Program
The Heartland eLearning Conference will offer two days of fun and learning. Beginning Monday, March 8, 2010, both half day and full day workshops will be presented followed by an evening of relaxation, networking, and entertainment.
On Tuesday, March 9, 2010, the conference will begin with a keynote by Dr. Curtis Bonk: "Nothing “Flat” World about this Jazz: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education". Building on Thomas Friedman's book, The World is Flat, Curt Bonk offers an intriguing look at ten technology trends which he called educational openers. When combined, the first letter of each opener spells the acronym: "WE-ALL-LEARN." This model helps make sense of the role of various technologies in open education, including open courseware, open source software, open access journals, open educational resources, and open information communities.
As part of this, he will discuss e-books, podcasts, streamed videos, online learning portals social networking tools like Facebook and Ning, YouTube videos, wikis, and virtual worlds. With such technologies, thousands of organizations and scholars are sharing their course materials, expertise, and teaching ideas globally, thereby expanding learning opportunities and resources even further. As this occurs, members of the media, politicians, educators, students, parents, and others are asking important questions about the quality of such contents.
Bonk also addresses questions related to the digital divide and how those without Internet access still benefit immensely from these open learning tools and resources. The economic world of Friedman may be flatter, but the educational world is definitely more open than it was a decade or even a few years ago. Open up and enjoy it!
Nothing “Flat” World about this Jazz: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education
