[IAEP] Invitation to K12 Open Minds

[Vern Ceder]

Hi,

I know that Walter already mentioned it, but I would like to extend the 
organizing committee's invitation to any and all of you to attend and 
present at the upcoming K12 Open Minds Conference (Please see 
http://www.k12openminds.org/) in Indianapolis, Sept 25-27.

The conference is dedicated to furthering the use of open source 
software in K12 education, and attracts a wide range of participants 
from the US and abroad.

Registration is now open and the deadline for speaker proposals is 
August 15. I've included the full invitation letter below.

Cheers,
Vern Ceder

------------------------------------------------------------

Schools around the United States and the world are discovering the
benefits of Open-Source Software. In Indiana alone, over 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 Mike Huffman at 317.232.6672 or
mhuffman at doe.in.gov

-- 
This time for sure!
    -Bullwinkle J. Moose
-----------------------------
Vern Ceder, Director of Technology
Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804
vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137