NetGen Education Project Awards Show To Be Held in OpenSim on Apr 20, 2009 10 am EDT

Home » Uncategorized » NetGen Education Project Awards Show To Be Held in OpenSim on Apr 20, 2009 10 am EDT

For Immediate Release

NET GENERATION EDUCATION PROJECT TO HOLD FIRST OF ITS KIND CLOSING CEREMONIES, APRIL 20, 2009 AT 10 AM EDT ON REACTIONGRID, AN OPENSIM VIRTUAL WORLD

Winners Of The Project And The Grown Up Digital Net Gen Education Challenge To Be Awarded

Unique Opportunity for Journalists to be Mentored by NetGen Students from Around the World in the Creation of their Avatar

Toronto, Ontario, April 6th, 2009 – Don Tapscott, best selling Author and Chairman of nGenera Insight, and Flat Classroom Project teachers, Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay, today announce the closing ceremonies of their collaborative project, The Net Generation Education Project (NetGen Ed), to be held on April 20, 2009 at 10 am EDT on ReactionGrid, an OpenSim virtual world. This first of its kind awards show will bring together students, teachers, and educators from around the world to recognize the best videos from the project as well as the winner of the Grown Up Digital Net Gen Education Challenge. The event is jointly sponsored by nGenera Corporation, ReactionGrid, and Flat Classroom Projects and will provide an opportunity to showcase Open Source Virtual World Capabilities.

The event, which is invitation only, will be made available to students, teachers, and educators involved in the NetGen Ed, Flat Classroom, and Digiteen projects as well as select members of the press, and educational bloggers. Journalists and Educators wishing to attend the event will have the unique opportunity to be mentored by NetGen Ed students and ReactionGrid volunteers on the setting up of their avatars and movement in OpenSim. This partnership will provide first hand insight into the many talents of the Net Generation and continue to build upon the collaborative theme of the project.

The awards show will be recorded and streamed from a NetGen Ed website hosted by nGenera and will be hosted live within ReactionGrid on the F.L.A.T.S. (Flat Learning Area for Teaching &Sharing.)

The event is the culmination of an eight week project studying emerging technology trends and how education must be transformed to reach students based upon the eight NetGen norms, as shared in Don Tapscott's book, Grown Up Digital. Throughout the project's duration students from countries such as Australia, India, Qatar and the United States have been collaborating together via the internet – writing a wiki report, creating videos, and discussing trends with Don Tapscott on the Grown Up Digital Ning, an educational network set up for the project, and participating in live webinars with Discovery Educator Network about movie making and digital storytelling. To promote increased inclusivity, the ning, as well as partnerships with the Discovery Educator Network and Classroom 2.0, have provided forums for students, parents, professionals and educators not directly involved in the project to engage in a global dialogue on learning and the future face of education.

All NetGen Ed student video entries will be considered as part of the Grown Up Digital Net Gen Education Challenge, a video contest presented by nGenera. The contest, which was first announced on the CBC series “Canada's Next Great Prime Minister,” challenges people from around the world to provide their “next great answer” via video submission as to what they would do to change the education system. The grand prize winner, which will be announced during the April 20th awards show, will receive scholarship money as well as a private webinar with Don Tapscott.

For more information on the NetGen Education Project and the Grown Up Digital Net Gen Education Challenge, please visit: http://netgened.grownupdigital.com or http://netgened.wikispaces.com.

Virtual seating for the event is limited to 200 participants. For media inquiries or to request an invitation to attend, please contact:

Joanna Griffiths
Marketing and Communications Manager
The Tapscott Group
Phone: 416-830-1664
email: joanna.m.griffiths@gmail.com

– 30 –

About nGenera Corporation:

nGenera drives productivity and business velocity by deploying on-demand Collaborative Enterprise Management (CEM) solutions in the world's largest organizations. These innovative solutions combine nGenera's executive insight, education, advisory services, and collaborative applications to deliver critical business outcomes in marketing, sales, IT, HR and operations. For more information, visit www.ngenera.com.

About Flat Classroom Projects:

The Flat Classroom Project was founded in 2006 to connect Julie Lindsay's classroom at the International School in Dhaka, Bangladesh and Vicki Davis' classroom at Westwood Schools in Camilla, Georgia. The project has grown to link more than 1,500 students from 20 countries in four projects and a face to face conference. The projects harness leading Web 2.0 technologies to connect students in powerful learning environments where students learn, connect, and improve their cultural understanding. For more information, visit, www.flatclassroomproject.org

About ReactionGrid:

ReactionGrid is a virtual world based on OpenSimulator software. ReactionGrid was founded by G2 to be used as a 3D virtual world for business, education, collaboration and learning. ReactionGrid offers a PG/PG13 experience with content created by ReactionGrid residents or Gridizens, and provides a friendly and open environment for all to share thoughts and ideas. For more information, visit http://reactiongrid.com/.

Never miss an episode

Get the 10-minute Teacher Show delivered to your inbox.

Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis is a full-time classroom teacher and IT Director in Georgia, USA. She is Mom of three, wife of one, and loves talking about the wise, transformational use of technology for teaching and doing good in the world. She hosts the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast which interviews teachers around the world about remarkable classroom practices to inspire and help teachers. Vicki focuses on what unites us -- a quest for truly remarkable life-changing teaching and learning. The goal of her work is to provide actionable, encouraging, relevant ideas for teachers that are grounded in the truth and shared with love. Vicki has been teaching since 2002 and blogging since 2005. Vicki has spoken around the world to inspire and help teachers reach their students. She is passionate about helping every child find purpose, passion, and meaning in life with a lifelong commitment to the joy and responsibility of learning. If you talk to Vicki for very long, she will encourage you to "Relate to Educate" or "innovate like a turtle" or to be "a remarkable teacher." She loves to talk to teachers who love their students and are trying to do their best. Twitter is her favorite place to share and she loves to make homemade sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls and enjoys running half marathons with her sisters. You can usually find her laughing with her students or digging into a book.

All Posts »

1 comment

murcha April 12, 2009 - 4:23 am

For us, the kids in the bush, from Australia will certainly be boasting about this event. We are so proud to be invited and hope that many of us can make it, with our best gowns/suits for our avatars and proudly walk the red carpet with all our fantastic netgened colleagues. The hour is late in the ‘land down under’ but we will do our best to have some attend. Thank you, Vicki, Julie and Don.

Comments are closed.