I am passing this information along from the folks at the K12 Open Minds conferrence.  I must admit up front that I am on the planning committee for this event.  I would encourage anybody that is interested in open source to attend.  It is a great conference.

Registration (& Call for Speakers) Now Open for K-12 Open Minds Conference

Thank you for asking to be kept informed of news on the 2008 K-12 Open Minds Conference, September 25 - 27.  Registration for the conference is now open, as is the call for speakers!  Come to learn and/or teach about Open Source Software in education.

Please distribute this message widely.  We hope you will consider attending and/or presenting.  General conference information is at http://www.k12openminds.org/.  The call for speakers information is at http://www.k12openminds.org/conference/call-for-speakers/.  Sponsorship information is at http://www.k12openminds.org/sponsors.html/.

CONFERENCE INFORMATION:

K-12 Open Minds Conference 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.

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?

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 Steve Hargadon at 916-899-1400 or steve@hargadon.com, or Mike Huffman at 317.232.6672 or mhuffman@doe.in.gov