in the past week - as happens sometimes the pressure of 'the day job' takes over sometimes, and this week has been one of those weeks.
I did have a chance though to do a little 'lurking around podcasts and blogs, which we will look at in a moment.
The main news is what will be happening next week - the K12 Online Conference, follow the link to find out what will be happening http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=3

This is the main thrust of the conference : 'Announcing the first annual “K12 Online 2006″ convention for teachers, administrators and educators around the world interested in the use of Web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice. This year’s conference is scheduled to be held over two weeks, Oct. 23-27 and Oct. 30- Nov. 3 with the theme “Unleashing the Potential.” '

THE FOUR STRANDS ARE:

Week 1Strand A: A Week In The ClassroomThese presentations will focus on the practical pedagogical uses of online social tools (Web 2.0) giving concrete examples of how teachers are using the tools in their classes. They will also show how teachers plan for using these tools in the delivery of their curricular objectives.

Strand B: Basic/Advanced Training (one of each per day)Basic training is “how to” information on tool use in an educational setting, especially for newcomers.
Advanced training is for teachers who have already started using Web 2.0 tools in their classes and are looking for: (a) advanced technology training (eg. how to write your own blog template or hack existing ones), (b) new tools they can make use of in their classes, (c) teaching ideas on how to mash tools together to create “something new,” (d) a pedagogical understanding of how technologies such as Weblogs, wikis, podcasts, social bookmarking sites, RSS feeds and others can deepen learning and increase student achievement, or (e) use of assessment tools to measure the effectiveness of Read/Write Web technologies in their personal practice and with their students.

Week 2Strand A: Personal Professional Development
Tips, ideas and resources on how to orchestrate your own professional development online; the tools that support Professional Learning Environments (PLEs); how to create opportunities to bring these technologies to the larger school community; how to effectively incorporate the tools into your personal or professional practice; or how to create a supportive, reflective virtual professional community around school-based goals.

Strand B: Overcoming ObstaclesTips, ideas and resources on how to deal with issues like: lack of access to tools/computers, filtering, parental/district concerns for online safety, and other IT concerns while trying to focus on best practice in the use of Web 2.0 tools.
CONVENERS & KEYNOTESFor organization purposes, each strand is overseen by a conference convener who will assist and coordinate presenters in their strand. The first presentation in each strand will kick off with a keynote by a well known educator who has distinguished his/herself and is knowledgeable in the context of each topic.

The providers for the conference are the 'blogeratti' of the use of web technology in Education.

Pre-conferenceConvener: Sheryl Nussbaum-BeachKeynote: David Warlick

A Week In The ClassroomConvener: Darren KuropatwaKeynote: Bud Hunt

Basic/Advanced TrainingConvener: Sheryl Nussbaum-BeachKeynote: Alan Levine

Personal Professional DevelopmentConvener: Will RichardsonKeynote: Ewan McIntosh

Overcoming ObstaclesConvener: Wesley FryerKeynote: Anne Davis

Now to the lurking around the blogosphere - there is more great stuff coming from Tom Barrett on the use of Google Earth, check him out ( link to Tom's site on the left). I was particularly taken with his idea to carry out a Science experiment around the world sending results back to Tom's pupils in order to verify results using a greater number of experiments than a single class could carry out.
I had time to take a closer look at Allanah K's work in New Zealand, what energy she and her pupils obviously have with the podcasting, blogging and web site work. Her work certainly shows how pupils take ownership and revise their work thinking all the time of their audience.
I am looking also for an e-travel buddy partner in the next few weeks, we purchased a new Teddy in St Fagans last week ( to replace Dylan the Dragon who still hasn't returned from the USA). We will take a link from anywhere around the globe - is there anyone out there who would like to make a link ( for swapping podcasts, podmail, e-mail, or skypecasting - anything goes as they say, so get in touch.
News on Monday 16th October - one of our LSA's who is into Geocaching in a big way ahs bought us a ' travel bug' which I am keen to get it out there visiting friends across the globe - where to send it first ... I wonder ??? to you perhaps??