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Ken Avenell
President, Australian Council for Educational Leaders |
One of the objectives of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders is to promote educational excellence throughout the nation. In order to achieve this goal, educational leaders must remain constantly responsive to, and supportive of, classroom teachers.
Teaching is very complex and can be both daunting and inspiring in our quest to ensure that all children learn. Ironically, teaching involves the highest concentration of adults in the workplace of nearly any profession and yet, by nature of the work, it is one of the most isolating. Historically, the isolation of teachers and their inability to share with each other and learn what works, and what has worked well, has been a barrier to professional growth. This online conference has been designed with the earnest wish that its effect may be wholly constructive.
We hope that it will result in a deepening of our collective wisdom and understanding, both of the challenges, solutions and joys of good teaching, as it presents research and practices that effective teachers use to make a positive difference in student learning and performance.
Both the ACEL and Microsoft envision the world as an enriched learning environment, where staff are easily able to connect to the people and resources they need. To this end, the Australian Council for Educational Leaders and Microsoft have combined to offer this first ACEL/Microsoft online conference on innovative teaching and learning in the classroom.
Over a seven-day period, we hope that the online discussion will stimulate debate, as participants take the opportunity to discuss classroom practice with educational colleagues across Australia and around the world. Mr Ken Avenell
President, Australian Council for Educational Leaders
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Felicia Brown
National Academic Programs Manager
Microsoft Pty Limited |
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the first ACEL – Microsoft online conference on Innovative Teaching and Learning.
As a global technology company with a global workforce, Microsoft recognizes that improving education and broadening access to technology are important social and economic goals for many countries. Indeed, education changes lives, families, communities, and ultimately, nations, countries and territories.
We also recognize that outstanding teachers who continue to search for new and innovative ways to improve student learning are essential to the fostering of student growth, the improvement of schools and the enhancement of the education profession. However, both the physical and social isolation of teachers have often prevented sharing of the best ideas and practices, both nationally and internationally.
As a result, Microsoft is committed to partnering with organizations such as Australian Council for Educational Leaders to provide access to technology resources which will help to bring teachers together, no matter where they are in the country or the world. This online conference is the first element of a broader initiative called the Innovative Teachers' Network, which will see Microsoft partnering with ACEL to provide a number of avenues and resources for teachers to connect and collaborate virtually.
Once again, Microsoft is proud to be partnering with ACEL to hold this conference on Innovative Teaching and Learning and hope that, over the next seven days, the discussion, debate and sharing that occurs will help to stimulate many innovative ideas for enhancing, and possibly improving, classroom practice.
Felicia Brown
National Academic Programs Manager
Microsoft Pty Limited |
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Debra J. Brydon
Online Conference Manager |
Welcome to the first ACEL-Microsoft online conference. I'm delighted to say that we have 60 papers on innovative teaching from all over the world – this is three times the number of papers we were expecting!
Please create the time in your week to join us in our daily (24 hours a day) online discussions. They are a central feature of this professional development opportunity. Reading the papers is only just a start. If you didn't have time to write a paper but you are undertaking innovative and exciting work in your classroom, please share it with us in this forum. Professional sharing is vital to getting the most you can out of these online conferences. Please, after reading some of the papers each day, express your opinion, ask a few questions, and share your own knowledge with other educators. In this way, we can all say ‘thank you' to those who spent many hours of their precious spare time preparing a paper.
Some of you may not have taken part in an online conference before, so a few guidelines are provided here. |
Remember that all the papers and comments on the online discussions have been provided by well-meaning fellow professionals, who have taken the time (and sometimes the courage) to publicly share their views and information. When you are online, be friendly, polite and helpful. We welcome both positive and negative views on a paper, or in response to a colleague's comments.
It is vital that you do not share the website address of the online conference with unregistered persons. If you do know of someone who might like to participate, please ask him or her to formally register online.
Comments entered in the online discussions by persons known by the conference organisers to be unregistered will be removed, without notice. Please play your part in keeping the online discussions as private as we can make them, and restricted as much as possible to this registered group of interested professionals. Please do not publicise the website address to unregistered persons under any circumstances.
Finally, I warmly welcome you once again to the ACEL-Microsoft Online Conference 2006 and look forward to meeting you all online.
Debra J. Brydon
Online Conference Manager
Email: brydon@cybertext.net.au |
