What a fantastic week and what an awesome learning experience!
Apple runs a very slick show and the line-up of learning experiences was impressive. Added to this was that we were in a very exciting city – Singapore and in a top rate Hotel AND we were looked after very well.
The week was going to be all about four things:
Highlights included:
Showcase Sessions: Each day started with an hour long session titled ‘Showcase’ which allowed 10 speakers to talk about a chosen area. Usually it was their learners and how they had been enabled by learning experiences. They were allowed 3 minutes.
Accessibility options enabling disabled learners: The stories that emerged from many of the showcases highlighted how Apple accessibility options were changing lives for the disabled and transforming learning. These options were levelling the playing field and giving the students and the teachers opportunities that would not have been possible without the technology. They were amongst the most touching and impressive of all the stories.
Masterclass with Bill Frakes: Bill Frakes is a Pullitzer prize winning photographer, responsible for many of the iconic images we all know from sport, politics and global disasters. It was a complete honour and privilege to have him speak to us, tell us stories about his images and stories about the subjects. He gave us photography hints, opened his heart, and told his stories. His images made us cry, made us wonder and dream and affirmed the power of visual imagery.
The passion and energy shown by the community of learners with whom I spent the week. It was emphasised to us again and again that we need to be bold, that we need to celebrate mistakes, that we need to keep pushing and that we need to celebrate the community of learners what we had just become a part of.
Other items of interest, many of which have come up since the conclusion of #ADE2015.
A great blog by John Burns who was responsible for the quote below “Everyone’s got a plan until they get punched in the face”. An Australia, John spoke in a very articulate way about his challenges when leading change at an International School. This was during the daily ‘Showcase’ session at which 10 speakers from the Alumni group and the current class spoke for exactly 3 minutes of their experiences at their own sites.
Getting the Balance Right 