The Australian Council for Educational Leaders and Microsoft are combining to offer a second ACEL/Microsoft online conference in 2006. 

Monday 13 November to midnight Sunday 19 November 2006

We invite all educators who are interested in the future of schooling to submit a short essay-style paper and photo, or a website presentation, or an MP3 file to the Online Conference Manager by Monday 2 October 2006 (or 1 November for website/MP3 presentations).

PRIZES

Microsoft is kindly offering three prizes, for papers and/or website presentations.

Best Website or MP3 Presentation: 1 X-Box 360

Best Paper by a Teacher with Less than 3 Years of Teaching Experience: 1 PDA

The Most Innovative Vision of Future Schooling: 1 Smart Phone

* Please indicate at the end of your paper or presentation if you are a teacher with less than 3 years teaching experience.

WHAT SHOULD YOU WRITE ABOUT?

HYPOTHETICAL SCENARIO. It is the year 2050 and much has changed in schools. Looking back from the middle of this century, you, as an educator, reflect with delight at the opportunities that students, teachers, school leaders and administrators collectively and globally fought for in the first decade of this millennium to change traditional, non-contemporary educational practices. Arguments about social and educational innovations being at the heart of global sustainability paid off and expenditures in these areas are now treated as investments for the future and teaching is now seen as one of the most important careers to aspire to.

These reforms took time but now you as, a teacher in your small isolated community, enjoy watching your students participating in a wireless global village and school as it was once known is a very different learning place. Much can be attributed to a global online forum held in November 2006, in which these students, teachers, school leaders and administrators recognized that school was an important part of their lives but had begun to challenge its long-term purpose. They saw a lack of currency in school and believe that school as it was shaped would not meet the needs of future generations. These leading learners and leaders framed their discussions around these essential questions:

what is the future of school? and what is a future school?

ACEL and Microsoft welcome you to contribute to this conference and write from the point of view of either 2006 or 2056. The following lead questions may prompt some thoughts. We look forward to your responses and maybe some thoughts from your students.

If lifelong learning is essential for survival and 'thrival', how can people of all ages learn how to learn, unlearn, and relearn?

• How can they develop skills to deal with complexity and challenges that have never before existed?
• How can schools that were created for another time meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population of students?
• Can schools alone meet these needs?
• What are the new possibilities for individuals, learning communities, and an emerging global learning society?
• How do we make learning in the classroom more appropriate for a future world?
• Have you personally changed your teaching practice recently to make learning more effective? What motivated you to do so?
• What are the new ways of teaching and learning for future classrooms?
• What teaching and learning strategies are now outdated and impair innovation and problem-solving?
• What are the future teaching practices and curriculum of future classrooms?
• What role do students have in creating future schools?
• Do you have a creative and innovative idea about teaching and learning that you haven tried yet ?but would like to someday? What is it and what holding you back?
• If you are an education academic or school leader, what advice do you give to teachers who wish to create future classrooms?
• Why is innovation in teaching and learning so important, anyway?
• What are the student learning outcomes?