Live Events: 2008 EduBloggerCons & CR 2.0 Workshop in San Francisco

There are two different kinds of events coming up that I think will be of real interest to the members of Classroom 2.0.

The first are the 2008 "EduBloggerCons" that are scheduled for right before the CUE and NECC conferences: Wednesday, March 4th, in Palm Springs (CA) and Saturday, June 28th, in San Antonio (TX). Last year we held the first EduBloggerCon in Atlanta before NECC, and the idea was to create a face-to-face gathering of educational bloggers. It was a huge success, and for many one of the highlights of their NECC experience. We called it an "unconference," since the program of facilitated discussions was created by the actual participants, but I like the phrase "collaborative conference" better, so that's what we're calling these two events this year.

The whole idea is to be able to meet physically and to have engaging dialogs. And I'm hoping that everyone here in CR 2.0 will consider this a personal invitation to attend one or both events. There are so many here that I would love to meet, and last year was just incredible fun. You don't have to be a blogger to attend--being a member of CR 2.0 surely qualifies you! Both EduBloggerCons are free, and all you have to do to attend is to sign up on the wiki pages at www.EduBloggerCon.com. We'll follow last year's pattern of letting anyone propose discussions they want to facilitate, and others indicating their interest levels in those discussions. And we'll build in ample time for informal discussions. Post any questions here, and please ask for help if the wiki makes you nervous!

The second kind of event is that we are planning our first Classroom 2.0 live workshops--February 1st and 2nd, 2008, in San Francisco, California! Unlike the EduBloggerCons, these will be hands-on practical sessions in the use of Web 2.0 tools in education. But like the EduBloggerCons, these will also be collaboratively built. We'll have both vendor and teacher-led sessions, you can either come just to learn, or also to help teach. Come one day or come both! The workshops will be vendor-sponsored, but we are going to charge a nominal fee ($25?) to make sure there is a commitment level because room will be limited. Those who help present will get to come for free (that should be good incentive!), and we're also asking the sponsors to provide some freebies that more than make up for the cost. Wikispaces has stepped up the the plate first and will be one of the primary sponsors for San Francisco.

If the workshops are successful, we're hoping we can build a model for taking them around the US (and the world--wouldn't that be the day!?). Come help us as we start to build the wiki pages for these events: http://www.classroom20wiki.com/Local+Workshops

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Permalink Reply by Konrad Glogowski on November 12, 2007 at 8:09pm

Steve,

I'd love to be there at the first ever Classroom 2.0 Live event! I would also like to run a workshop/presentation (I'm thinking of creating an environment for a conversation that could start before the conference and continue after).

Here are my questions:

1. Do you have a location for this event? It would be useful to know before I start booking flights and hotels.
2. May I start building my workshop proposal on the wiki? I didn't see a dedicated page there and I don't want my additions to interfere with your plans for the site.

- Konrad

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hargadon on November 13, 2007 at 10:54am

OK, I added a page for session proposals: http://www.classroom20wiki.com/SF2008SessionsProposals. There is a direct link from the workshop page as well.

Love the idea of doing something before. Very clever.

Wikispaces is arranging the venue. It will be somewhere in the city! :) Will keep you posted!

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Permalink Reply by Konrad Glogowski on November 15, 2007 at 11:18pm

Thanks Steve,

I'll start working on my proposal this weekend. What an exciting opportunity!

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Permalink Reply by Connie Weber on January 2, 2008 at 3:49am

Hi Steve,
Yeah, me too, trying to see if I can plan ahead a bit and figure out airline costs and hotel costs.
It'd be great to be able to be part of this dynamic learning opportunity.
Do you think there'd be much interest in use of nings for class? Trying to think through whether to just bask in learning or try to teach something as well... Can't wait to take your classes on social networking--hope I get to attend/participate in this conference!
Thanks for doing this. You're doing so much for education. You're a true agent of change!

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Permalink Reply by Janice Friesen on November 15, 2007 at 7:55pm

I like the idea of the workshops, but I will be in San Francisco the week before this for the TRLD conference and then in Austin, Texas for the TCEA conference which starts on February 3. I know you will let us know how this works out and if there will be other ones.

Janice

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Permalink Reply by Studica Skills on November 30, 2007 at 12:01pm

Very cool! I think this is a fabulous idea, and I'll look forward to seeing you all, if not at your gathering, then definitely at the NECC!

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Permalink Reply by Cyndi Danner-Kuhn on January 1, 2008 at 8:31am

I would love to be a part of the first Classroom 2.0 Live event. I would also be happy to present. In looking at the Wiki, I noticed you do not have a Social Bookmarking presenter yet. I would be willing to do that session. It could be called, Social Bookmarking Face-off and how to use them effectively.

Description
Social Bookmarking tools are your own personal library on the Internet that is accessible from any computer anytime. Why rewrite (digital or not) what someone else has already written about. It makes more sense to just point to the original story/site and add descriptions and tags for future reference? And these organized lists of links are then available to anyone from any browser or any computer. If you are not sure about Social Bookmarking, why you should use it or which Social Bookmarking tool is right for you, come to the Face-off and find out. I will take you step-by-step through the most popular tools and how to use them effectively.