Learning 2.012: Learning, Changing, Leading

Learning 2.012 Learning 2.012: Learning, Changing, Leading >>

Learning 2.0 is a conference that aims to be different, where we are encouraged to be social, be connectors and to push our own understanding of learning.

Each year the conference evolves and strives to be the leading educational technology conference in the region and perhaps globally. After four years in Shanghai, this year’s conference, Learning 2.012, moved up to Beijing, and was hosted by the Western Academy of Beijing where over 400 participants from schools in over 20 countries came together to learn, change and lead.

The features of this year’s Learning 2.0 conference included the quick & inspirational Learn2Talks which are bite-sized presentations from Learning2Leaders and students, the ‘unconference’ sessions where participants can build their own ‘just-in-time’ learning and the cohorts where groups of about 20 educators with similar interests met together throughout the conference to network, share experiences and discuss the impact of their discoveries in their curriculum areas.

This year we introduced the Extended Session to allow participants to gain a deeper understanding of an emerging innovative topic facilitated by one of our Learning2Leaders. Themes for these included iPads in the classroom, global collaboration design, game-based learning and the ‘flipped’ classroom. And for those who wanted a snapshot, our Learning2Leaders presented an overview of their topic ‘In a Nutshell’ session.

As always, the inclusion of students was popular and this year the Geek Force comprised students from both WAB and Dulwich Beijing.

One major change this year was the composition of the committee with representation of tireless educators from EARCOS and ACAMIS schools and beyond: from Delhi to Brisbane, Hanoi to Tokyo, Shanghai to Singapore, Jakarta and more! Using the myriad of sophisticated collaboration and communication tools we met virtually over the course of the year and through the gamut of timezones to discuss, create and produce a truly exceptional experience.

We had exceptional feedback from the participants which provided the icing on the cake for everyone who worked so hard for the conference to be such a success.

Comments were

‘This is my third Learning 2.0 conference and it gets better each year. This one was the best’ ‘The connections and networking were fabulous’ ‘The culture of sharing’ ‘Perfect organisation’ ‘I’ve been so impressed from start to finish. WOW’ ‘You guys rock!

With over 98.6% *of participants saying that they would recommend the conference to colleagues, we anticipate an quick sell-out next year in Singapore where UWCSEA will be hosting Learning 2.013.

Please visit the http://learning2.asia for highlights and links to the many resources, images and video clips.

Photos by Dave Caleb

The Red Shirts! The Learning2Leaders and Committee

Colin Zhang, WAB student, on ‘What 21st Century Learning Looks Like In China’

The Geek Force

Juli Lindsay

Dare to be Creative! Chris Betcher

Jeff Utecht

Steve Katz