Discussions

Dear Global Education Collaborative Members:

On behalf of my co-chair, Steve Hargadon, and myself, we would like to welcome you to the 2011 Global Education Conference!  

I'm writing to you from Chicago, Illinois in the US, and it's about 8:00 PM here on November 13th. In a little more than 12 hours, we'll be convening our second 2011 Global Education conference which is free to attend and will take place completely online. Attendees will have the opportunity to view over 300 presentations from educators worldwide in addition to inspiring keynotes from thought leaders around the world. Here are a few reminders as we move forward!

Highlights

• Our opening session will start at 9:30 AM CST (15:30:00 UTC) on November 14th, followed by Alan November's keynote at 10:00 AM CST (16:00:00 UTC).
• At your convenience and for this week only, you will have the opportunity to view online two amazing documentaries, Louder Than a Bomb and Schooling the World. Details are available here and we thank Greg Jacobs, Jon Siskel, and Carol Black for giving us online access to their fabulous work! Remember that the films will not be available until midnight on November 14 and will close at the end of the day (US CST) on November 18. 
• If you are looking to explore global education resources, pitch your project or connect with other educators, I'll be in Lucy's Lounge a few times each day. This is a drop-in area for those who want to know more about making the most of our social network, the Global Education Collaborative. 
• We also have a help lounge where anyone can drop in to ask for assistance. 
• Make sure to consult our new conference guide which provides quick links to various aspects of the conference, including recommended sessions for new attendees. 

Attendees

• You do not need to sign up for sessions. Just consult the conference schedule and look for sessions that you would like to attend. You can see the schedule in your own time zone!
• Make sure that you have visited our training information page and have configured your computer to work with Blackboard Collaborate.
• Bookmark this quick links page which gives you access to all sessions by presenter's name. 
• Follow conversations about the conference on Twitter. Our Twitter account is @GlobalEdCon and participants should tag their tweets with the hashtag #globaled11. 

Presenters

• We strongly urge you to look over the training materials on our web site, and to re-read emails from Steve Hargadon regarding links to your webinar room. If you did not receive an email from Steve regarding this, check your spam folder first. Email Steve at hargadon@gmail.com if you still cannot find this information. It is your responsibility to be prepared for your session.
• Steve wants to remind you that calendar links will be live in the time zone pages before the conference starts. 
• Bookmark this quick links page which gives you access to all sessions by presenter's name. 
• Make sure you have easy access to the help lounge if you need assistance. 
• Promote your session over Twitter and other social media using the hashtag #globaled11 if you the time and inclination. Use tinyurl.com to shorten the link if you want. 
• We also highly recommend that you go to your original discussion forum proposal and post the link to your webinar room in the comments. This will help those who read your discussion forum post to quickly find your live session.

Many thanks to our sponsors, BrainPop and iEARN USA, for their support in addition to the many partner organizationsthat have helped us get the word out. We're also very grateful to our conference volunteers and international advisory board members for their efforts! Finally, a huge shout goes out to our presenters and keynotes for sharing their work with the world! You all are making a difference. 

See you online tomorrow,

Lucy Gray

Conference Co-Chair

elemenous@gmail.com