I’ve been looking forward to this conference for a long time. It’s been about learning, celebrating and having a lot of fun. For a province of one million, we’ve put together quite a line up of people. In no particular order, some random thoughts:
Twitter is real. Meeting f2f people like D’arcy Norman, Brian Lamb, Jennifer Jones, George Siemens and Cindy Seibel as well as those who live her in Saskatchewan is cool and slightly surreal. I spend more time with these people than the majority of people I’d consider my working colleagues. Some might view that as sad, I don’t.
Back channeling provides push back. Whether it’s in twitter, ustream chats or informal discussions, no one gets away with much. Generally I agree with Alan November’s talk and position but am glad I have to think deeply about things.
We could use an open space format. Alan November says, “it’s not about the technology” and George Siemens says, “it is about the technology” How about the two of them unwrap that idea in an informal discussion. Add Stephen Downes into the mix and you’ve got something. I’d be there in a minute.
I hope I make some people mad. We’ll maybe not mad but if there’s some discourse, some disagreement, there should be some learning. My session with my IT manager on ET call IT might ruffle feathers. I think I’ll ruffle a few more tomorrow, at least I hope anyway. But I’m not a bad person.
I’m excited to be the newest convener for the K12 online conference. As a past presenter and participant, it’s truly a great opportunity to provide teachers with a format and platform for sharing.
This year we plan to podcast regularly on the decisions and direction of the conference. Transparency is something we all believe is important.
So head over to the K12 site and have a listen, then subscribe so you don’t miss another episode.
The growth of this conference over the past 2 years has proven its value ten fold. We’re looking for creative, enthusiastic people to share their learning during this conference. While many of you share daily, the K12 conference offers a unique format and gathering of ideas that makes it a very easy place to both introduce and challenge each other with new ideas. Please consider submitting a proposal. You’ve got 6 weeks to put something together. You can do it.
Once a year I get about 30 minutes to try and share with our Board of Education all that’s happening with digital learning in our schools. I call it the State of the Union address. I created this 7 minute video that touches on a few things happening locally. I find that this is a much more powerful way to communicate learning than a standard report which I also provided.
After the video, I talked for a few minutes about trends I see and what where we need to be headed. The Board members responded with some great comments and questions. One Board member recognized that while he might not have the understanding of how learning and education is changing, he knows we have to do a better job sharing this with parents. Another mentioned his excitement for a virtual school project that’s currently on hold. Still another shared a story about his granddaughter who asked him about bio-diesel fuel and when he didn’t give her the answer she wanted said she’d ask Mr. Google. It’s clear they embrace the future.
I was clear to tell them we don’t have all the answers. I told them that many schools can’t figure out how to handle cellphones but they need to begin involving students and understanding its power. To demonstrate I asked if they knew the population of China. While they debated I texted 466453 and “population China” and had the answer set to me before they could come up with an answer. I emphasized that it requires shifts for our teachers and while we have some great examples of those that are on their way, we have a long way to go.
I came across this video from Susan Young after I presented. I wished I had it earlier. I think it would have told them even more.
The general consensus among educators using technology is that IT are the enemies. Obviously this is a generalization but when you listen to teachers, read weblogs, this is a clear message.
Not for me. I’ve touched on this before and am currently working with our IT manager on a presentation at Tlt in a few weeks that deals with how we work together.
Today I was trying to access the chat portion in ustream. I had mentioned it casually with our IT staff and they said since it uses port 666 which is generally used for IRC, it could be potentially a threat. Makes sense. That’s their job, to protect and insure our network is stable and safe. But I persist. Since we all use Gtalk, it’s a quick IM conversation and here it is:
me: how hard is it to open port 666? Is it like a click of a button or some weirdly involved coding? temporarily I mean stinndler: i have to log into the firewall console
find the right access-list then add the exception to it
all so you can use IRC me: It’s part of Ustream…lots of online presenters use it. stinndler: how many is lots? me: I could join one everyday stinndler: ustream.tv? me: yep
I’m watching this right now http://www.ustream.tv/channel/weblogg-ed-tv
It’s basically over but just curious to see if we can do it. stinndler: so it allows you to ask questions of the presenter?
me: that and chat with participants stinndler: checking my firewall logs it looks like it’s always going to the same server
i could potentially open up port 6667 to just that server
that would remove the risk me: that would be cool
you rock….you knew that right?
stinndler is typing…
That’s all it took. Conversation, relationships and common sense. Unfortunately, there are not that many school districts that operate this way. We need more stories and examples of effective relationships. I’ll be sure to post our presentation and materials on May 15th.
The older concept that struck me in a new way is the fact that while many understand the significant shift in society that is just beginning, many see it as a fad, including educators. Shirky, interviewed by a TV producer about a possible guest appearance defends the producers claim that all this social media was a fad.
I was arguing that this isn’t the sort of thing society grows out of. It’s the sort of thing that society grows into. But I’m not sure she believed me, in part because she didn’t want to believe me, but also in part because I didn’t have the right story yet. And now I do.
I was having dinner with a group of friends about a month ago, and one of them was talking about sitting with his four-year-old daughter watching a DVD. And in the middle of the movie, apropos nothing, she jumps up off the couch and runs around behind the screen. That seems like a cute moment. Maybe she’s going back there to see if Dora is really back there or whatever. But that wasn’t what she was doing. She started rooting around in the cables. And her dad said, “What you doing?” And she stuck her head out from behind the screen and said, “Looking for the mouse.
Here’s something four-year-olds know: A screen that ships without a mouse ships broken. Here’s something four-year-olds know: Media that’s targeted at you but doesn’t include you may not be worth sitting still for. Those are things that make me believe that this is a one-way change. Because four year olds, the people who are soaking most deeply in the current environment, who won’t have to go through the trauma that I have to go through of trying to unlearn a childhood spent watching Gilligan’s Island, they just assume that media includes consuming, producing and sharing.
The shift is obviously more clearly demonstrated by our young people. Older generations continue to be more irritated by teens texting and gaming than they are interested in understanding that participation in social media is not a fad and it’s not all bad.
My brain is reeling with many concepts that include distribution of participation, one that suggests equality is not something that is required for social media to work. Many of these ideas fly in the face of today’s educational structures. We know that. What I like about Shirky’s approach as with any good writer is that stories are the key to the message. He builds the theory and depth out of the stories. We need to continue telling the new story. I’ve got my eyes and hears poised.
Image: Clay Shirky by Joi
http://flickr.com/photos/joi/1399862175/in/photostream/
As my wife makes a number of renovations in our house, I’ve felt inspired to make a few to this blog. The recent upgrade to WordPress 2.5 (now 2.5.1) was as usual easy and as many know offers some very nice features. I’ve added a widget sidebar which is much easier to manage. Wordpress now offers instant upgrades of plugins as well.
I took a page out of Clay’s blog and added two new plugins/widgets. Both honor and promote commenters who play such an important part of my learning. CommentLuv is a nice way to allow commenters to have their work promoted. The comments are often the most interesting part of any blog as witnessed by my last post. When I find a gem of a comment or even one that irritates or engages me in some way, I quickly want to find out more about that person and their perspective. While linking their name is usually good for me, I’m guessing many may not think to click. This way it’s more obvious. Those who aren’t interested in the promotion can turn it off but why would you? Also Top Commenters is another way to credit frequent visitors.
The renovations my wife has in mind are intended to create a more inviting area to entertain guests and share with our friends. Mine too.
Many of our schools are wanting to put interactive whiteboards in their classrooms. Currently the debate is which board is the best: SmartBoard or Promethean. I have no strong feelings about this but am usually the go-to-guy about all things technology. So I oblige and since I have limited experience here I go to my network. Here are the early returns:
I’m now asking either those folks or others to chime in with some thought via comments and I thank you in advance.
So here’s the learning lesson. Instead of doing a search for Promethean vs. Smartboard, I go to my network. These are the people I trust (see echo chambers have value too) and who use them everyday. I’m not smart enough to make this decision or establish an opinion of my own that carries much weight. The fact is I likely don’t care to but I still need the information and value it. The idea of the human network continues to evolve for me in both esoteric and practical,visible ways. I have a tremendous advantage over other technology coordinators who might have the same questions but don’t have a network outside of their district to draw from. And it’s not just about technology coordinators. What about doctors, lawyers, plumbers, cooks, coaches, candlestick makers, engineers, managers, or principals who have networks? How much more advantaged are they? A little bit? A lot? I sure hope that if my doctor looks at me with a puzzled look, I’m hoping that she has a network that she can tap into that’s both fairly instant and also very knowledgeable.
Building networks can happen in a myriad of ways. For me this little blog is likely the best way for me to build one. I can testify to that. Thanks for all the comments and insights you’ll leave me about IBW’s. You rock.
I’ve been looking forward to this conference for a long time. It’s been about learning, celebrating and having a lot of fun. For a province of one million, we’ve put together quite a line up of people. In no particular order, some random thoughts:
I’m excited to be the newest convener for the 
I’ve been on a bit of a 
As my wife makes a number of renovations in our house, I’ve felt inspired to make a few to this blog. The recent upgrade to WordPress 2.5 (now 2.5.1) was as usual easy and as many know offers some very nice features. I’ve added a widget sidebar which is much easier to manage. Wordpress now offers instant upgrades of plugins as well.
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