Jan 20, 2013

Announcing the AOE 2013 Online Conference!

Has it been years since you’ve attended an Art Ed Conference? Maybe you’ve never made it to one, but wish you could. After hearing from art teachers all over the country, we realize PD isn’t one size fits all. You need opportunities that fit in your busy lifestyle and leave you inspired and motivated. The good news? Location doesn’t need to be a barrier anymore. Today the AOE team is thrilled to announce a PD opportunity for the 21st century - The AOE 2013 Online Conference - the very first National Online Conference, just for Art Teachers!

Why an online conference? Here is a special message from Jessica Balsley the Founder of The Art of Education. This video sums it up pretty well – please watch:

Yes, that’s right – an online Art Ed conference you can attend from the comfort of home, for a fraction of the price, with all of the same perks and benefits of a traditional conference (plus more).

I get it. Art teachers are people, too. You have family obligations, money is tight, and let’s face it, being an art teacher can be isolating. In continuing with our mission to provide art teachers with Ridiculously Relevant Professional Development AOE wants to fill in the gaps of your PD and provide you with MORE opportunities to learn in this profession to add to the already great things you are doing.

Please visit our conference page to get all the juicy details, including an early look at some of the great presentations we have in store. If you love the idea as much as we do, and can’t wait for the conference to start, be sure to sign-up and save 25% by taking advantage of early-bird pricing.

Since there aren’t comments on the main conference page, feel free to ask questions and share your thoughts and ideas with us in the comments section below. We can’t wait to hear what you think!

See you at the conference in June!

dave

Do you get pdps with this online conference?
- http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley
  
  Dave,
  
  We are happy to provide documentation of hours you spend participating in our online conference. At the end of the conference you will have the opportunity to request a Certificate of Conference Attendance which will state the hours spent participating in the conference in it’s entirety. This is also how our ‘no credit’ class participants log their time spent in our online classes. You can use this certificate to present to your school to translate into PD points or log PD hours. We know each state and school has a different system, but the main point is, YES, the time you spend on the conference can be used for your individual PD documentation needs. I must note this conference is not eligible for GRADUATE credit or a transcript through our educational partner.
  
  The exact amount of hours the conference will be worth will be determined as we finalize presentations, but once you sign up you will be sent correspondence updating you on this, and how you can obtain your certificate.
  
  Be sure to fill out this form so you can get regular updates.
  - Amanda
    
    So…everything live will happen in June 25th? How long are you expecting it to take if you attend everything live? Thanks! Great idea! But I expected nothing less! :)
    Amanda
    - http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley
      
      Yes, Amanda, everything will happen on June 25th, with a mix of live and video presentations. There will be LOTS of content. We don’t know yet as far as exact length until all of our presentations are scheduled, but we are thinking 4-6 hours total. You will have the ability to access everything in a special password protected community after the conference if you can’t make it for the entire conference.
  - dave
    
    thx – what time will the conference start and end?
terra

Jessica- this is awesome!!! I will make sure to share it with all of my art ed friends!
Marcia Beckett (Art is Basic)

Sounds like fun! I will share it on my blog too. I will most likely sign up.. I’m just going to get the approval from my school (they probably will pay for it!) Congratulations on creating your own conference. I’m surprised this hasn’t been done before. P.S. The costs for hotel stays and travel have been higher than what you listed when I’ve attended national conferences in the past. I do enjoy the NAEA conferences a ton but it’s hard to get away for 4-5 days when you have a little toddler. I miss her too much when I’m away.
- http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley
  
  Thanks for your support and positive feedback. Nothing like being the first for something to make it exciting, huh!
Tamara Badik, Las Vegas

I think it’s an awesome idea especially since it accommodates everyone. I do like personal contact with adults and visiting new cities but it just isn’t always possible. I also like the fact that you can see all presentations instead of having to pick and choose. And, if you happen to be planning a vacation during this time, you can still attend! Thanks Jessica for all of your ingenious ideas and finding ways to share them.
- http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley
  
  You are very welcome and it doesn’t have to be ‘either or’ people can still attend their local or national conference and still have other experiences to boost their PD! :) If there are years they can’t make it, there will at least be other options!
Hannah Cone

Hello! This sounds like a really fantastic idea. My question is…will there be only one time when the presenter will be talking live, or will they be recorded and available to those who signed up for the conference at different times? I teach in Thailand, and I will be travelling all around southeast Asia during June and July, which has a huge time difference from the US. Is there any possibility of a “TIVO” type situation here?
Again, GREAT idea and I hope to be able to participate!
Thanks!
- http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley
  
  Hannah,
  Some of our presentations will be videos and others live. All of them will be recorded in some way, and available exclusive to conference participants after the conference in a special password protected community, as well as any handouts, printables, and ‘perks’ from each of the presenters. I hope this option will meet your needs. As with any event, we are trying to take into account teachers from all over and their preferences. Thanks so much.
  - tobie711
    
    Sounds great! i was going to ask the same question about being able to view it at different time.
Debbie

what a great idea! . . . . will CE credits be available . . . .?
- http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley
  
  We are happy to provide documentation of hours you spend participating in our online conference. At the end of the conference you will have the opportunity to request a Certificate of Conference Attendance which will state the hours spent participating in the conference in it’s entirety. These hours, depending on your state / school’s policy can be translated to PD Points or CPU’s. Because every state is different, this is the method that will best suit everyone’s needs. Let me know if you have any questions.
dawn

Jessica – I think this sounds like a fantastic idea, and I would love to ‘attend’ that day on my computer, but I don’t think I’ll be able to sit at my computer all day. Will the presentations be recorded for viewing at a later date? I’m afraid that’s in the middle of my military commitments and I won’t know until close to that date if I’ll have access to a computer, let alone to be able to sit at it all day long.

Thanks,
Dawn
colleen

you said you can fil out a school purchse order to ahve them pay for it? but the early vird order ends in may, purchase orders are do then but do nto get paid till mis summer, how would that work for the early bird thing…..my school will mor ethna likely say no, but always try
- http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley
  
  Colleen,
  Usually when an invoice is sent and a PO is made, it will solidify the price of the conference at the time the PO was created. I would recommend emailing me and we can work out the details.
  theartofed@gmail.com
  I hope it works out!
  Jessica
Leeanne

Will the presentations include assessment materials and differentiation ideas? Sounds really exciting!
- http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley
  
  Yes and Yes!
taskeels

Wow Jessica I love this. I am someone who cannot make it to Texas this year and am loving that I can still pick up great information from the comfort of home for a fraction of what Texas would have cost. Since you are still working on content, I was wondering if you might get Olivia Gude to present, you will probably have the opportunity to see her at NAEA. Also if you might include current Arts Integration leaders?
- Kati Walsh
  
  I just participated in a 12 hour arts integration professional development experience. I absolutely echo this. It’s an amazing pedagogy.
Kati Walsh

This might be controversial, but I do believe something that is missing from professional development is developing art teachers as art advocators. I would very much like to see how our teachers can be advocators through political means. Much of what we can do in the classroom is very limited by the education policies being created at our state and national levels. So what can we do about it? I think it is very important for all of us to know the answer to this question. Over the last two years I’ve learned to answer this question pretty comprehensively. I would absolutely be willing to share my knowledge.
- http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley
  
  Katie- We plan to cover advocacy in our conference. You can even see a preview of one of the sessions already!
  
  We’ve also developed a course called “Advocating for the Arts” that involves researching the arts in your area and using it as ammunition to stick up for your art program and advocate through the great things you are already doing!
  
  http://www.theartofed.com/classes/advocating-for-the-arts/
  
  Let’s continue this conversation! You make some excellent points.
Jennifer Christiansen

Hello, I am going to participate for sure! I will try and get my district to pay for it first though :D. My question is will there be any sessions on incorporating or supporting the new common core standards in the art room?
- http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley
  
  Jennifer,
  At NAEA this March I will be coming back with information on the new art standards and hope to incorporate it here on AOE in many ways. We are also looking into developing a new cores on Art and the Common Core. I hope to add a session for the conference on this important topic after hearing more about it at NAEA. Thanks!
Amanda

So I see that we can watch it live or watch as we can after the date because it will be recorded. Will you be able to watch more than once? I was just thinking you might want to replay something to catch the details again. Or a few days later you might realize you had questions. That is really the neat thing about this if so. You could not do that at a “real time” conference.
- http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley
  
  Amanda,
  
  Thanks for your question.
  
  Yes, the way we have planned the conference, everything will either already be a video or will be recorded live the day of. Then, every presentation will be put onto a password protected site / community to paid conference participants only. You can log in and view all of the presentations, download handouts, etc. after the conference and continue the conversation as often as you would like. I am not sure how long we will keep this open, but probably for at least a few months after the conference. I would like to keep it open so you can still look at everything as you are getting ready for the new school year in the fall. Wouldn’t that make sense?
- http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley
  
  Amanda,
  
  Thanks for your question.
  
  Yes, the way we have planned the conference, everything will either already be a video or will be recorded live the day of. Then, every presentation will be put onto a password protected site / community to paid conference participants only. You can log in and view all of the presentations, download handouts, etc. after the conference and continue the conversation as often as you would like. I am not sure how long we will keep this open, but probably for at least a few months after the conference. I would like to keep it open so you can still look at everything as you are getting ready for the new school year in the fall. Wouldn’t that make sense?
Holly

Do you know what time about this might start on the 25th? I would love to participate and receive documentation of the hours but am teaching summer school from 8:00am -12:30. I noticed that you mentioned the presentations will be recorded for us to view later but would I still be able to receive documentation of hours if I can’t necessarily watch it “live”?
- http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley
  
  As we finalize the schedule, I will post the exact hours. We are planning on starting in the morning and end in the afternoon. Around 4-6 hours total. If you can’t watch it live, I think we can work something out with a certificate later if you purchase the package.
  - Kati
    
    Didn’t you say there would be links to watch presentations later if we can’t watch it live? I’m in the same boat with the summer school schedule.
    - http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley
      
      You will have access to all of the presentations and handouts for up to a year after the 25th to view and review at your leisure in a password protected community.
      Hope it helps! We’d love to have you.
Cheryl Hancock

I am based in Australia and would love to be part of this !!! Think is an awesome initiative!! Especially the technology implementation!!!Hoping to get a Smart board this year.
Phyllis Brown

What time zone are you in? If you are talking 4-6 hours, will you work in some break time ? (meals, bathroom, feed the cat…). I for one can’t sit still at the computer for that many hours in a stretch. Will there be an interactive element to the live presentations? Q&A with the presenters?
- http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley
  
  Phyl,
  
  We will post all the details once they are finalized, including a schedule of times (so you can tune in to see what you are interested in at specific times as well) but we plan to make it as convenient and user-friendly as possible for everyone. Yes, of course, there will be an interactive component the entire time. While any presentation is running, the presenters will be available live to answer Q and A via chat in ‘real time.’
Phyllis Brown

I should add -as a retiree, I probably won’t attend myself, but I think this is a fabulous idea and I hope it runs without a hitch! Phyl (There’s a Dragon in my Art Room)
- http://www.theartofed.com/ Jessica Balsley
  
  Aww, thanks so much, Phyl. It’s exciting to try something new. I think it will be a great way to provide ‘something else’ for those who can’t always attend in-person conferences.
Sharon

AN ART EDUCATORS’ ONLINE CONFERENCE!!!!!!! THIS IS SOOOOOOO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOOOOOOOOO COOL!!!!!!!!!! SUPER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THANK YOU ~ THANK YOU ~ THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AOE IS TREMENDOUS!!!!!!!!!!! FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really, really, really want to attend the Conference, but we are supposed to be traveling at that time….out of state to my son’s Military graduation on June 28.
If I can’t make the AOE Conference, there is the assurance that I can still access the majority of presentations and receive handouts at a later date as long as I am registered for the conference?!?!?!?!?!!! That’s AWESOME too!!! THANK YOU!!
http://twitter.com/itsallaboutart Nicki Hambleton

Hi Jessica, this is a great idea and despite working in Singapore I will be on holiday in the UK. What time zone are you presenting from, so I can work out the time difference for catching it live. Once I know that I can work out where i will be and to sign up. Thanks – great initiative, Nicki