U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has declared August 2012 Connected Educator Month (CEM), an exploration and celebration of online communities and networks dedicated to broadening and deepening educator participation in learning and sharing–bringing online community and education leaders together to move towards a more fully connected and collaborative profession.
CEM events and activities include an online kickoff featuring keynote addresses by Deborah Meier, Chris Lehmann, Douglas Rushkoff, Larry Johnson, and and Connie Yowell; a panel with the directors of the department’s Office of Educational Technology; and six monthlong discussion forums on key educational issues:
- Professional Learning in the Learning Profession: 21st-Century PD
- It’s Personal: Personalized Learning for Students and Educators
- Beyond Top Down: Distributed Leadership and Teacher-Led Change
- Knocking on the Door: Connected Education and New Technologies
- The First Six Weeks: Getting 2012-13 Off to the Right Start
- Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due: Incentivizing and Recognizing Teachers
A culminating two-day event will synthesize and distill learnings from the month and generate takeaways and next steps for the field. All events and activities from the month will be archived, many will continue to be available (and to grow) after August, and multimedia proceedings will be generated for distribution.