The document describes a student summit conference being held in Sydney, Australia from June 17-20, 2014. The conference will bring together educators, leaders, and students from over 30 schools and 5 countries to discuss the theme "What's the other story?". There will be pre-summit activities on June 17 for students to get acquainted with each other and Sydney. The main conference program runs from June 18-19 and will include sessions for students to work in teams on developing solutions to connect classrooms around the world. The student teams will create multimedia pitches to present their ideas.

1. Flat
Connections
Conference
Sydney
2014
|
www.flatconnections.org
Welcome
to
the
Student
Summit,
a
strand
of
the
Flat
Connections
Conference
to
be
held
at
Shore
School,
North
Sydney
June
17-­‐20.
1
ABOUT
The
Flat
Connections
Conference
is
bringing
together
educators,
education
leaders
and
students
from
over
30
schools
and
more
than
5
countries.
There
are
two
strands
to
the
conference,
the
Leadership
Workshop
and
the
Student
Summit,
and
both
of
these
will
work
together
and
separately
on
a
challenge-­‐
based
project.
You
are
attending
a
summit
where
students,
teachers,
and
leaders
present
in
a
highly
interactive
format
using
the
newest
technologies
and
including
virtual
participants
from
around
the
world!
This
conference
is
based
upon
the
groundbreaking
work
of
Flat
Connections
Projects
and
Flat
Connections
Live
events
(formerly
Flat
Classroom)
that
have
included
students
and
teachers
from
over
50
countries
in
the
past
eight
years!
2
CONFERENCE
THEME
The
theme
for
this
event
is
‘What’s
the
other
story?’
We
will
be
exploring
the
other
stories
that
give
us
identity
and
understanding.
We
will
discover
how
we
can
use
these
stories
to
inform
and
create
new
and
engaging
opportunities
for
global
learning.
As
Chimamanda
Ngozi
Adichie
tells
us
in
'The
Danger
of
a
Single
Story',
you
must
engage
with
all
of
the
stories
of
a
place
and
a
person.
The
single
story
creates
stereotypes,
hence
is
an
incomplete
story
and
emphasises
how
we
are
different
rather
than
similar.
What
are
the
stories
we
want
to
tell
to
break
through
stereotypes
and
emphasise
common
humanity?
By
discovering
new
stories
and
sharing
our
own,
we
inevitably
combat
isolation
and
cultural
division.
In
doing
so,
we
can
open
each
others
eyes
to
a
more
enlightened
future
of
interaction
and
collaboration
across
the
globe.
Flat
Connections
Conference
2014
Student
Summit
Welcome
Pack
Flat
Connections
Conference
2014
Julie
Lindsay,
Chair
conference@flatconnections.com
Website:
www.flatconnections.com
Community:
www.flatconnections.org

2.
Flat
Connections
Conference
Sydney
2014
|
www.flatconnections.org
2
Pre-­‐Summit
What
to
do
before
you
join
us
in
Sydney
Survey
your
technology
This conference is very technology-infused. It is
important that every participant have access to a
device. Students are encouraged to bring laptops,
Tablets and/or Smartphones. Shore School will
have some technology for loan, but having your
own tools will best support your fluency during this
conference.
What will you do with the technology?
• Set up a profile on the conference portal
• Blog, discuss and interact with others at
the conference
• Share multimedia and pitch ideas
• Use the ‘backchannel’ during the event to
connect with real and virtual participants
• Research using online Internet resources
• Access team places and spaces including
Google docs for collaborative work
• Collect online and original multimedia –
images, videos, animations, music, audio
• Create presentations and final multimedia
to support your ideas
• Share ideas and artifacts with the world!
Ideally a laptop is the best tool to do all of the
above tasks. An iPad, Tablet or Smartphone will
be good for collecting multimedia but may not be
adequate for the rigour of video creation.
Students will work in mixed classroom teams and
we expect each team to have access to a range
of devices between them, therefore it is not
essential all students have a personal laptop, but
every student should have one personal device.
Software
requirements
The following software is needed:
• Movie making software: You will need
access to video software such as iMovie or
Windows Movie Maker. More advanced tools
are acceptable as well, but there will be little
time to learn how to use multimedia software.
Bring what you have and what you are
comfortable with
• Presentation software: PowerPoint or
Keynote
• Internet browser: Firefox or Chrome are best
for the Web 2.0 tools we will be using
• Communication tools: You may use Skype
or other tools to connect with others
Note: Shore School will provide access to desktop
computers as well to support multimedia making if needed

3.
Flat
Connections
Conference
Sydney
2014
|
www.flatconnections.org
3
Flat
Connections
Conference
provides
a
unique
opportunity
for
students
to
get
to
know
each
other
and
to
explore
the
host
city,
Sydney,
through
this
‘Day
0’
pre-­‐summit
event.
What
you
will
do…..
v Meet at Shore School at 9am on Tuesday June
17 for an introduction and team formation
v Teams will have 5-6 students and at least one
teacher
v All participants will receive a transport pass,
maps, schedules and a CHALLENGE!
v After reading the CHALLENGE plan with your
team the best approach
v Spend the day in Sydney exploring and meeting
the goals of the challenge
v Remember to take lots of pictures and short
videos
v Arrive back at Shore by 4pm
v Create a multimedia review of your day to share
Important: Don’t forget a coat and umbrella!
‘Get
to
Know
Sydney’
Challenge
Tuesday
June
17
Meet
at
Shore
School
9:00
am
Sponsored
by
Club
Gecko
https://www.clubgecko.com

4.
Flat
Connections
Conference
Sydney
2014
|
www.flatconnections.org
4
Tuesday
June
17
• 9am-4pm: ‘Get to know Sydney’ Challenge - Optional
pre-summit activity for students and teachers
• 5-7:30pm: Student Summit Launch - All teachers and
students arrive to kick-start the summit. Dinner and
refreshments provided
Wednesday
June
18
• 8am-5:30pm: Conference program for Student
Summit
• Evening time is free to explore Sydney
Thursday
June
19
• 8am-6pm: Conference program for Student Summit
o Includes a ‘Finding the fun’ session and whole
group video creation
• 6-7pm: Conference social, dinner and refreshments
provided for all teachers and students
Friday
June
20
• 7:30am: (Yes! An early start) Student Summit teams
working on Global Expose
• 12-12:45pm: Closing Ceremony
• 12:45pm: Final farewells
Flat
Connections
Conference
Student
Summit
Schedule
Overview
Join
the
Student
Summit
Group
in
our
Flat
Connections
Conference
Community!
tinyurl.com/flatstudentgroup

5.
Flat
Connections
Conference
Sydney
2014
|
www.flatconnections.org
5
Student
Summit
Action
Project
1
Introduction
Phase
BEFORE you arrive at the conference:
• Join the Flat Connections Community
http://flatconnections.org
• Introduce yourself via a blog post and
share a picture or a short video so that we
can get to know you. This is what we call
the pre-summit ‘handshake’
• Interact with others in the community –
reach out and make friends virtually so
that when you meet in person you will
have already created a bond
2
Student
Summit
Launch
The Student Summit launch will take place at
Shore School on Tuesday June 17 from 5-
7:30pm.
All students and accompanying teachers are
invited to attend. Dinner is provided.
This follows the ‘Get to Know Sydney’ Challenge
that many of you will be participating in as well.
The Student Summit launch will be a time to find
team members and learn more about ‘the other
story’ of cultural identity. Important connections
and understandings are made at this time.

6.
Flat
Connections
Conference
Sydney
2014
|
www.flatconnections.org
6
Student
Summit
Action
Project
Student
teams
are
charged
with
finding
a
solution
to
the
problem:
How
do
we
join
classrooms
and
schools
across
the
world
to
take
action
in
the
future
and
share
goals
for
‘What’s
the
other
story?’
Phase
1:
Action
Project
Kickoff
(empathy)
Teamwork to develop initial ideas based on the conference theme ‘What’s
the other story?’
Joint teacher and student activity: ‘Living and learning in a flat world’ helps
build empathy, research skills and presentation skills.
Phase
2:
Developing
Ideas
(define,
ideate,
prototype,
feedback)
Teams develop their ideas related to problem solutions into a ‘pitch’ to be
delivered numerous times for feedback. Workshops support use of
Creative Commons media and how to develop ideas supported by clear
images and words to communicate effectively. Design cycle used to ideate
and mock-prototype ideas for initial feedback.
Phase
3:
Storytelling
for
all
All teams will explore mixed genres in digital storytelling as a medium to
share developed ideas and solutions. Storyboard / animatic is developed
as pre-visualisation of the final product and used to support ‘Share Aloud’
session.
Phase
4:
Global
Solutions
Final teamwork to put together ideas and solutions based on ‘What’s the
other story?’ This includes a workshop on the use of social media for
impact and sharing. A full multimedia artifact as well as associated
sketches and verbal explanation will be ready to share at the ‘Global
Expose’.
Global
Expose!
This is the finale to the event! Both student and teacher teams will share
their final ideas and solutions with the real and virtual conference
participants and with the world!