For this week’s Web 2.0 Weekly feature, I’m going to recommend that all of our readers, followers, and friends attend the 2nd Annual Online Conference on 21st Century Lutheran Education being held by Concordia University, Wisconsin.  The conference is Thursday, February 25th and Friday, February 26th from 9AM to 6PM CST each day.

Three of the Guild’s authors will be presenting this year:

02/25/10 – 4:00-5:00pm
What Are You Doing?
Kathy Maske
Altamont Lutheran Interparish School

https://corsica.cuw.edu/cle6/

“In our schools today, education is changing.  We have more technology than we know what to do with.  Our Lutheran schools have the opportunity now more than ever to utilize the same technologies as other schools do via the Internet.  There has been an explosion in online, collaborative networking in the last 5 years or so with the introduction of MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Plurk and other social networking sites.  What happens when we utilize these tools in our professional development?  Continuous online learning!  We now have tools that we, as Lutheran Educators, can use to collaborate with other educators continuously.  Whether you are seasoned at networking or are just beginning, sharing is valuable for all.”

02/25/10 – 5:00-6:00pm
Podcast My Class Fast
Daniel Burk
Grace Lutheran Lancaster, CA

https://corsica.cuw.edu/cle1/

“Teachers are afraid to try something new.  Podcast is something that any class and any teacher can utilize in their classroom.  We will go step-by-step how easy it is to record and publish a Podcast for your class.”

02/26/10 – 11:00-12:00 noon
Personal Learning Networks and You
Jeremy Biddle
CUW Ed Tech Cohort/Lutheran Educators’ Guild

https://corsica.cuw.edu/cle3/

“Personal Learning Networks [PLNs] are a solution for one of 21st Century education’s most difficult problems: keeping informed of emerging technologies and learning how to utilize them in our classrooms.  PLNs tap into the vast array of freely available information via traditional sources (books, newspapers, etc.) and emerging ones (blogs, Twitter, etc.).  A PLN, states Dr. Daniel R. Tobin, is a group of people who can guide your learning, point you to learning opportunities, answer your questions, and give you the benefit of their own knowledge and experience. This presentation will provide a starting point for educators to implement their own PLNs.  The audience will be provided with a brief presentation on PLNs and their usefulness, suggestions of software to use (along with tutorials/demonstrations of their use), and a categorized list of sources for individual educators to use in beginning their own PLN.  The list of sources will be posted online, with the ability for an educator to make their own additions to share.”

We look forward to seeing you at the conference!