RI Conferences Recap

Wow, what a week it has been in RI!  I was fortunate to attend and present at two incredible events held right here in the Ocean State.  Below I provide a brief recap of yesterday's Flipped Learning Workshop as well as last Saturday's RIDE Innovation Powered by Technology Conference.

Flipped Learning Workshop

Photo Courtesy of Jon Bergmann

The Northern Rhode Island Collaborative (NRIC) hosted a Flipped Learning Workshop in Lincoln, RI that was attended by about 70 innovative educators and administrators from the region.  Flipped Learning pioneer Jon Bergmann started things off with a great keynote laying out the basic history and elements of Flipped Learning.  I then served as part of the Educator Panel along with Director of Instructional Technology Shawn Rubin (Highlander Institute) and Elementary Teacher Charlie Laurent (Rocky Hill School).  The spirited Q & A session covered topics such as flipped-mastery implementation, administrator support, and professional development models.

After lunch, I led a breakout session on Secondary Flipping (Click Here for Presentation File) that described my journey through Flipped Learning as well as future directions.  New aspects to my presentation included commentary on 20 Time, Gamification, and the potential of Augmented Reality in education.

I was then able to participate in an unconference-style session based upon Flipped-Mastery.  It is always great to have high-minded discussions with passionate educators about our practice and ways that we can improve.

RIDE Innovation Powered By Technology Conference

My PHS colleague Brian Germain did an excellent job recapping this event, so for some incredible and inspiring commentary, click here to view his post on The Lyceum blog.

In an afternoon session, I conducted a Flipped Learning Workshop that I feel was well received by those in attendance (it seemed like more than the room was meant to occupy. Note to organizers for next year: find a bigger space for the Flipped Learning workshop session.)

I made the point at both events that it is important to connect with educators in your local region along with the incredible opportunities to learn and connect with educators throughout the world.  I said this because although it is great to have a worldwide PLN, I feel that you can have a greater impact in the local community by forming a coalition of like-minded leaders willing to push for change in your region.

These conferences helped me start developing such a coalition here in Southern New England, and I am as excited as ever to be in many ways leading the charge in innovation and positive change in our local education communities.   I look forward to the journey ahead!...