COMMUNITY BUZZ
Cross-SIG Collaboration and the 21st Century Movement
SIGTE (Teacher Educators SIG) and SIGMS (Media Specialists SIG) both held special forums at NECC this year surrounding the topic of 21st Century Teaching and Learning. Mike Charles, SIGTE President, hosted a conversation with Kyle Peck, Cheryl Lemke, Gerald Knezek, Bob Kolvoord, and Telannia Norfar titled "Assessing 21st Century Skills--Next Steps." Peggy Milam Creighton, SIGMS Chair, hosted a debate with Doug Johnson, Annette Lamb, Jamie McKenzie, and Joyce Valenza titled "NETS or AASL Standards for 21st Century Learners?"
SIGTE and SIGMS Communications Officers Teresa Foulger and Deborah Stafford realized their SIG members could benefit from participation in both forums. To facilitate cross-SIG conversations, vodcasts of the forums were prepared and uploaded into the 21st Century group in the 2008 NECC Ning. Now anyone can view the forums and contribute to the ongoing dialogue through the Ning.
ISTE members are encouraged to listen to the archived forums at http://www.necc2008.org/group/21stcenturyskills. Discussion board commentary is welcomed in an effort to move this important nation-wide agenda forward.
SIGMS Networks in Second Life
 On Sunday, September 7th, the poster session "Media Specialists Projects in Second Life" was held as part of the SLEDcc Conference (Second Life Education Community Conference). Over a dozen organizations were featured, including the ISTE Media Specialists SIG (SIGMS), the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), the Chicago Public Schools Dept of Libraries, Ohio State University, the University of Chicago eCUIP program, the Topeka and Shawnee Public Library, Land of Lincoln in Second Life, Kansas State Library, Esmond Elementary School, Info Island, and the Reader's Garden in Second Life. The SIGMS booth was prominently featured. The poster session was open for over three hours and was heavily visited by dozens of people. It was a great opportunity to promote networking and collaboration, as various professionals were noted exchanging contact information or discussing their projects.
See the Flickr stream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/elainetulip/sets/72157607185804062.
Also, SIGMS has worked with the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the American Library Association, to hold monthly orientation and learning community meetings in Second Life (SL). The orientation meetings assist newcomers in gaining familiarity with navigating in SL. The learning community meetings foster networking and collaboration among professionals interested in the field of school librarianship. All are welcome to join us! See the full meeting schedule at http://sigms.iste.wikispaces.net/AASL+-+SIGMS+Second+Life+calendar.
For more information, contact Lisa Perez at leperez1@cps.edu or as the avatar Elaine Tulip in Second Life.
SIGCT Plans for the Upcoming Year
SIGCT Breakfast Forum at NECC 2009. Plans are being made for an exceptional Forum at NECC. Since the conference will be in Washington, DC, SIGCT intends to involve some of the local flavor in this Forum as one or more presenters speak to teaching and learning about computing. If you have any comments, suggestions, or ideas, please contact Joe Kmoch at joe@jkmoch.com.
Journal for Computing Teachers (JCT). The Fall 2008 issue is about to be released to the computing world, and in it are a number of excellent articles. Our editor John Thompson (thompsjt@BuffaloState.edu) continues his search of substantive articles. In particular articles from K-12 teachers detailing their efforts teaching about computing including such topics as computational thinking, robotics, problem solving, and higher-level thinking skills are always most welcome. Please contact John for further information.
SIGCT Webinars. SIGCT intends to offer up to three webinars during the 2008-2009 school year. Initially the plan is to offer one at each grade level grouping, elementary, middle, and high school. Luci Brown (l-sweder@govst.edu) is SIGCT's contact for this activity. If you have an idea, would like to be involved with her committee, or perhaps even present or co-present one of the webinars, please contact Luci.
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