Keynote

The Toronto District School Board held it’s second Google Camp in November (www.TDSBGoogleCamp.ca) I was invited by my team to be the keynote speaker for the event. It was not only an amazing opportunity to share my perspective with teachers from across the TDSB, but it was an opportunity for me to push my own learning and to #TryOneThing myself.

The focus of my Keynote was to talk about how our student have been growing up online and the impact that has on us as educators. Our students have never NOT used technology – are we honouring that in the classroom? And yet just because they are tech savy, it doesn’t necessarily mean they know how to use technology to improve their educational experience.

In addition, I talked about the need for Digital Citizenship to be integrated into the classroom on a regular basis. If we are bringing all this technology into the classroom, how have an obligation to talk about being safe online.

I challenged participants in the audience to #TryOneThing – that leaving the day with a goal of trying just one new piece of learning would mean that we had met with success.

The positive reaction to the keynote was overwhelming. 20% of respondents said that the Keynote was the highlight of their day – What a compliment!