 Flat Classroom Conference 2011 China This is one of the most exciting parts of being at a Flat Classroom Conference - the fact that the walls are really flat and the learning environment includes those in front of you and others who are virtually attending.
The Flat Classroom Conference March 7-10 2013, Japan is not exception. We are working hard in the background to bring the conference to the world and the world to the conference. Way back in 2009 at our inaugural Flat Classroom live event we brought Tom Friedman in via remote connection as well as Don Tapscott. We also had Steve Hargadon helping us organise this, alongside other colleagues in other parts of the world who were viewing and interacting with us. It was exciting to share students pitches and presentations, it was exciting to have virtual participants vote on ideas most likely to succeed.
Since then we have refined our approach and now we include virtual team members - both student and teacher. Teachers can also get graduate credit from SUNY, as well as learning more about the tools and pedagogy for flattening the classroom walls. Collaborative tools, video streaming and backchannel tools, Twitter chat and Google hangouts - you will see it all at this event!
We invite readers of this post to learn more about being a Virtual Participant at the Flat Classroom Conference Japan. Application form HERE. We also invite you to come to our Virtual Participation Kickoff online meeting - February 19/20. All details on the Ning Event announcement!
Don't forget, when you go flat, you never go back!
Some updates for everyone attending - in person or virtual! Monday February 11 UpdatesLess than 4 weeks to go and we see you in Yokohama. Here are some important updates for you to be aware of: REGISTRATION CONFIRMATIONWe ask that all REGISTRATION and PAYMENTS are finalized this week. Registration will remain open however we are close to being full. Do not leave this to chance - remember to complete all registration details, respond to the invoice, and make sure we confirm your place. This is important!YAMANOTE TRIP: We need to know who is coming On what we call Day 0 - Thursday March 7, 9:30-4:30. This trip is designed for students coming to the conference to get to know each other better and to have some fun in Japan. Teachers are also invited - in fact teachers bringing students must also act as chaperones for the teams. All details are on the website. We must know who is coming and ask ONE teacher from each school to complete this online form asap. HOTEL UPDATE
Once again we remind everyone to book their hotel through the online booking form found on the Accommodation website. An problems at all please contact Julie. VIRTUAL PARTICIPATIONWe invite teachers and students who are not able to come to Yokohama to be part of the conference virtually. Yes! They can be team members, or they can watch and interact via the UStream and Backchannel provided. Virtual participation details are on the website, and if you want to be a teams member there is a FORM to complete. The messages below went out a week ago: The Flat Classroom Conference is only 4 weeks away! We are planning and organising and putting together a wonderful event for everyone. This email is aimed at those coming outside of Tokyo/Yokohama. Apologies to those living locally. AIRPORT TRANSFER to Yokohama
http://blogs.yis.ac.jp/fcc/getting-to-yis/
Make sure you READ and PRINT information about transport from Haneda or Narita airports. Let me know if you have any questions. DO NOT get a taxi from Narita as this will cost far too much! HOTEL BOOKINGShttp://blogs.yis.ac.jp/fcc/accommodation/Make sure you use the booking forms found on the website AND you send the completed form directly to the hotel as indicated on the form (email or fax). There are rooms available still but you need to use the form to get acknowledgment for attending the conference and therefore the discount rate. DRESS CODE and WEATHER
The conference dress code is casual. It has been suggested to wear layers as the weather is unpredictable at this time of year. For example last week it was 20 C and then 10C in the space of a day or two. Be prepared for rain as well, and the fact you will be walking to and from the hotel and school. An umbrella and/or raincoat is advisable.
VISAOnce again check http://blogs.yis.ac.jp/fcc/getting-to-yis/ for VISA information. If you need a letter of invitation for a Visa, please let me know by Tuesday February 5, and let me know what format your embassy is telling you it wants that letter in. You must contact the Japan embassy and find this out to help me provide the correct document for you. Many thanks everyone for your attention to these details. Julie Lindsay Flat Classroom Conference Chair, Japan 2013
 The next Flat Classroom Conference will take place March 8-10, 2013 at Yokohama International School, Japan. Right now we are working madly in the background to have everything ready for what will be a transformative event for teachers and students. Please note the conference is NOT FULL yet so we encourage everyone to share details with colleagues in other schools via this email, and via our website and the YIS website for this event. Registration and Payment detailsIf you have not done so already, we ask that you now finalize your numbers of teachers and students who want to attend the conference and use the Payment webpage provided to submit payment. If you have any questions about this, please email our conference administrator, Steve Madsen at conference@flatclassroom.orgHotel bookings
Those coming from outside Yokohama or Tokyo will need to book a hotel. Once again, let Steve know if you have any trouble making this booking. I found the Hotel New Grand to be especially efficient at responding and confirming my booking! Student Summit - We encourage all schools to consider bringing students as well!
Flat Classroom learning is about interacting with and learning from all members of the learning community. You will understand this better through the experiences we have planned for this event, however we would love to see schools encourage student involvement as well. Having trouble convincing your school community this is a worthwhile trip for a group of students? Having trouble convincing the students themselves? The activities that take place for the Student Summit will satisfy a CAS project, a GIN project and other Community and Service objectives within your school. It will also raise awareness and amongst the students of how to connect and communicate before and after the conference and how to best initiate, design, pitch and present ideas to others with the view of effecting positive change in the world, through the use of cultural understanding and global awareness and through the use of emerging technologies. We encourage you to review the material on our Student Summit website. Also, Download a brochure you can use to send out to students and families. Also, we invite you to watch the media from the home page of our website as they share student activities and achievements. We will be finalizing Student Summit numbers and teams by February 15, so there is still plenty of time to talk to your school community and raise awareness (and some money) to support student attendance. It is truly a wonderful opportunity for students in your school who show leadership characteristics and/or who want to change the world in some way while collaborating with others! We ask that you email ME directly (lindsay.julie@gmail.com) with updates or questions regarding student attendance. It is important I keep track of who is intending to bring students and how many. I hope you will consider this and work towards including students as well! Expect weekly messages and updates to come from me as we get closer to March and the opening of the conference. Information coming to you soon includes: - Student Summit - A full teacher-ready document that details all you need to tell your students to get ready for the conference
- University credit - Those wanting credit there will be a confirmation announcement soon about opportunities through the State University of New York (SUNY) and also the University of Northern Iowa. Please note we are trying hard to get a 3-credit opportunity approved that will link in nicely with those doing the COETAIL course in Asia right now.
- Meet our presenters! - Yes we have top conference presenters and leaders - you will get to know them before we meet face-to-face
Please let me know if you have any concerns or questions at any stage. I am here to help make this a success for everyone involved. Julie Lindsay Chair, Flat Classroom Conference
 Press Release October 2012Join us in Yokohama for Flat Classroom® Conference Asia 2013 It’s time to put your plans into place to attend the very next Flat Classroom® Conference to be held on March 8-10, at the Yokohama International School. Flat Classroom® co-founders, Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis and conference organisers have put together another magnificent program and invite YOU to REGISTER now.
The Flat Classroom® Conference is a unique event that includes both students and educators as they use leading technology tools such as wikis, blogs, social networking and digital storytelling. The conference is diverse in participation while allowing smaller groups to work with leading world-class presenters in a "flattened" environment where virtual participants also join in the conversation and action from remote corners of the world. The conference is technology-rich, expecting participants to use a variety of creative and collaborative tools to develop exciting and innovative multimedia messages. The conference environment is 1:1, and provides a sound model for those schools that are already 1:1 or are moving in that direction.
In order to recognize and appreciate the challenges facing our host country, Japan, our Conference theme will be: How do we help each other? We are fortunate to have very close relations with two intermediate schools in the tsunami-hit Tohoku region of Japan, as well the Tohoku International School. In order to highlight the opportunities that we have to support others, in our local environments, participants will be asked to develop project ideas that respond to the conference theme, while working in small groups.
This event is targeted to all teachers and students of past, current and future global collaborations as well as Information Technology teachers and Directors and school administrators who are responsible for pedagogical development with curriculum design, global collaboration, global competency, and international mindedness in their schools. Educators will leave the conference understanding how to collaborate globally and with skills and contacts in hand to start projects. Students will leave the conference with leadership skills, technology skills, presentation skills, and a better understanding of diverse cultures and collaboration. Read more details about the exciting Conference Format and Conference Schedule for joining us in Japan in March 2013.
Internationally acclaimed leaders include Alan Levine, Sharon Peters Julie Lindsay, and Kim Cofino!
Read more about the Flat Classroom® Conference on the website. Come and join the Flat Classroom® Conference community and learn more about previous live events. Learn more about Flat Classroom® through the book: Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds: Move to Global Collaboration One Step at a Time.
Make your plans now! REGISTRATION for Flat Classroom® Conference Japan March 8-10, 2013 is OPEN NOW.
Brought to you by Flat Classroom® Conference and Live Events Inc.
Directors, Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay
Flat Classroom Administrator, Steve Madsen: conference@flatclassroom.org
Website: flatclassroomconference.com
Community: flatclassroomconference.ning.com
Website for Japan 2013: blogs.yis.ac.jp/fcc/
Over the past 2 weeks students and teachers globally have been voting for the top student and teacher projects. They were asked to vote for the ideas that would have the most potential if implemented. We are excited to announce the results.
Student Projects:
First Place: Team 9 Movement 9
Second place: Team 19 Enermeter
Third place (tied): Team 1 Culture Connect and Team 6 Clear Water
Top Teacher Project - Team 10 Tackling Transport Together
Congratulations to the above teams who have been recognised by supportive viewers virtually. All conference material can be found on or linked from the Flat Classroom Conference Ning, and the Conference 2011 wiki.
A culmination of the Flat Classroom Conference was a student-led celebration and ceremony featuring student and teacher work. The top 6 student ideas had been transformed into videos that clearly showed what they wanted to happen in terms of action in the future. There is a global VOTE on now to determine the top 3 videos. The vote is open until March 12. All details on the Voting wiki page.
Some fun, some frustration with ice and cold.....but the Flat Classroom Conference at Beijing BISS International School was not deterred by the snow!
We are about to start Day 2 of the Flat Classroom Conference 2011 here in Beijing, China. Already the Student Summit has been meeting for 1.5 days and teams are working furiously towards their 'animatic' presentation before lunch today. The Leadership strand have provided feedback to the student teams for their oral pitch of concepts and ideas. They have also developed their own curriculum ideas for implementing a project or idea that joins classrooms around the world and flattens the classroom walls and will pitch these to student teams this morning for feedback. This conference is about global collaboration, it is about flattening the learning experience. Students, teachers, leaders are learning and leading from each other. We are excited, we are exhausted! and we have great expectations for what today will bring!Don't forget to follow us virtually, both Taking It Global and Beijing Kids have supported us with online spaces to view media. Our Flickr group has the latest pics!
Beijing (BISS) International School is abuzz with activity preparing for the Flat Classroom Conference. Educators and students from more than fifteen countries are coming to Beijing to learn about and do global collaboration.
This conference is unique because it is project based. Spotted with short, high energy presentations, adults and students will design and create global collaborative projects while being coached and taught by some of the leading thought leaders in educational technology.
As a conference, co-organizer, I'm amazed at the superlative effort being put forward by this school and the lovely hospitality shown by our host country of China. While there are certainly technological challenges (as there are with technology differences in any country) we will be able to discuss and experience global collaboration as we work to envision the future of education.
The students are arriving and my seven students and I have been here since Saturday. We've loved the food and enjoyed seeing the beautiful scenery in Beijing as well as kung fu theater, Chinese opera, and acrobatics as well as a delicious Peking duck dinner.
The world is coming to Beijing and I believe that some very impactful learning experiences and projects will emerge from this conference and that connections will be made that will make an impact on global collaboration as we know it. We have over fifty virtual participants registered who will participate as full members of our teams.
OK, gotta run - there is a lot to do! We have people coming in to meet us at the W.A.L.L. "where we all learn and lead." I am hearing bustle and hustle in the hall as they prepare to leave for their tour of WAB (Western Academy of Beijing.)
Vicki Davis, Conference Co-organizer.
Press Release Feb 15 – Flat Classroom Conference 2011
Excitement is growing as we approach the time for the Flat Classroom Conference 2011 to start. Hosted by Beijing BISS International School February 24-27, this event will bring to together 250 educators and students from more than 15 countries and 45+ schools and institutions. In true ‘flat’ learning style elementary, secondary and tertiary education converge as participants work through a conference program that inspires them to connect globally and take action back in their own schools.
For the Leadership Workshop, adults will explore collaborative learning modes and emerging technologies that support these while designing new instructional models for immediate use in their own classrooms. These new curriculums and pedagogies that include interaction and true problem solving in collaboration with other classrooms around the world are aimed at developing global citizens who have confidence and knowledge with digital learning environments.
For the Student Summit, nearly 100 students will be challenged by an action project that asks them to envisage solutions to problems they have identified along the theme ‘Our Global Future Living Together’. Working in teams they will pitch ideas to the Leadership strand, then after feedback create a presentation that is a pre-visualization for a multimedia story. After an international vote, the best student teams will work with a Hollywood film producer to create a short movie based on their ideas.
Student Summit Classrooms, Flat Classroom Conference 2011
World - Think Global School
USA - Westwood Schools
Oman – Osama Bin Zaid School
Korea - Gyeonggi Suwon International School
Indonesia - Al-Azhar Islamic Senior High School
India - Stonehill International School
China - Yew Chung International School
China - Western Academy Beijing
China - Tsinghua High International School
China - Shekou International School
China - RDFZ-Xishan School
China - International Academy of Beijing
China - Hua Shi Yi Fu Zhong High School
China - Beijing BISS International School
Both teachers and students will work together and learn from each other at key times during the 3-day conference. In particular they will enjoy ‘Ted Talk’ style sessions called Flat Learning Action Talks (FL.A.T.s) where both presenters and students have an opportunity to communicate a passion and a message in 10 min.
Another vital part of the conference is the Virtual Flat Classroom. Supported by Taking IT Global (a global social network for educational collaboration), Flat Classroom organizers have out together an opportunity for any interested teachers and students who cannot come to Beijing to be part of this event. Through video streaming, backchannels, Skype, the use of wikis for collaboration, and other Web 2.0 tools (online tools that are normally free that support connection and collaboration, also called the Read/Write web), virtual participants can observe, interact and in fact become full team members if they wish.
Essential Links to the Flat Classroom Conference
Website: http://flatclassroomconference.com
Wiki: http://conference2011.flatclassroomproject.org/
Educational Network: http://flatclassroomconference.ning.com
Virtual Flat Classroom: http://flatclass.tigweb.org/
Our host, Beijing BISS International School: http://www.biss.com.cn
Julie Lindsay
E-Learning Coordinator
Beijing BISS International School
Director Flat Classroom™ Conference and Live Events Inc.
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