Flat Classroom Workshop at ASB Unplugged: Come and Join Us in Mumbai!

[Julie Lindsay]

Picture taken by Kim Cofino at Flat Classroom Workshop HK
(cross posted with ASB Unplugged Ning)

The Flat Classroom Workshop is an exciting opportunity for participants to immerse themselves in 21st Century pedagogy. The aim of the workshop is to bring together geographically dispersed participants with a view to sharing ideas, using mobile computing, learning about Web 2.0 communication and collaboration tools in a flattened world, and working on a project theme that can be transplanted back into their home school. The selected theme will inspire unity and action as well as fostering continued connections after the event in Mumbai. It is envisaged this will improve global understanding and cement friendships for ongoing collaborations. It is also envisaged that this will provide an opportunity for students and teachers together to 'create the future' through exploration of a global or social issue and developing an 'action' plan to work globally to overcome this. More details about the workshop format can be found on the wiki.

Flat Classroom co-founders Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis ran a very successful Flat Classroom Conference in Qatar in January 2009. A short video documentary shares the philosophy and practice of this event.

Recently Julie was joined by Kim Cofino to run the Flat Classroom Workshop in Hong Kong at the 21st Century Learning Conference. At this event students and teachers were put into teams (separately) and worked on a challenge-based project to solve identified issues to do with the digital divide. All information concerning the program, presentations and team interactions, including multimedia of outcomes and reflections can be found on the Flat Classroom Workshop Hong Kongwiki. A culmination to the 2.5 days was a student-led 30 min. presentation to the entire conference cohort of teachers and leaders.

Flat Classroom live events are significant because:
- they immerse participants in addressing a global issue in a project-based format
- they use emerging technologies and Web 2.0 tools to connect, communicate and collaborate
- they not only talk about flattened learning modes but practice them e.g. including virtual participants, uStreaming sessions to the world, use of a globally available backchannel
- they encourage students and teachers to work alongside each other with a common goal
- they foster digital citizenship and digital literacy
- they promote best practice methods for coming up with ideas, pitching those ideas and turning them into viable solutions to identified problems

Are you convinced this is THE workshop to be involved with? The place to bring students for cultural interaction and a chance to hone in on a global issue and use emerging technologies to solve it as a learning community?
We also invite you read student and teacher comments and view more multimedia reflections at 'Flat Classroom Participants Speak Up'.

In preparation for the workshop we also invite readers of this blog post, and those going to Mumbai to come and join our Flat Classroom Conference Ning.

More questions? Contact us at [e-mail].
Interested in applying to bring students? Read the details on the Flat Classroom Conference wiki and then fill in the online Registration form.

Also, keep in touch via the Flat Classroom Group on this Ning!

Julie and Vicki look forward to welcoming you in Mumbai!