Have you ever been to conference? Did you go as a kid? Was the conference organized by kids? No..? I guess you didn’t attend Kid’s Connect, a conference by kids for kids.

Mike Anderson founded this conference and created it to what it is today. He is part of the ADE program which focuses on using Apple Technology in and out of the classroom.  Anderson is one out of many people who are utilizing and encouraging the Apple products integration in the classroom. They are devoted to discover to opportunities and apply new ideas to help engage students.  He realized that value of problem-based learning. And so he created the conference, Kid’s Connect, which allows students to plan, organize and execute an official conference of 150 other kids. They learn, manage, organize and direct all aspects of the conference. You can read all about their success and other programs in the One Best Thing collection. The collection is a total 104 ibooks that are available through the ibooks store.  Kid’s Connect: Student Led Technology Conferences is the book that describes the kids progress and success in detail.

They start off with a birthday party prompt. Together, they brainstorm all the work that is needed to plan a birthday party. Then they transfer the responsibilities to plan a full-fledged, functioning conference. From the start, they have divided the responsibilities into departments and further dissect each department into individual jobs.

The students are in charge of choosing a venue and theme, creating committees, regulating communicating, and remaining professional and seeking sponsors. All of the decisions are discussed, evaluated and decided by students. By performing this task, they are given real experience with communicating and delegating judgment. Problem- based learning provides students with an end goal and permit students to experiment to reach that goal. When I read about the students performing each task, I was amazed as their competence and achievement in each department. Adults are present to oversee the preparation and assist the group when needed; however, the majority of the conference is dependent on the students.

The actual conference lasts two days while students are involved in various technology projects.  Prior to arriving, students were sent out a survey to choose “breakouts” or workshops according to their interest. During the conference, they attend three of the “breakouts” determined by their survey. The facilitators of the “breakout” instruct the groups of students attending to design and create a project based around the theme of the event using technology. The ones listed in the ibook included photography and Photoshop, composition writing and video, photography and websites. Finally, after attending the “breakouts”, the groups’ creations are displayed during the evening presentation.

Overall, I was impressed while I read about the conference. I was intrigued by students being in charge of their peers learning and began thinking what I would do if I were in their place. They definitely gained some experience of strategizing and executing. Also, the students attending probably benefitted from the student-led conference because the perspective, atmosphere and expectations differed from an adult-led conference. It introduced a new outlook and environment since they were of the same age. I also loved the idea of integrating technology into projects that could be used in the classroom. I will definitely use several of the apps that were involved in the conference and the problem-based learning in my own classroom.