Have you ever been to a workshop/conference/seminar and met colleagues who are disappointed in the quality of the speakers in spite of the speaker being “on the money” WRT the stated outcomes of the conference? I guess that some folks can seem impossible to please. Having said that, as an experienced conference organizer, I am also aware that we sometimes do not do a good job of really spelling out the take-aways that we expect from the event. For this reason, I am very keen to ensure that when we gather

together educators next month, that we are clear as can be in spelling out what we hope to get from the

invited speakers at the 21st Century Learning @ HK Conference.

As I have said to a lot of the keynotes that I have made initial contact with, it would be great to get some data from around the region that provides pointers toward the sort of tasks that students in well-equipped schools with motivated teachers and access to abundant technology and high-speed broadband should be doing.

As an exercise in thinking out aloud and in the interests of trying to get feedback from any readers, here is an initial brief overview of some guidelines for Keynote speakers (which will potentially be refined for other workshop leaders) which could be put to them prior to deciding to come.

1. The background of Regional International Schools as Schools that are well resourced and have a lot of technology in classrooms, very able and motivated teachers and kids who consistently perform well above average. We are also fairly free to follow creative, internationally focused curricula which do not impose a level of adherence to standardized testing. Accountability is to the parents who pay a lot to send students to the school and not to external quasi political organizations.
2. Background on the Conference, the need to reach School Administrators, Classroom teachers, ICT Leaders, librarians, and get everyone on the same page WRT the needs of 21st Century Learners.
3. The reason we are inviting keynotes is to support school Administrators in particular who are in the frontline when it comes to parents who need convincing of directions that we are taking their kids which are not familiar to them. In some cases they may also have a few staff members who need some support in adopting strategies that support 21st Century Learning.
4. The specific aims and objectives need to be worked on but, in short, we know that we want to know about putting it into practice and overcoming obstacles.
5. I want to suggest a theme of “Learning for Leadership” but this may not be popular with the committee.
6. The challenges that we all face are those of getting a clear message to the community that the textbooks, blackboard and examinations method of education is not enough for students going into a world where rapid change and constant learning and experimentation with new technology is the norm. All educators have to be clear that their ultimate role is a lot more than treating students like they are in a certification factory.

OK, this is starting to become a bit of a ramble but I hope you can see where I am going with this and that you might be able to give me some help in shaping it up as a document to give to presenters.

Photo: Clarity by micamica