Building Bridges Today that Society Tomorrow Can Walk Across - Connect, Collaborate, Change

_Flat Classroom® Conference Mission

_ The aim of the Flat Classroom® Conference is to bring together geographically dispersed participants with a view to sharing ideas while using mobile computing, learning about Web 2.0 communication and collaboration tools in a flattened world, and, in the case of the workshop, working on a project theme that can be transplanted back into their home school.

The selected theme will inspire unity and action as well as fostering continued connections after the actual event. It is envisaged this will improve global understanding and cement friendships for ongoing collaborations. It is also envisaged that this will provide an opportunity for students and teachers together to 'create the future' through exploration of a global or social issue and developing an 'action' plan to work globally to overcome this.

Flat Classroom® Conference Objectives

• To provide an opportunity for participants and supporters of Flat Classroom® Projects to have an educational and cultural exchange via an organized gathering.

• To promote connection and understanding between geographically dispersed, ethnically and culturally diverse groups of students in meaningful, global cooperative authentic learning experiences.

• To focus on enhancing digital citizenship and fostering best practice methods for online learning in ways that can be shared synchronously and asynchronously with other schools around the world.

• To provide further opportunity for pedagogical development using emerging technologies in differing modes.

• To promote leadership skills for 21st century learning amongst participants of all ages with an increasing leadership role for students in education practice.

• To provide an opportunity for participants to explore and experience what it means to learn in a global classroom where the learning has been flattened and includes extensive involvement from students and teachers, both face-to-face and virtually.
  
• To advance our approach to the next stage in the establishment of educationally viable and valued global classroom(s) and all this means for relationship building and the development of independent and cultural learning for teachers and students

_ The Flat Classroom® Conference and Flat Classroom® Workshop are designed and created by Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay, co-founders of Flat Classroom Projects and is put on by Flat Classroom Conference and Live Events Inc. non-profit US-based 501(3)(c). Email: fcp@flatclassroom.org