It’s about learning…for ALL of us!

As you are reading this conference planner, we’ve begun another school year with the usual excitement and hesitation that comes with starting something new. It’s my 22nd return to school as a teacher and I’m constantly amazed at how this wonderful career still offers me opportunities to learn more…this is both the beauty and the challenge of a career in education and why Inspire, Connect, Teach is our theme for the ECOO Conference. Not only do we need to inspire and connect with our students in order to teach them well, WE need to be inspired, connect with others, and teach (and learn) among our own professional learning communities in order to be the best educators that we can be.

This year we ask you this question in order to get you thinking about why you should attend the 30th Anniversary of the ECOO Conference:

“How are you reaching your digital learners?”

This is the core question teachers and administrators are asking these days. In fact, across the province we hear many variations on this same theme:

• How can we use technology to engage our students?
• Is engagement enough, or what uses of technology really impact deeper learning?
• How can technology provide access and points of entry for students poorly served by traditional methods?
• How can we afford to sustain technology that so rapidly advances?
• How do we plan for a future that we can’t predict?
• Can technology help us to create students who are lifelong learners and who value their part in social action?
• How do classrooms transform to meet the needs of our global learners?

This is certainly a period of change, unprecedented access to technology inside and outside of schools, and globalization that is changing the face of learning and connection. Even the most tech-savvy among us are always learning about new tools that inspire and connect learners of all ages, including ourselves, and regardless of our experience with technology, we are trying to answer these questions in order to help our students and transform our classrooms.

If you are planning to attend this conference, you already have a special interest in new learning for yourself and your digital students, regardless of whether you are new to ECOO or returning once again. Perhaps you want to learn about new tools and how fellow educators are using them at our one-hour sessions, or maybe attend motivating and inspiring keynote or spotlight sessions with some of our amazing guest speakers. Perhaps you’d like to spend some time immersing yourself in a full-day hands-on seminar or bring your laptop and construct media with a wide variety of experts who can help you with all phases of pre-production, production, editing and sharing at our new Minds on Media event. We are certain that you’ll find lots of opportunities to enhance your teaching at ECOO this year.

Our dedicated Conference Committee has been busy all year planning and organizing an exciting event that we know will meet the needs of educators K-12 and beyond. Enjoy browsing through our planner and seeing how ECOO can help you learn more about reaching your digital students! See you in November!

 
Brenda Sherry
Conference Chair