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Presenter Profile
Stephen Wilmarth
Steve Wilmarth is a teacher, writer, conference speaker, and specialist in instructional curriculum design based on rapidly changing workforce needs in a global knowledge economy. He founded and serves as the President and Managing Director of New School Student Ambassadors, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit community supported organization providing educational and cultural exchange programs between US students and students in northwest China. Steve is a contributing author to a book titled "Curriculum 21: Essential Education for a Changing World," (edited by H. H. Jacobs; published by ASCD in Jan, 2010) in which he describes five major socio-technology trends that will transform learning communities over the next several years. His past projects included developing participatory learning communities in northwest China, and student and teacher exchange programs between Chinese and US university students.
Steve currently serves as Dean of Faculty and Students at THINK Global School, and is a visiting lecturer at Ningxia Open University and Ningxia Teachers University in Ningxia Hui A. R., PRC. He has served as a Research Fellow at UConn's Academy for Global Economic Advancement, and as a Senior Program Specialist at the Center for 21st Century Skills in Litchfield, CT. He has been a featured speaker at numerous international conferences on curriculum design and education reform.
Steve has been a full-time classroom teacher in the subjects of economics, psychology, and world history at an independent boarding school, a full-time history teacher at an inner-city urban high school, and a technology director at an independent boarding school. Prior to his experience as an educator, Steve played a lead role in three high-tech, venture capital funded start-ups.
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Presentation Schedule
Thursday July 15, 2010
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Session 2
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12:45pm -
2:00pm
(75 min)
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Strategically Integrating 21st Century Skills into Your Curriculum Designing Needs
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Maple Avenue Middle Scho / B109 (40)
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We're approaching the end of the first decade of the 21st century, but many curriculum and school district leaders continue to struggle with the concept of "21st century skills." There is no universal standard for 21st century skills and our existing models all seem to be flawed in one way or another. So, how do curriculum and school leaders strategically address the growing pressure for 21st century skills? What are 21st century skills, really? And where do we start in the "transformation" of teaching and learning in the 21st century? These questions must be addressed by curriculum and school leaders or the entire curriculum design and mapping process could be jeopardized. Most good school leaders know this intuitively, but struggle to find the resources and support for developing an overall strategic approach to the problem and the challenge. This coaching session will zero in on the essential questions, and engage participants in methods and resources to develop an effective strategic plan. The session will be limited in size and broad in experiential scope so that participants can model an effective strategic planning process. The session will be highly interactive in the form of a facilitated meeting.
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Session 4
- Consultations, Round Tables and Work Sessions |
3:45pm -
5:00pm
(75 min)
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DST - A Round-Table Discussion by Experts in the Essential Nature of Digital Storytelling to 21st Century Learners
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Maple Avenue Middle Scho / F181 (28)
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DST (Digital Story Telling) is not always on the list of "essential skills" that schools need to teach for student success in the 21st century. This round-table discussion, facilitated by Steve Wilmarth, will bring the voices of world renowned experts to the forefront and give the audience a clear case for the essential qualities of digital storytelling, and how digital storytelling becomes the critical skill that students will need to address the great global challenges that await them in the not-to-distant future. This round-table will bring together Joe Lambert, Director of the Center for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, California; Ana Boa-Ventura, a doctoral candidate at UT - Austin, a MacArther HASTAC scholar, and an internationally acclaimed expert on digital storytelling; and Heidi Hayes Jacobs (or another member of the C21 team with strong ideas about the necessity for DST in the curriculum) in an engaging conversation designed to give the audience a deeper understanding of the significance of digital storytelling in a new era of literacy and learning.
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Friday July 16, 2010
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Session 6
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12:45pm -
2:00pm
(75 min)
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Getting Mobile: Bringing 21st Century Skills to the Classroom
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Maple Avenue Middle Scho / D177 (28)
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How do Twitter, Facebook, iTunes U, and other social media add value to the classroom of the future? Participants in this workshop will get a hands-on experience through a mock lesson plan that will allow the group to create, collaborate, and communicate on a simple project, as a way to feel the experience of using mobile devices in the classroom. The purpose of the workshop is to demonstrate creative 21st century approaches to project-based student-centered learning. As a group, we will model some simple steps and behaviors that will lessen the fear and answer the questions that many teachers and administrators have about mobile technologies in the classroom. Participants will take away an experience that will enlighten, entertain, and strengthen skills in the use of mobile technologies in social learning communities.
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Session 8
- Consultations, Round Tables and Work Sessions |
3:45pm -
5:00pm
(75 min)
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Coaching on PREZI presentations
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Maple Avenue Middle Scho / D177 (28)
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Teaching 21st century curriculum isn't always about mastering technology. Think about it. Mastering PowerPoint means mastering a linear presentation process well suited for the 20th century, and thus we've coined the phrase "death by PowerPoint."
Steve Wilmarth has written about the five socio-technology trends that change everything in learning and teaching. One of those trends requires adapting to non-linear learning processes. PREZI is an exciting new presentation tool that gives teachers and students an opportunity to let their imaginations run wild, to think outside the box, and to create compelling digital stories with no limits to non-linear presentation strategies.
This coaching session will provide participants with a hands-on experience in creating eye-popping presentations using the hottest new tool out there. Steve Wilmarth will share both the strategies and the techniques for giving you the power to "Wow!" your audience, no matter who they are.
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Saturday July 17, 2010
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Session 9
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10:30am -
11:45am
(75 min)
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Getting Mobile: Bringing 21st Century Skills to the Classroom
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Maple Avenue Middle Scho / D174 (28)
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How do Twitter, Facebook, iTunes U, and other social media add value to the classroom of the future? Participants in this workshop will get a hands-on experience through a mock lesson plan that will allow the group to create, collaborate, and communicate on a simple project, as a way to feel the experience of using mobile devices in the classroom. The purpose of the workshop is to demonstrate creative 21st century approaches to project-based student-centered learning. As a group, we will model some simple steps and behaviors that will lessen the fear and answer the questions that many teachers and administrators have about mobile technologies in the classroom. Participants will take away an experience that will enlighten, entertain, and strengthen skills in the use of mobile technologies in social learning communities.
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Session 11
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2:15pm -
3:30pm
(75 min)
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Strategically Integrating 21st Century Skills into Your Curriculum Designing Needs
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Maple Avenue Middle Scho / Auditorium (750)
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We're approaching the end of the first decade of the 21st century, but many curriculum and school district leaders continue to struggle with the concept of "21st century skills." There is no universal standard for 21st century skills and our existing models all seem to be flawed in one way or another. So, how do curriculum and school leaders strategically address the growing pressure for 21st century skills? What are 21st century skills, really? And where do we start in the "transformation" of teaching and learning in the 21st century? These questions must be addressed by curriculum and school leaders or the entire curriculum design and mapping process could be jeopardized. Most good school leaders know this intuitively, but struggle to find the resources and support for developing an overall strategic approach to the problem and the challenge. This coaching session will zero in on the essential questions, and engage participants in methods and resources to develop an effective strategic plan. The session will be limited in size and broad in experiential scope so that participants can model an effective strategic planning process. The session will be highly interactive in the form of a facilitated meeting.
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Session 12
- Consultations, Round Tables and Work Sessions |
3:45pm -
5:00pm
(75 min)
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Coaching on PREZI presentations
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Maple Avenue Middle Scho / D172 (28)
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Teaching 21st century curriculum isn't always about mastering technology. Think about it. Mastering PowerPoint means mastering a linear presentation process well suited for the 20th century, and thus we've coined the phrase "death by PowerPoint."
Steve Wilmarth has written about the five socio-technology trends that change everything in learning and teaching. One of those trends requires adapting to non-linear learning processes. PREZI is an exciting new presentation tool that gives teachers and students an opportunity to let their imaginations run wild, to think outside the box, and to create compelling digital stories with no limits to non-linear presentation strategies.
This coaching session will provide participants with a hands-on experience in creating eye-popping presentations using the hottest new tool out there. Steve Wilmarth will share both the strategies and the techniques for giving you the power to "Wow!" your audience, no matter who they are.
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