Dig that PD 1.0

This series will be all about the conferences, summits and professional learning communities that we believe everyone should check out.

First off is DEEP LEARNING CONFERENCES. The conferences they organise all over world allows everyone to discover, engage, experience, and participate with their discovery and deep dive sessions. There will be conferences happening in Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia early 2016 so check out their website at DeepLearners.com for more information.

Second is AppsEvents. The summits they organise teach educators practical uses of Google tools. They also go beyond summits as they offer online courses as well as certification courses for Google Apps Admins and Google Educators. Check out their website at AppsEvents.com to learn more.

Conferences, summits and other professional learning communities are a great way to meet people, build a network or community, start a collaborative project and more. Some of the members of GEG West Bangkok started out as attendees but now have been part of these conferences and summits as presenters. The growth and opportunity has been tremendous not just for them but to the people around them.

+Wesley Przybylski +Sean Thompson +Dan Taylor +James Sayer

Thirsty Thursdays Next Event - Thursday 17th December 2015

The initiative of Thirsty Thursdays has been gaining a lot more momentum lately and thus we would love for you to join us!

What is "Thirsty Thursdays? What are we thirsty for? Why do we do this?"

Well let me answer those questions for you. First off, Thirsty Thursdays is an initiative by Various GEG's and GEG members based in Bangkok Thailand. As we have a lot of talented Educators based in this vibrant City, the idea behind Thirsty Thursdays is that we would share this knowledge and basically show our 'Thirst' for knowledge!

On selected Thursdays we sign up and get together for a Hangouts on Air and broadcast this session live for the world to view! Most of us will present or 'slam' and demonstrate a useful and helpful EdTech feature, app or function. 

If you would like to watch some of our previous HOA Sessions: You can find them by subscribing to the following YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBA5QAoxkud7BiyifAgnHvQ

We of course love to welcome other educators to join with us during these sessions and they are By NO MEANS limited to GEG West Bangkok Members. If you would like to join one of our Thursdays let us know! We send out sign up forms ahead of time and the more the merrier!

As a matter of fact Our next Thirsty Thursdays will be next Thursday at 7 PM Bangkok Time! If you are ready to share some of your knowledge or are thirsty for tips and tricks please join us and fill out the form below: 

We are all looking forward to having you join our next events, either as presenter or viewer.

Transforming Education, Preparing the Future - the event

When educators are doing joining advanced activities, discussing deep topics and are sharing in lessons on Bee-Bots and Pro-Bots which are meant to be for early years students, then you know that they are enjoying their learning!

Fun was just part of the learning and sharing that happened during the event. There were a lot of discussions and a lot of student-led learning where the students this time were the educators themselves.

About 9 different schools were represented - 5 government schools, 2 private schools and 2 international schools, from early years to high school up to vocational studies.

We started off with a brief overview of what GEGs are and why we are doing this event then proceeded with the BIG idea session.

What's the BIG Idea?

Basically, this session was like an idea factory where everyone was given the chance to come up with a good (or bad) idea to improve the community we are in in terms of education. This kind of served as an exercise.

Here are some of the ideas the participants came up with:

• Living in the trash island
• Giving each student in class compliments before starting (everyday)
• Eliminating exams
• Better management of classes
• Change Management and potential issues with this

Exploring Programmable Floor Robots with Bee-Bots and Pro-Bots

Bee-bots are a great way of introducing programming and Problem Solving. Many Schools and classrooms are beginning to see the value of Coding at such a young age that their is a high demand for Professional Development for Early Childhood Practitioners.

The focus of the Presentation was on hands-on activities and getting down onto the carpet and Coding!

Some of the attendees even had some full on discussions about the Theory or Pythagoras as they Coded the Pro-bot to draw out various shapes.

For information on this session and how to use Bee-Bots in Class, see the slideshow above.

Unconference Sessions

Session 01: Kanbanchi

Kanbanchi is a Project Manager that works really well with Google Apps and Seamlessly allows collaboration on projects, checklists and assignments. It has been described by one of our GEG Leaders as "Google Keep on Steroids".

For more information on this Webb App, join one of our future events or watch the following video:

Session 02: PLN/PLC

This session looked at how two online Platforms can be used as a Professional Learning Network or Professional Learning Community.

The two Platforms in question are Google+ and Edmodo.com.

Edmodo

We heard a first hand account from an Edmodo Luminary and Ambassador about how Edmodo enables teachers worldwide to come together and share resources. 

These educators then rate these resources, feedback is given and tips shared. Lesson plans, worksheets, presentations, you name it, Edmodo has it. On top of that Edmodo is also a fully equipped VLE, with a visual style reminiscent of Facebook. Perfect for your Young learners, not quiet ready for Classroom. And off course it has integration with Google Drive for power users. 

   

Google+

Who says G+ is going away? It's not going anywhere! Google+ Plus is its own entity, a powerful Social Media Tool with an Emphasis on Professional Development, Collections and Communities. 
We had a look at how G+ can add to your development and how the use of collections and communities can improve not only your teaching but also brings many interesting articles and resources to your attention.

Both have their strengths and weaknesses and have proven to be monumental in helping teachers and educators worldwide share their experiences.

If you would like to find out more about using any of these platform, Join us at one of our upcoming Meets!
https://plus.google.com/
https://edmodo.com/


Session 03: Certifications

This session was more on discussion - answering the questions: How to get certified, Where to find resources, What to expect, When to get certified and Why get certified.

Getting certified can lead to a new and exciting career opportunities for some while others get to meet people, collaborate and grow.


Session 04: Google Drive and Collaboration Basics

We try cater for everyone who are not techie, are not acquainted with edtech or are newbies. This session allowed everyone who attended to see how to create, share and collaborate on documents.

More photos of the event can be accessed here or visit us on our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/gegwestbangkok/

Big thanks to:

• Google for the BIG support (as always)
• JitsupaUthairat and Isada Siwawetpikul from Kudosiz for helping us find a venue
• Mr. Supparat Sivapetchranat and his team at True IDC for giving us a venue to hold this event, and for the coffee
• St. Andrews International School, Samakee for letting us borrow Chromebooks, iPads, Bee-Bots, Pro-Bots and other resources
• Matthayom Watnairong School for letting us borrow Chromebooks, Projectors and other resources
• GEG West Bangkok Team for putting a lot of effort in making this event happen
• The attendees who showed support in participating and more

The next meet up is in the works so make sure to check back soon for more info!

Updates for GEG West Bangkok Meet-up #2

Hello GEG friends!

The meet-up is a day away! We are all really excited to meet everyone!

The programme is up!

We have come up with a lot of things for this Saturday from programmable robots for early years to project management; from introductory to getting geeky. View what's in store for everyone here.

Prizes and giveaways

We've got some cool giveaways and prizes including a premium Kanbanchi account, Google Educator pins, notebooks, pen cases and pens. Make sure to join the Demo Slam!

The venue

It is located at the 8th floor of Bangkok Land Building (West Wing), Popular 2 Road. The West Wing entrance is right next door to the Main Impact Concert Hall. You won't miss this as the building is a purple-painted structure in the area! There are two entrances so make sure you enter the west wing of the building and not the east wing. (Street view of the venue)

Please bring a valid ID

The security at the lobby requires that you hand in an ID to get a visitor card.

Once you are at the 8th floor, True IDC will get your visitor card and give you True IDC visitor card to get into their office.

Check out FAQs for the event!

Some of you might have some questions, you might want to visit our FAQs for the event.

Getting there by Taxi:

You may have the map below printed for the taxi driver. You may also use this link goo.gl/maps/ASSTnRALCaT2.

True Internet Data Center Co., Ltd. (Muang Thong Thani)
47/553-554, 557-558 Moo3, 8th Floor Bangkok Land Building, Popular 2 Road, Bannmai, Pakkred, Nonthaburi, 11120 Thailand

Get there by car: 

There won't be parking space in the building but right next to it are two parking lots - one is paid parking which is 40 baht or so an hour and another is free parking. The paid parking lot has an access bridge located at 2A floor which will bring you to the building. You may use the same map above to get to the location.

If you and a friend of yours haven't registered yet, it's not too late. Click the link below:

See you there!

GEG West Bangkok Meetup 2 - Feature Overload!

We are pretty excited for this second meet-up! This event is packed with a lot of goodies that everybody will surely enjoy. There are robots (Bee-Bots and Pro-Bots) that we can program and play with, there's a workflow and collaboration tool called Kanbanchi and there are even more Chromebooks this time and we have partnered with TRUE IDC to bring you this event.

(Chromebook, Bee-Bot/Pro-Bot, Kanbanchi)

Our aim in every meet-up is to learn, share, inspire and empower. If you are looking into integrating robots into your lessons or wanting to know how teachers are using robots in class, this event is for you. If you are finding better ways to collaborate and maybe create a better workflow, then this event is for you. We welcome everyone regardless EdTech background (newbie or experienced) - come and join! There is always something new to learn and there are many of us willing to share.

Note: Chromebooks are in limited numbers, please bring your laptop computers with you.

And...

Did we mention that this is a FREE event? Come and join us! Register through the link provided below.

Location:

True Internet Data Center Co., Ltd. (Muang Thong Thani)
47/553-554, 557-558 Moo3, 8th Floor New Geneva Industry Condominium, Popular 3 Road, Bannmai, Pakkred, Nonthaburi, 11120 Thailand

True IDC Map

True IDC Google Map

See you there!

Revisiting the first Meetup

A productive one to say the least!

What's that? You would like some descriptive words to sum up our first Meetup? How about inspirational, educational, unexpected, interesting, social, caffeine driven, Googlelicious, busy and well attended... How's that for some Descriptive language!

Our first GEG West Bangkok has been a very successful one, meeting at Mathayom Watnairong English Program school, this meeting saw people from different levels of expertise and different stages in their EdTech journey, join hands to learn and share ideas.

Here's a Gallery with some of the Photos of our Meeting to give you an idea of what such a get together might look like.

...

Here's an overview of the topics discussed:

Everybody enjoyed the unconference part of the meetup. Getting everyone to participate in pitching their ideas on what to share or present, which session to join and which session to skip, as well as what to contribute to a session was pretty amazing during the unconference. We saw people sharing, asking questions, contributing, and learning something new.

The discussion wrapped things up with the unconference and the Demo Slam gave everybody extras to take home. Literally, some of them took away some freebies!

Lastly, we want to give a big shout out to the people behind the scenes. Without them this meetup wouldn't be possible. A big thank you to Mr. Surapong Ngamsom and the rest of the Nairong School administrators for allowing to host the event at their school; Mrs. Narumol Dangsorn and the rest of the snacks team for making sure that we didn't go hungry; Mrs. Pisamai Mingmuang and the rest of her team for making sure all the technology, network, support was there; The rest of the people who participated and contributed; and lastly, the facilitators of the event namely: Davis Apas, Ark Osias, Ralf Siegesmund, Pattapong Thammasorn, and Sethi De Clercq.

More photos as well as videos here.

Watch out! The next meetup is coming very soon...

GEG West Bangkok Inaugural Event - Don't miss it!

This meet-up is all about the BASICS featuring Google Apps for Education and Chromebooks. If you are new to any of the Google Apps for Education (GAFE) tools and chromebooks, this event is for you. If you are a seasoned edtech guy who is willing to share knowledge and techniques, then this event is for you as well. This event will be run in the style of unconference where attendees will create topics/session on the spot emphasizing the informal exchange of information and ideas!

Visit our community: GEG West Bangkok G+

Note: Chromebooks are in limited numbers, please bring your laptop computers with you.

Location:

What are GEGs?

Google Educator Groups (or GEGs) are independently run communities of educators who share, inspire and empower each other to meet the needs of students through technology. Via face-to-face meet-ups and online activities to provide a way for primary or secondary school educators passionate about education and technology and share, learn, and collaborate with like-minded people and share, learn and collaborate together with them.

The GEG meet-ups (sometimes online) are often themed, whether it is a focus on a specific Google technology, practicing sharing lesson plans, or having a more practical hands­on experience. How a GEG meetup is run is up to the organising chapter and possibly its members and it could take a number of different forms. GEGs seek to inspire growth of the community by providing training, workshop and many different opportunities for educators in the hopes that these workshops will begin to foreshadow the learning, sharing and collaborating with other educators and other communities.

Why join?

Learn. Share. Inspire. Empower. These four words represent the essence of GEGs. Educators will build relationships with other educators and gain the necessary skills to use open technology to deliver the best possible education to their students.

If you are interested, join one of the GEGs near you. Better yet, join GEG West Bangkok now!

More information about GEGs can be found here.