ABILENE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--How are mobility, mobile content creation, and next-generation digital resources transforming education? What impact will these tools have on the traditional roles of teachers, learners, and content experts? How are educators’ methods being adapted in response to a new generation of mobile technologies and the learners who wield them? These are the central topics an international gathering of academic experts will explore during Abilene Christian University’s Connected Summit 2011, Feb. 28 - March 1, 2011. Karen Cator, director of the United States Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology, will open the conference by presenting the national Education Technology Plan, which will expand comments made by President Barack Obama in his January 2011 State of the Union. When he announced his Race to the Top initiative that envisions “a student who can take classes with a digital textbook,” the President described the very advances in educational technology that experts will be discussing at ACU's Connected Summit—and just the sort of educational transformation proposed by the Education Technology Plan.
In addition to Cator, Silicon-Valley pioneer Steve Wozniak will discuss education, emerging technologies, and his vision for the future of technology and society. Vice president of Pearson eCollege Adrain Sannier will explore the unfulfilled expectations for technology in education and conditions for change. In addition to the keynote addresses, policy makers, technology pioneers and mobile learning practitioners from dozens of schools and organizations will deliver 80 presentations during the two day conference, which will be held on the ACU campus in Abilene, Texas.
“The conference is more than talking about next-generation learning – it’s about making it happen,” says George Saltsman, director of ACU’s Adams Center for Teaching and Learning. “Attendees will be equipped with information, connections, inspiration and a vision for implementing mobile-learning initiatives in their campuses, school districts or classrooms.” An international group of corporations offering educational technology products and services will also participate in the Summit, including Alcatel-Lucent, Pearson, AT&T, Verizon, inkling, Flatworld Knowledge, Turning Technologies, Xplana, PaperC GmbH, Emantras, Boopsie, SP Controls, Inigral, Modo Labs, and GYLO.
Fashioned after the dynamic and insightful TED talks, the conference will feature Connected Talks on learning and books. More than 35 break-out sessions will focus on track topics: Media & Mobility; The Future of Books; Infrastructure & Logistics; Campus Spotlights; Teaching & Learning; K-12 Education; and Research. Track session presentations include such topics as:
- The Impact of Mobility on Campus Media Centers by the director of informatics at Purdue University
- Moving from Digital Books (PDFs) to eTextbooks: What a True eTextbook Should Look Like by the director of the Center for Information Technology and Education at Northwest Missouri State University
- Engaging the 21st-Century Learning by the director at Coppell New Tech High School
- The Process, Impact and Future of One-to-One iPads by the head of computing and IT at Cedars School of Excellence in Scotland
- Personalising Learning with the iPod touch by the eLearning Coordinator at Shepparton High School in Australia
- Put a Device In Their Hands by the solutions center manager at Seton Hill University
- Enhancing Mobility and Productivity for MBA Students: The iPad as a Professional Tool by the chief information officer at Incarnate Word University
- Freed-Hardeman University’s iPad Pilot by the director of quality enhancement program at Freed Hardeman
The complete schedule can be found at http://www.acu.edu/technology/mobilelearning/conferences/summit/tracks/index.html. Registration is available at http://www.acu.edu/technology/mobilelearning/conferences/summit/attend/register.html.
ABOUT ACU’S MOBILE-LEARNING INITIATIVE, CONNECTED
In a world of search engines, social networking, and mobile computers, students have access to more information than one could process in a lifetime. In 2008, Abilene Christian University launched a mobile-learning initiative, Connected, which trains students to not merely consume these vast amounts of information, but to assess information, synthesize thoughts, generate new ideas, and contribute meaningfully to conversations of global importance. The university also hosts live and online conferences for educators and administrators to engage in dialogue, research and idea-sharing. ACU was named one of “America's Best Colleges” by U.S. News and World Report in its 2011 edition. In 2010, Forbes rated ACU in the top seven percent of colleges and universities in its “America’s Best Colleges” rankings. It enrolls 4,700 students, generally from 50 states and territories, and 42 nations. For more information visit http://www.acu.edu/connected.