A Tale of Two Cities - learning at the centre of technology integration

The notion of reflective practice in our education profession is invaluable, but sometimes, we only explore our own little 'bubble' or 'circle of trust' that can lead to a false sense of security. It reminded me of a recent tweet (forgot who it was from, sorry!) which warn us about the danger of professional learning communities on social media becoming 'echo chambers'. 

So I decided to challenge myself and invited Melissa Bray (@Melsybray) from St Peters Girls School in Adelaide to unpack what Learning Management System mean to us, the similarities, the differences in our uses and implementations, and anything in between. The result was a presentation titled 'A Tale of Two Cities - Building Communities of Practice that support Innovation' (presentation slides below). It also meant participants at the presentation only had to listen to me ramble for half the time! :)

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness ….” (It was time for something different.) Come hear a tale of universal priorities, shared practice, similarities, and yet important differences in the way Newington College (Sydney inner-West) and St Peters Girls School (Adelaide) leverage Canvas to improve student success. Separated by geography, both are Canvas power-user schools and attendees will benefit from the intersection of the two narratives. Michael Ha and Melissa Bray will identify the differences in implementation and usage, as well as the similarities of student empowerment and ownership of their own learning through Canvas engagement. Through their years of experience, having walked through the many "springs of hope" and the occasional "winters of despair", this presentation will help any K–12 school writing their own narrative to understand how to deliver student success in their city.

I throughly enjoyed the process and highly encourage each and every one of you to 'go outside of your box' and challenge your thinking with someone from a different tribe. Good Luck.