Collaboration+in+the+Age+of+Google

Session description:
Educators have always valued collaboration as a core skill that students should develop during their time in school. Our belief in this essential skill set is supported by a rich body of pedagogical practice that informs educators how to structure and leverage collaboration for learning. But now in 2010, collaboration has the potential to take a new shape and stage, with new and emerging technologies empowering individuals and groups to collaborate across time, space, and place. Accordingly, forward thinking school communities will critically examine the role that these connective technologies play in supporting the time-honored skill of collaboration. With that in mind, this session will explore a fundamental set of connective technologies and their affordances, with opportunities for practice and collaborative discussion about the potential reach of these technologies throughout the learning space. Participants will have an opportunity to examine and discuss cooperative learning principles, learn the operation of a series of collaboration tools that support those principles, consider the intersection of pedagogy, assessment and technology relative to collaboration, and specifically examine how technology can amplify and extend the opportunities for connection and collaboration.

You will learn: 1. a set of foundational elements of collaborative learning. 2. to use a variety of technology tools for collaboration, including Google Apps, Etherpad, Wiki technology, Twiiter and DimDim. 3. to build and assess learning experiences based in collaboration that utilize these tools

Presenter Bio: David Jakes, Naperville, IL
David Jakes has spent 25 years in education as a teacher, staff developer, and technology coordinator. From his first Macintosh Classic to his current netbook, he has witnessed firsthand the changes in education that educational technology has empowered. Jakes shares this knowledge as a frequent speaker at technology conferences across the United States, as well as in Canada, Europe, and most recently,China. His interests in educational technology include digital storytelling, the application of geography-based systems for learning, and developing online communities of learning through blogging, wiki and other connective technologies. He currently maintains a web site ([|Jakesonline.org]), a blog ([|The Strength of Weak Ties]), and a variety of other resources ([|David Jakes Presentation Resources]) dedicated to improving the use of technology in education.