The KIDmob director trifecta took a little road trip down to Half Moon Bay to attend ISKME's (Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management) Big Ideas Fest this year. What a blast! We have been followers of the work of ISKME for quite a while now, even interviewing Samantha Meazell, Director of Training and Design, as a part of our annual Friendship Month last July. The KIDmob team emphatically recommends the annual Big Ideas Fest event to all who might be interested. It was an active and inspirational four days of buzzing energy, discussion, learning, and thinking - the antithesis of doggedly spectating in a sea of anonymity to an onstage talking head from waywayway in the back, wondering upon departure if the conference you just observed (not participated in!) was truly worth your several hundred bucks and the time off of work. Instead we walked away refreshed and validated in what we do, with several new friends (WikiSeat, Sproutel, Losangelista, HighTechHigh, Taylor Mali , Foundation for Learning Equality, Arts Ed Matters, and +++) and ample food for thought.
A little bit about our host - the mission of ISKME is to improve the practice of continuous learning, collaboration, and change in the education sector. Champions of innovative teaching and learning practices, we were especially intrigued by their "Action Collabs." Like KIDmob workshops, Action Collabs are dynamic, hands-on workshops that have at their foundation a framework of design thinking. It is always fascinating to us to observe the ways in which folks define and use the design process, as it is just a little bit different with each group. Through the observation of other translations of this process, we are continually able to question and improve our own. Additionally, an OUTSTANDING resource that ISKME provides is the OER (Open Educational Resource) Commons. Educators, we are looking at you! If you need curriculum support, this is the place for you to go for free learning and teaching content, crowd sourced, common core aligned, and quality controlled from worldwide submissions. Check it out, and contribute! We will keep you updated as KIDmob contributes workshop curricula to the OER Commons as well.
Thanks again to the ISKME team and all of the folks who made this such a memorable gathering. This year, because of you, KIDmob is planning a trip down to High Tech High to see the magic in action and visit some new teacher friends, tackling our workshops with a more informed sense of teacher's needs regarding Common Core State Standards, and enjoying Sunday brunches at our Bay Area neighbor's (WikiSeat Founder) West Oakland digs (they have ducks!).
See you at Big Ideas Fest 2014!