2009_Blending_Learning_Environments_Conference

April 2, 2009 Durham Academy Lower School Brumley Performing Arts Building 3501 Ridge Road Durham, NC 27707 [|Get Directions] Looking for ways to expand your curriculum, do more with less, and engage digital learners? Then, this conference is for YOU!! (Not just for "techies" - No Experience Required!) Join Virtual High School CEO Liz Pape and her colleagues along with NCAIS colleagues Karl Schaefer of Durham Academy, Melissa Tredenick of Christ School, and Ernie Cox of St. David's School as we take the leap into the world of Virtual Education and Blended Learning Environments.
 * Blending Learning Environments - When Brick and Mortar** **Meet** **Virtual**

Participants will start off the morning by gaining a bird's eye view of the national and international landscape of virtual education. A panel discussion featuring all presenters will discuss topics related to designing and implementing a Blended Learning Environment.

The afternoon will engage participants in discussions and learning activities featuring 21st Century tools, essential policies and procedures, and presentations on Moodle and Blackboard, Open-Source Virtual Learning Environments that can be used to extend the classroom experience. We are grateful to Apple for their collaboration in planning these learning sessions and for providing the technology and equipment for the afternoon simulation activities.

We are pleased that upwards of 80 attendees are excepted on the Preschool/Lower School Campus for this event. Parking will be at a premium so carpooling is encouraged.

[|BlendedLearningAgenda.pdf] [|Jason Ramsden Covered it Live] - replay it if you missed it.

Participants will start off the morning by gaining a bird’s eye view of the national and international landscape of virtual education. You’ll discover just who is setting the bar and how high that bar is. Once we have an understanding of the current scope of virtual education we’ll look a little closer home. Topics to be covered include the following: education play in our schools? Liz Pape's Presentation: [|NCAIS Savvy Consumer April 20092.pdf] (Control Click to Save it). 
 * 8:00 - 8:15** **Registration**
 * 8:15 - Introduction and Welcome**
 * 8:30 - 10:00 Liz R. Pape, CEO, [|The Virtual High School]**
 * Maximizing the Possibilities–As we are all called on to do “more with less” how do we maximize the possibilities and what role can and should virtual
 * How to be Savvy Consumers –What questions do you need to ask, what do you need to be wary of, how do you navigate the marketplace?
 * 10:00 - 10:15 - Break**
 * 10:15 - 11:45 - General Panel Discussion - Creating a Blended Learning Environment -** [|Designing the 21st Century High School]

[|21st Century Learning #95]: (25 minutes) Wendy Drexler on the Networked Student Panel discussion on questions of design, implementation, impact and best practices. Checkout her [|Networked Student Video] as well. [|21st Century Learning #86]: (22 minutes) Michael Horn Co-author of [|Disrupting Class]
 * Pre-Conference Listening and Viewing: Coming to the Conference, Check out these resources to get background information:**

Thanks to Jason Ramsden and Fred Bartels for passing this information along.
 * Teaching and Learning in a Blended Learning Environment – What do teachers and students need to know about virtual education
 * Impacts of an a Blended Learning Environment
 * Will this allow teachers to be replaced?
 * How will students learn the same values they would from in class sessions?
 * Should it be a standalone system to teach an online course or blended with traditional classroom learning to enhance the experience for students and teachers?
 * What happens when students have access to a 24/7 learning environment?
 * What devices do students need to connect to the learning environment?
 * How will you help teachers use the tools to adjust their teaching?
 * Lessons Learned
 * Course design - develop best practices so courses are similar appearing for students
 * How to begin - start with a cohort of teachers who are strong teachers in their subject area
 * Mastering the method and the tools - using these tools allows teachers to teach differently

We are fortunate to have a presentation by Bruce Friend, SAS Director of Curriculum Pathways, who will provide information on the [|Curriculum Pathways] program, a carefully integrated, easily adaptable online curriculum resource that’s grounded in the principles of cognitive science. SAS has recently announced that these online resources will now be made available free to all schools.
 * 11:45 - 12:45 Lunch**

**Blended Learning Immersion**
The afternoon will be spent being engaged in viewing current uses of LMS/CMS platforms, hearing from current teachers who use the systems, and exploring some 21st Century tools and resources that will help bring content into your classes. For more information on what Blended Learning is, use this [|Wiki Book.]

Learning Management Systems (LMS), Course Management System (CMS), no matter the name these tools are powerful and will allow schools to blend brick and mortar with virtual learning.

Apple will share with their experience with blending in some of the many tools and resources they have assembled as part of the ACOT2 and iTunes U [|iphonetouchapps2.pdf] (Control Click to Save it).
 * 12:45 - 1:45 Apple, Inc**

[|Karl Schaefer] of Durham Academy will present an overview of [|Moodle] with examples of how we instituted DAILE Moodle at Durham Academy. Live class examples will be showed along with what we consider to be best practices by teachers. Strengths and weaknesses of using an open source solution as opposed to a proprietary LMS will be discussed. Our Moodle admin, Jason Willert, will discuss hardware and setup. Participants will be able to log in and investigate a course.
 * 1:45 - 2:15**


 * 2:15 - 2:30 - Break**

[|Ernie Cox] of [|St. Timothy's School] will offer a session on Collaborative Learning. What technology tools can foster collaborative student and teacher engagement while also addressing budgetary and infrastructure issues? This session will offer participants a look at tools which address these questions including: [|Google Education Edition], [|NoodleTools], [|PBwiki Academic], and more. Attendees will return to their schools prepared to advocate for greater access to these resources and an understanding of how these tools support collaborative learning objectives.
 * 2:30 - 3:00**

Melissa Tredenick of [|Christ School], will present an overview of [|Blackboard] with examples of how we instituted Blackboard at Christ School. Some teachers choose only to post the minimum amount of content that is required, while some have exceeded the expectations. Discuss how to use Blackboard as tool to enhance traditional classroom learning, and how Blackboard can stand alone for an online course. Including brief discussion of why we chose Blackboard as opposed to an open source LMS.
 * 3:00 - 3:30**

Question and answers to lingering questions and final thoughts.
 * 3:45 - 3:30**

Wrap-Up, and Evaluations. If you are able to stay, please take advantage of the Post Conference Presentation.
 * 3:45 - 4:00**

This session will feature hands on with tools for creation, distribution, access and collaboration. Time will be provided for discussions of the latest trends on what learning can be like when the elements of a Learning Environment meets the digital devices of today. Feel free to join in this session. Apple will provide food and an opportunity to see examples of what is taking place in the learning space.
 * 4:15 - 7:15 - Post Conference: An informal post conference session on "Learning in the Future - a model for Teaching" presented by Apple, Inc.**

Other Learning Management Systems: Studywiz Spark http://www.studywizspark.com/
 * Proprietary Systems**:

Angel Learning http://www.angellearning.com/

Sakai Project http://www.sakaiproject.org/
 * Open Source Systems:**

Drupal http://drupal.org/

[|SchoolComputing Wiki] List of Course Management Systems

[|Edutools Comparison] of Course Management Systems


 * Designing the 21st Century High School** http://newali.apple.com/acot2/principles/


 * Other Virtual Schooling Information**

[|North Carolina Virtual Public School]

[|Virtual School Symposium 2009]

[|Brightstorm] Online Courses

[|Apex Learning]

[|Stanford's Online High School for Gifted Youth]

[|Disrupting Class Wiki]

[|Virtual Disrupting Academy] by Fred Bartels

Independent School Cooperative [|(iScoop])

[|Moodlers Ning]