Edcamp Santiago 2012 & Sponsors Welcome Message to Participants:
The music is Chile Lindo (Beautiful Chile) and ¡Viva Chile! (Long Live Chile!), sung by Mr. Luis Jara.
We thank all participants, here and in Canada, for coming out to share a day of learning, networking and fun with the Organizing Team of Edcamp Santiago.
allowfullscreen>
Further, we thank Mr. Aaron Akune, Vice-Principal of Delta Secondary School (DSS) and his entire Team of Organisers at Edcamp Delta, located in Ladner, British Columbia, (about 30 minutes south of Vancouver) Canada, for their international collaboration with us.
Their genuine spirit of global cooperation, communication and sharing of ideas helped us to extend the boundaries of edcamp beyond our local and national concerns to contemplate the Successes and Challenges of Education that make up our past and current realities.
By no means, however, does the knowledge thusly gained serve to mark the limits of our future aspirations. On the contrary, we feel the promise of the future of education in Canada and Chile is unlimited.
Through our global sharing, we have come to terms with the past, identified our current vantage point, and embarked on the journey that will undoubtedly lead us forward to a better day for all of the children that our education systems serve.
Aaron, to you and the entire education community of the Delta Secondary School System: parents, students, educators and administrators, we salute you, collectively. ¡Viva Edcamp Delta! http://edcamp.deltasd.bc.ca/
The Sponsors
Our sincere gratitude goes to all of our wonderful sponsors. Each one gave generously to the proposition of Edcamp Santiago 2012, in full measure, within the limits of reason, and without thought of self.
They are all true friends of educators and indeed, education itself. As noted in the BC Education Plan: “The world has changed. The Way WE educate our children Should too.”
http://www.bcedplan.ca/welcome.php
Last, but not least, our deepest expression of appreciation and heartfelt gratitude goes to our host, Universidad Mayor, including the entire institution from top to bottom, for opening its heart and its doors to us.
Words simply can not, and do not, serve their purpose in expressing how honoured we are to have your embrace of our guiding ideal, namely, that given the opportunity, teachers can provide high-quality professional development for one another, simply by sharing our best practices, tried and tested under the actual conditions of the classroom itself.
Universidad Mayor, by sharing your resources with us, and believing in us, you have made this become more than a dream: it is a reality. Your support was indispensable in accomplishing this extraordinary feat of cooperation and collaboration with a diverse group of educators who made up the Organizing Committe for Edcamp Santiago 2012.
The Organising Committee & Global Sponsors
These great individuals came together, across incredible distances, to make this happen. We are a team made up not only of educators from Santiago, but from the South of Chile as well. Further, the team includes a member from Brazil, Dr. Kyria Finardi.
As previously noted, we reached out even further across the American continent, to partner with Canadian educators from Vancouver, Canada, representing the Delta Secondary School District.
We stretched even further, receiving support from the George Lucas Foundation, Edutopia from California on the West Coast. Then we reached across the USA to the East Coast, all the way to North Carolina, receiving support from the VIF International Faculty Program.
We didn’t stop there. We kept going, all the way across the Atlantic, all the way to Oxford, England. There we received support from the Oxford University Press organization, who made a generous donation through their Chilean-based representatives.
Through the use of technology, we also received support from London, where Mr. Jason West has based his organization, Languages Out There.
To cover the rest of the globe, we rounded out our efforts by being embraced by the International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association. The organization recently achieved the astounding feat of having over ten thousand members in over 100 countries.
Thanks to their generosity, ten lucky Chilean educators are now members of this prestigious organization, which is headed by Mr. Patrick Blessinger. http://www.hetl.org/
What is the mission of HETL?
“Our mission is to develop a global community of higher education professionals who come together to share their knowledge and expertise in teaching and learning.”
Conclusion
To conclude, the benefits of Edcamp Santiago and its impact upon our practice will endure, not only as a memory, but as a shining example for other educators around the world to follow. We pass on the Edcamp torch to be carried forward throughout Chile and the rest of the world!
Thomas Baker
Co-Founder & Co-Organiser
Edcamp Santiago 2012
allowfullscreen>
