Welcome

[SWtephen Downes]

Welcome to the discussion group for Open Spaces Conference Canada. The
idea of this event is to sponsor a group of educators to travel across
the country conducting a series of open spaces events. The idea is to
invite discussion about how new online technologies will shape
education, and to conduct this discussion in a manner that breaks out
of the traditional expert-led show and tell conference format.

When you join this group, please use this topic to write a short post
introducing yourself, ideally with a link back to your blog or home
page. This will allow visitors to get a quick idea of who is involved.

[Stephen Downes]

I don't get it - why did everybody writing wlecome messages create new
discussions rather than adding to this one? What am I missing?

[Stephen Downes]

Abyhow - in response to the request that I too introduce myself - I am
a reseracher with Canada's National Research Council and a long time
theorist and developer in e-learning. My home page is at
http://www.downes.ca

[Leigh Blackall]

That may have been me Stephen. I created a new thread when I introduced myself. I guess I wanted to stand out :)

http://leighblackall.wikispaces.org/

[bdieu]

Thank you for getting the train moving again, Stephen :-) and for
those who do not know me, I'm Barbara (Bee) Dieu, EFL secondary school
teacher at the Franco Brazilian school in SP, Brazil.
Even though my school has not been very much interested in encouraging
the use of ICTs, I have been actively networking internationally and
have involved my students in collaboration online since 1997. Lately I
have been working with blogs, podcasts and other social tools. Click
here only if you feel like reading more about this parcours
<http://tinyurl.com/exdfw>

Following Leigh's and Stephen's suggestion, I have opened another
Google Group list called Open Spaces Conference Brazil and I would like
to invite you to join it if you are interested.
http://groups.google.com/group/oscbz

The idea is to disseminate the open conference idea. I thought it would
be nice if we could hold this one around spring or autumn next year. I
have a long autumn break (Southern Hemisphere) from April 6th to 22nd
and then a spring break from September 29th to October 14th. July and
January are holiday months so I do not think there will be many
educators around and hotels are full and way more expensive. What do
you think?

You are also very welcome to come for Carnival (from 16th to 21st
February) if you fancy experiencing some real heat. Most people are
out in the streets dancing and having fun! I cannot organize this for
this period though - so it would have to be on your own.

Warm regards from Brazil,
Bee

Barbara Dieu
http://dekita.org
http://beewebhead.net

[cfisher]

I've just managed to find this group tonight and have thrown myself
into the fray.... (without asking of course...) I am a grade 7 / 8
teacher in a small Northern Manitoba (Canada) town of about 1 000
people. Much of my classroom program focuses on 2.0 tools and having
kids work with these small pieces to establish a voice for themselves,
an international network of learners, and to allow them time to gain a
foothold of experience in the flood of online information. I have a
B.A., a B.Ed, and an M.Ed in curriculum development. I have been
fortunate enough to win on of Canada's highest teaching awards, the
Prime Minister's Award for Teaching and have a ton of new stuff to
learn every day.

Clarence Fisher
remoteaccess.typepad.com

[George Siemens]

Hey Clarence - welcome here!! Having you involved would be excellent. You
actually do the stuff some of us theorize about :).

Btw - would you be interested in skyping in to a PLE conference we're
hosting at U of M in January? Off list reply is fine.

George

[George Siemens]

Hi all,

Going against the grain of my love for chaos and emerging approaches to
learning and knowledge, I suggest that we get some organization associated
with the OSC conference. From my end, I can invest some time from U of M's
stance (I've copied Peter Tittenberger, Director - Learning Technologies
Centre).

There are some funding opportunities that we might be able to pursue...but
granting agencies (and universities who may be potential host centers) will
require a clear understanding of approach and process. If we are planning
next August, as abnormal as it sounds, we probably should get things moving.
This is a great idea...I don't want to over-organize and kill the "free
spiritedness" of the process, but if we under-organize, we may end up losing
host-center opportunities (and as a result, the ability to impact
traditional institutions that most need to hear the message of wise blog
sages...hehe). If I have misinterpreted the approach intended, please let me
know.

My suggestions for next steps:

1. Get an organizing group (steering committee) together - it can be an
interim committee until we get more established and then pass the baton on
to a more democratic process.

This group should:
a) define the approach of the conference,
b) highlight potential participants (some will be invited, others will
self-select),
c) discuss funding needed
d) explore potential universities/corporations/conferences, etc.
e) explore funding partners

2. Register URL...get some blog love flowing around the concept.

Thoughts?
George

[Stephen Downes]

Hiya,

I think George's suggestions are reasonable.

-- Stephen

--
Stephen Downes ~ Research Officer ~ National Research Council Canada
http://www.downes.ca ~ ste...@downes.ca __\|/__ Free Learning