Welcome to week 3 of iNet's series 3 online conference

Welcome from Sue Williamson

Sue Wiliamson

I am delighted to welcome you to the fourth week of the third series of iNet online conferences. Through the four conferences we aim to explore the question, ‘Are we meeting the needs of the learner?’ The success of the conferences is always dependent on the contributions from participants and we are hoping for lively debate that challenges us all. Thank you to all participants - enjoy the conferences.

Generously supported by HSBC, this series will ask educators around the world to consider how we provide students with a climate for deep learning, the necessary support systems and learning experiences, and above all how we nurture school leaders who have the strategic intent of personalising student learning. The four conferences asked the following questions:

  • Creating deep learning: What is deep learning and what conditions are required?
    6 November - 14 November 2006
  • Supporting the learner: How do we provide support for the 'deep learner'?
    4 December - 12 December 2006
  • Experiences for the deep learner: School is boring and disengaging. How do we meet the challenge of inspiring learners?
    19 March - 27 March 2007
  • The 21st century educator: How do we prepare educators for a new role in the 21st century?
    4 June - 12 June 2007

We are confident that this series of online conferences will provide stimulating papers from educators and academics from around the world. Along with the discussions, papers will be archived so you can access them after the conferences.

The success of the conferences is always dependent on the contributions from participants and we are hoping for lively debate that challenges us all. We are always looking for new contributors to the writing of papers – if you are interested in doing so, please contact Debra Brydon at brydon@cybertext.net.au. Thank you to all participants – enjoy the conferences.

Sue Williamson
Director of Leadership and Affiliation Networks,
Specialist Schools and Academies Trust

Email: Sue.Williamson@ssatrust.org.uk

Welcome from Debra Brydon

Debra Brydon

Welcome to the fourth of the Series 3 of the iNet online conferences. I am very pleased to say that we have excellent papers on preparing educators for a new role in the 21st century as well as a collection of stimulating questions for you to consider.

I warmly welcome you once again to the fourth week of the Series 3 conference and look forward to meeting you all online.

On Tuesday we have a special 3-hour hotseat, which will be hosted by Aron Whiles, who has posed a number of thoughtful questions for you all to reflect upon and discuss, as an online group.

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 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.

Always enter your name, school and country, so that others know who they are having an online discussion with.

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 this Series 3 conference and look forward to meeting you all online.

Debra J. Brydon
iNet Online Conference Manager

Email: brydon@cybertext.net.au