On May 7-8, we hosted our fourth User Group Conference in Asia-Pacific at Hong Kong Academy. We were thrilled to welcome more than 150 participants from over 60 schools.
This was our first two-day conference in Asia-Pacific, which featured an expanded programme of keynotes and breakout sessions led by experienced school administrators, as well as a “Genius Bar” for ManageBac support.
The first day began with remarks from Hong Kong Academy’s Head of School Stephen Dare, and a keynote talk from Dana Watts, the Director of Innovation at 21st Century Learning, on breaking down silos within schools to empower authentic student learning.
The keynote was followed by a presentation from Hong Kong Academy’s Directory of Technology Andy Birch and MYP Coordinator Jennifer Swinehart, who shared their journey implementing ManageBac over the last six years. A company update from ManageBac followed, which included a product development roadmap for 2016.
Participants then went into programme-specific breakout sessions, including:
- CAS, EE, ToK by Charles Wu of Diocesan Boys’ School
- MYP: Building Quality Curriculum “Inquiry: Establishing the Purpose of the Unit” by Lisa Nicholson of Cornerstone Educational Consulting
- PYP Curriculum Planning “UoI and Collaborative Planning” by Iain Rily of Shanghai United International School and Niko Lewman of KIS International School
- General Tips & Tricks by Ryan Kingsley of Stockholm International School
- What’s Next for ManageBac? by Managing Director Angelica Nierras
Following lunch, the afternoon breakout sessions included:
- Rethinking DP for Curriculum Planning by Lennox Meldrum of IGB International School
- MYP: Building Quality Curriculum “Action: Teaching and Learning through Inquiry” by Lisa Nicholson of Cornerstone Educational Consulting
- PYP Curriculum Planning “Scope & Sequence and Analytics” by Iain Rily of Shanghai United International School and Niko Lewman of KIS International School
- Leveraging Khan Academy for a New Learning Design by Dominic Liechti of Khan Lab School
Participants then came back together for a workshop led by Melinda Alford & Hugo Drummond of Shen Wai
International School on engaging stakeholders in the use of ManageBac.
On the second day of the conference, the morning offered three talks:
- “Designing for Learning in the Second Machine Age” by John McBryde and colleagues at Apex International Academy
- “ATL and the Learning Revolution” by Lance King, founder of The Art of Learning
- “Voice & Choice: Creative Assessment” by Dana Watts, Director of Innovation at 21st Century Learning
Breakout sessions followed, focused on:
- DP Assessment by Lennox Meldrum of IGB International School
- Courage, Resilience & Failing Well by Lance King, founder of The Art of Learning
- MYP Assessment by Farah Misquitta of École Mondiale World School
- PYP Assessment, Reporting & Attendance by Iain Rily of Shanghai United International School and Niko Lewman of KIS International School
- Setup Support by Luke Harbour of ManageBac
The final breakout sessions after lunch included:
- DP & MYP Reporting by Farah Misquitta of École Mondiale World School
- Student Empowerment Through the Portfolio by Iain Rily of Shanghai United International School and Niko Lewman of KIS International School
- Classroom Management & Parent Communication by Jason Borovick of Changchun American International School
Participants ended the conference with a Jobs-A-Like and Networking session.
We had a wonderful time connecting with our schools in Asia-Pacific, and are grateful to Hong Kong Academy for hosting us in their beautiful new campus.
Here are some photos from the conference:
For further information, you can:
- View the conference schedule (The presenters’ slides are attached as PDFs to each session.)
- Follow the #mbconfhk hashtag on Twitter.
Participants said:
“For someone new to ManageBac it was very useful to pick brains. The presenters and experts were warm and helpful. A few of my concerns have been laid to rest.”
“It was one of the best conferences I’ve attended. Sessions were meaningful and focused and the keynotes were great.”
“The best conference I have been to in a long time. I loved that it was not just about ManageBac, but also allowed opportunities to communicate with others with similar pedagogical interests and then consider applying these through MB.“
