K12 Open Minds Conference on Open Source in Education

==Background==
* General conference information at http://www.k12openminds.org. 
* Call for speakers information at http://www.k12openminds.org/conference/call-for-speakers/. * Sponsorship information at http://www.k12openminds.org/sponsors.html/.
==Insights==
Schools around the United States and the world are discovering the benefits of Open-Source Software. In Indiana alone, more than 150,000 students use Open-Source Software every day. Not only does Open-Source Software save money, it allows schools to extend essential educational software to students' homes and into after-school programs, providing extended learning opportunities at no cost.
* Are you looking for ways to provide more technology with less money?
* Could your teachers benefit from a Virtual Learning Environment (Moodle, Sakai)?
* Do you want a solution for all of your students to access their school work from home?
* Is your school community looking for ways to increase student engagement and learning?
* Have you thought about developing an Open-Source Software strategy to increase technology access while controlling costs?
Join us September 25-27, 2008, in Indianapolis, Indiana for the K-12 Open Minds Conference! This is an unparalleled opportunity to talk with teachers, administrators and technology staff from around the U.S. and the world. We expect more than 600 attendees, from the US, Europe, Asia and North and South America. Dozens of sessions that address teaching and learning, leadership and technical issues related to open technologies make this conference a "must attend" event.
Teaching and Learning sessions will feature experienced teachers from around the world demonstrating successful strategies and techniques. Technology and Infrastructure sessions will feature experts from around the world on issues such as: connecting to your local Windows or Mac authentication server, managing large and small network deployments, and using interactive whiteboards in classrooms in Linux and open-source environments, and more. Additional sessions designed for Leadership and Policy will demonstrate how policy initiatives and effective strategies for using Open-Source Software help to meet your educational objectives.Featured Speakers include:
* Donna Benjamin - Executive Director of Creative Contingencies and board member of Open Source Industry Australia;
* Alex Inman -- Director of Technology at Whitfield School, St. Louis, MO - an Essential School using open source;
* Chris Lehman -- Principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA, and;
* Dr. David Thornburg - Director of Global Operations for the Thornburg Center and author of several books including, When the Best is Free.
For more information and to register go to: http://k12openminds.org A special conference hotel rate of $97 is available at the Indianapolis Downtown Marriott through Monday, August 25, 2008. After that, rates may be higher. 
If you have any questions please contact me (see below) or Mike Huffman at 317.232.6672 or mhuffman@doe.in.gov
Steve
-- 
Steve Hargadon
steve@hargadon.com
http://www.stevehargadon.com
916-899-1400 cell
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