Your Name and Title: Liam Kennedy, high school student, Student Rep. for EOS ONE Online.
School or Organization Name: SelfDesign High
Co-Presenter Name(s): Sana Khaze
Area of the World from Which You Will Present: CANADA, (British Columbia based).
Language in Which You Will Present: English
Target Audience(s):
Students struggling in the regular school system who would benefit from self-directed learning. Educators (especially high school) who are interested in hearing from youth.
Short Session Description (one line):
We are youth engaged in a pilot integrated online high school program that is focused on self-directed learning. We would like to share our experience with educators and other youth. Learning doesn’t have to just involve studying for standardized tests. Learning can be so much more!
Full Session Description (as long as you would like):
Our goal for this session is to open the eyes of youth on how they can have a say in their education. And to show educators what the teenage mind is capable of, if young people are engaged.
We want to define what self-directed learning means to us and how youth around the world are empowering themselves and designing their own learning. We will give examples of what we as a group of learners are doing to engage ourselves and each other in our education.
Traditional public school works for a lot of students. For many others, it’s a struggle. Many youth are disinterested and don’t feel heard in a typical classroom setting. Some students dread going to school altogether. In a system that is meant to teach and empower youth, many youth are not enjoying or feeling inspired by their education. And really, if you’re not happy or inspired, what’s the point? Our goal is to share with youth, ways of exploring what interests them so they feel they are gaining something from their education.
There does not have to be one single way of tackling one’s own education, since every person has a different learning style and our minds all work differently. Therefore, Self-directed learning is essential for a person’s life and development.
This is our learning philosophy and we hope you all take something positive away from this presentation.
Replies
Hi Liam -
I am very excited to have more student voices represented at the conference! However, I do need for your proposal to focus on some sort of global aspect. Please take a look at our mission statement, make some revisions and let me know when you've updated this proposal. I'll then review it again.
Lucy Gray
Conference Co-Chair
Thank you for your feedback which we have discussed as a group and learned from.
We have decided not to present this year, and instead we think we should be attendees at the GEC this year so as to familiarize ourelves with the GEC Mission, so we can better understand by first hand experience watching other presentations. And then prepare for next year, to put together and have a presentation ready.
Best of luck with this exciting event!
Sorry to hear this, Marcelle! There's also a student tech conference coming up... we'll be posting info on this soon.
The students feel they learned a lot already from GEC - just from this participation in the proposal process; and everyone's feeling this is the right move at this rather time-stressed point (in human history!)...to take a breath, regroup and enjoy the learning - and be better prepared for next year's conference.
Thanks for you input and support -
we hope to enjoy the conference itself as much as possible.
Thanks Marcelle, really appreciate your interest and efforts at this point on behalf of your students. Stay in touch for future opportunities.