Wow! What a turnout we had today! This is not an “official” tally, but we probably had at least 40 – 50 parents in the library this morning. Thank you! Please spread the word and we’ll make sure we’re in a bigger space next time.

For those of you that were not able to attend (or those that would like to review some of the topics and resources we discussed), here is a brief re-cap of the event.

We started off by watching a fantastic video from the New Learning Institute called Introduction to Technology and 21st Century Teaching and Learning:

Introduction to Technology and 21st Century Learning from New Learning Institute on Vimeo.

The video prompted some great discussion topics:

• It’s exciting to start thinking about new ways of learning, and how we can use technology to support and enhance learning experiences at school and at home with our new Connected Learning Community beginning next school year.
• It’s overwhelming to think about all of the changes that technology is bringing to society. It brings a new layer of parenting (and teaching) that we are all learning about together – which is exactly what these sessions are for!
• There was some discussion about Mac vs Windows. Many ideas and opinions were shared, but probably the most important was the point Bob made about Apple’s long history in, and support for, education. Specifically for YIS, we have 10 Apple Distinguished Educators on staff (Rebecca Smith, Jamie Raskin, Elliot Tracey, Frank Curkovik, Sylvie Meada, Brad Johnston, Genki Unno, Rebekah Madrid, Kim Cofino, and Stephen Lehmann), and Apple recently sponsored a trip for 7 YIS staff members to visit 1:1 schools in Hong Kong.
• Lots of practical questions about the upcoming Connected Learning Community initiative were raised. We are still working on the finer details of policy and there will be many more opportunities for meetings and discussion about the details of implementation over the next few months. The most important point raised was that it’s not starting in January 2011, but most likely January 2012.
• Parents would like ideas, suggestions, advice for helping their children learn how to stay safe online and responsibly share information with others (thinking about Facebook, YouTube, etc). This blog will be used as place to share those kinds of resources as part of the recap for each session. Please also feel free to share other resources in the comments!
• Alan November’s session was briefly discussed, specifically the need parents felt to learn about how to evaluate web resources. Alan has a great set of resources available online for interested parents. There is also a recap of his session here on the Community Learning blog with lots of links and videos.
• There were a number of requests for more topic-focused sessions at varying times in the day/evening. Kim, Brian, Adam and Bob will work on setting a few different sessions up (how to use your Mac, navigating Facebook, understanding Youtube, etc) and details will be shared here on this blog and through e-mail broadcasts.
• The Learning Hub was introduced as a great place to see and hear more about what your children are doing in school. Please note: the log-in box is for teachers and students only, parents do not need to log in to read the posts.

That should cover the basics! If we missed anything, please feel free to remind us via the comments below.

Our next session will be Wednesday, Jan 12 at 9:15 (maybe in the Library, but most likely somewhere with a little more space). More details to come about the topic and location!

Thank you again for spending your morning with us! What a wonderful community we have here at YIS!