Let me google that for you!

Last week I attended the GAFE summit in Sydney.

The summit was held over two days with an introduction by Jim Sill and keynote presentations by Suan Yeo, Jennie Magiera and Chris Betcher. Throughout the days, there were lots of workshops to choose from in order to develop skills depending on your interest area.

I have to admit, I was quite apprehensive about attending the summit. For those who know me, there is no question of my passion for Mathematics. There is also no question of my passion to discover things that are going to improve the engagement and learning of my students. 

So I walked onto the grounds of the Presbyterian Ladies' College in Croydon, thinking that I was going to be way out of my depth, with all these amazing educators who know so much more about google than I do.

I am pleased to say, that I felt comfortable the whole time. I saw that there were so many others who are just starting their GAFE journey like me. There was such a positive, dynamic feel to the two days. All the presenters, for the workshops that I attended, were very engaging and were incredible in their support of our learning goals. It was so great to be around so many like minded educators, who are facing the same challenges that I am. It was very clear, that the focus of everyone there, was our students, not technology. 

I was motivated, inspired and challenged. I can't wait to start using some of the things that I have learnt, and to reassess some of the things that I have always done. For those of you who get the opportunity to attend a GAFE summit in the future, I totally recommend you go. Don't sit back and think that you don't know enough about technology to go. When you get there, you soon realise it is less about technology and more about student engagement and strategies to increase independent learning for our students.