Last week I visited two dramatically different conferences. FETC is one of the larger educational conferences you'll ever attend. While numbers have decreased significantly from the first time I attended over 11 years ago, there are still thousands that make their way to the Orange County Convention Center to drink in all things related to technology and learning. My first time there in 2001 I recall attending a pre-conference workshop on streaming video. I believe it was Miami-Dade County sharing how they were able to stream events such as football games and graduations to their community using a truck with TV studio equipment and servers coming out the wazoo. It took me about 15 minutes to realize that someone from Moose Jaw, SK with a handy cam and a lab of 30 computers had no business being in on that session and no hope of ever being able to do anything of that magnitude. I continued to be in awe that week of the emerging hardware and software that offered some new possibilities. I left feeling pretty excited. 

The next few years at this conference were less and less exhilarating and by the 2009 I had pretty much decided there wasn't anything happening there that I would need. My learning space had shifted. What I valued from conferences was about meeting new people whose ideas and sharing I was beginning to understand but wanted some clarification. Call it the flipped conference. Unfortunately FETC wasn't the best place to experience this. Unlike ISTE,  who was not only larger but had begun to acknowledge this need amongst a percentage of its conference attendees, FETC wasn't really embracing this need. 

This year I attended FETC as part of my new role with Discovery. As it turned out, it was a great way for me to spend time with co-workers, ask questions, watch a pre-conference event and connect with many DEN stars. In addition, there were many Canadians in attendance (Florida in January may have something to do with that) and made some important connections that will be helpful as develop community in Canada. But although for me, there was benefit, I couldn't help but noticed that 11 years since my first FETC, there was still a large focus on tools and devices. Very few sessions dealt with the real hard questions of teaching and learning. To be fair, I was largely going by the program and session descriptions but I struggled finding sessions I thought woudl be interesting beyond, "here's a bunch of tools I think are cool". 

The conference ended Thursday night and Friday I left for Philadelphia to attend Educon. Educon and FETC are nothing alike. Educon is small, 500 or fewer. Educon takes place in a school. Educon is in Philadelphia, not Orlando. Educon is designed to be conversational. I led one of these sessions with Alec Couros and shared this diagram from D'arcy Norman as the basic formula for the conference:

This happens because Chris Lehmann attracts smart people. It happens because a high percentage of these people interact with each other regularly online. It's a community  coming together to get at some important issues. It's kind of a flipped conference. It's not a perfect conference but it serves the needs of many who are looking to connect deeply with people and ideas. 

I think FETC meets some of their needs as well. However it's much more of an introductory space for many. A large number of attendees are experiencing shiny new tools and ideas for the first time. I often lose sight of that. At the same time I don't think they're adverse to having the conversations that might take place at an Educon but may not be ready to go there. I think they lack a context for change. 

I'm making a number of assumptions here and I may in fact be wrong. But I did come to realize that just because I find the format and style of Educon more to my liking doesn't mean that an FETC conference doesn't have value. I also realized that my role with Discovery is going to mean that I need to find more ways to reach a more diverse audience. In one month of travels and conversations, I'm seeing first hand the spectrum of technology use and understanding which is greater than I perceived. Working inside a single district, I at least understood the culture. I knew that while not every teacher was using technology to its fullest, I was aware of the circumstances and barriers to a greater degree and was able to provide the more appropriate supports. I've seen some schools and teachers who are dealing with very different challenges than I witnessed. Schools with virtually no technology outside of a single smartboard and a lab of out of date computers. No wireless access. High levels of filtering. Boards with limited vision. While I was aware these problems existed, they weren't really my problems. Now they are. 

So all this to say the digital divide is vast. Somehow I need to prepare myself to address that and It begins with a more sympathetic attitude towards those just beginning to see that things could be different. I think at times I've been harsh and impatient with people. Not openly perhaps but may have dismissed someone's seeming lack of interest as being reluctant. I'm realizing that so many people have not had the opportunities and time I've had. Again, this isn't new but I got a good reminder last week. 

The Educon experience of community and challenging conversations is something I hope to pursue and nurture with my time at Discovery. I've got lots of resources to make that happen but I've also got a big challenge in supporting a country as big as Canada. 

I'll keep sticking with what's gotten me this far; smart people. I know a few. 

Unlike a classroom where a teacher controls the lecture, the organic communities that emerge through collectives produce meaningful learning because the inquiry that arises comes from the collective itself.
https://kindle.amazon.com/work/new-culture-learning-cultivating-ebook/B004S72WOS/B004RZH0BG
 

Integral to this idea is giving yourself opportunities to experience and facilitate serendipitous learning. Currently there really isn't a better way to make this happen than twitter.

Here's the story.

Yesterday I'm attending a full day workshop (workshop is a loose term, it was really a 5 hour lecture) with Dr. Larry Bendtro, researcher and founder of the Circle of Courage Institute which focuses on reclaiming at risk students. Dr. Bendtro is a good speaker and while a 5 hour lecture isn't an ideal way to learn, there were lots of nuggets of learning I took away.

Sitting in the auditorium made up of educators and community people, I did see several ipads out but the majority of course were sticking with pen and paper to capture their learning. Lots of people were talking notes but of course, few, if any were sharing those notes. That's a bit of waste. So when I pull out my phone, I'm sure most people who see that think I'm checking email, texting, playing a game, or generally just off task. I used to be concerned about that but not anymore. I've learned that for me, engaging in a backchannel or simply using hashtags is the best way for me to stay focused and engaged. It may not be for everyone but it's for me. The person I sat with also uses twitter and we simply agreed to use the #circleofcourage as our hashtag.

Sidebar:

Last week one of my students was tweeting about being bored in class. I tweeted back that she should tweet what she was hearing and try and see if she could get others in her class to use a common hashtag to take collected notes. It worked for her.

Back to the story.

Part of the purpose of using twitter to take these notes is both for me, for the others participating but also because you never know. Early on in the lecture, Dr. Bendtro talked about the importance of a good theory but that if you can't explain your theory to a 4 year old, maybe you really don't understand your theory. As I was about to tweet that out, I see my buddy Dave Cormier in my twitter stream. I had the pleasure of having breakfast with Dave and his family last month and enjoy bantering and teasing with him so I decided I had enough social capital to present him a little challenge:

I really didn't know what I expected him to do with that. The nature of twitter is such that it could have easily fallen into the pile of useless tweets, which I'll admit I likely hold the world record. But Dave took my dare and did something, something quite awesome as a matter of fact. (I forgive you if you leave here now and spend time on Dave's blog. Go ahead, it's okay) He obviously had no obligation to do anything with my question. He could have ignored it or told me to mind my own business. Instead he created a useful artifact that is beneficial for me, others and for him as well.

I don't know if that's an amazing story because it's one that likely happens to many people every day because they place themselves in a space that fosters intentional serendipity. It's actually quite wonderful, joyful and meaningful. You can't quantify it, place it in a lesson plan but you also can't ignore it. I'm sure the vast majority of you reading this are twitter users and have your own story to tell. Maybe not. The point here is that intentional serendipity should be held in much higher regard. If you say you're too busy for serendipity, you might want to loosen up your schedule.  I've often felt that every classroom should have a space, be it a wiki or a bulletin board that highlights unintended learning. It's often the best kind.

Perhaps my greatest accomplishment this summer is that I did a lot of nothing. My July was unusually quiet, void of the summer gigs at conferences that have kept me in presenter and work mode. Outside of my PLP commitments, I played a lot of golf and took the odd nap, read a little, wrote very little and hung out with family and friends. I needed that. 

In the early part of the month I took part in an unique event called Unplugd. As part of the organizing committee, it was a year long process that finally came to fruition over the long weekend. For me it was a bit odd as I went from doing nothing to being placed with some pretty incredible and passionate folks ready to work, share, think and play. As soon as the event ended, I went right back into vacation mode and had little time to really reflect. I'm not even sure I'm ready yet. There was and is much to process. Many have already written some great personal reflections. 

As I prepare to begin a new year I'm also going to be presenting at the ABEL Summer Institute. I playing with some old ideas and exploring a few new ones too. That's pretty much the mindset I'll have entering the new year at both Prairie South, my day job and teaching pre-service teachers at the University of Regina, my night job. I'm slowly getting back into my RSS reader and really beginning to think deeply again. Tonight two posts have me thinking. Bud writes a wonderful little pep talk to teachers as they begin the new year. My favorite part:

Be an expert when you need to be. Be a learner always. You are probably the most experienced learner in your classroom. But don’t assume you’re the most knowledgeable person or object. If you’ve a computer handy, then you’re not. Embrace that. Relationships and mentoring cannot be outsourced or Googled. They take time and genuine concern.

That's gold. Read it again and tell me that's not gold. 

The second thing I read tonight was Hugh MacLeod's post about quitting Twitter and Facebook to focus on blogging. What I think is important for me is both the emphasis on doing something that's hard and owning it. You see, writing this post is much more difficult for me than cranking out 20 tweets. I'm not so quick to discount twitter as distracting and useless. I've advocated the opposite many times. But I do think the balance needs to be watch carefully and for me the balance needs to shift here. This is where I do my most meaningful work. The comments you leave me both agreeing and at times disagreeing are gold for me. This is my space to tell stories, and "stories is all we are" I think it's a much richer space to tell stories and besides I own these stories and this space. I pay for it and it's worth it. Bud's post that I shared with you is 3 years old. He owns it. He wrote and first posted it to his blog. Not twitter, not Facebook but HIS BLOG. That's kind of a big deal. You need a place for your stuff. Twitter is like a neighbourhood bar. You might want to visit but it's kind of an icky and awkward place to live.  I'd love to come hang out where you have stuff and tell stories. You'd be surprised how many others would too. 

​So my summer of nothing is winding down. It's been a great summer. I hope you take some time to read both the posts I mentioned. I also hope, if you haven't a place to tell your stories that you find one. And don't tell me you don't have any to tell because that's all we are….stories. 

​Photo by: charbeck 10 http://www.flickr.com/photos/23046603@N00/6023520691/

Saturday, June 25

Educational Reform
Led by Jon Becker and joined by 10-12 others.

This session considered what we mean by “reform” and considered various challenges and barriers.

Key takeaway: Size of organization plays a huge role in allowing innovation. Finding the optimum size for schools and organizations to flourish and grow is essential.

Teachers as Advocates
Led by Jon Becker and joined by 10-12 others

Jon asked the question, “Are teachers responsible for being advocates?” Advocacy can take on many roles from public relations to policy change.

Key takeaway: The voices of teachers need to be heard beyond the classroom walls and school buildings. The questions I leave with are “what should we be advocating, how do we seek and develop common messages and to whom should our voices be directed.

What are we doing for our Leaders
Led by Scott McLeod and about 30 others

Scott’s basic premise here is that instead of blaming leaders for not “getting it”, create conditions in which they can. Stop blaming and start enabling. A few ideas were shared about how to make that happen.

Key takeaway: I wasn’t terribly thrilled with this conversation. May have been my own fault but I didn’t find a new idea here or anything to consider. Again, likely my fault.

Sunday, June 26

The Netbook Rollout
Led by Ben Grey and joined by 4-5 others

This was a bit of an ongoing session that began at brunch and continued on various times thoughout the conference. Spending time with Ben will do that.

Key takeaway: The image they’ve used courtesy of Jim Klein is robust and seems very easy to maintain.

ISTE Keynote
Dr. John Medina

An overview of his book Brain Rules which I have read.

Key takeaway: I wish he would have explored more on the area of design and what schools should look like to better accommodate how we think and learn.

What Happens when you Write Every Day
Led by Zac Chase, Bud Hunt and Me

An great conversation about Zac’s efforts to blog every day and comparing that to me posting a photo a day.

Key takeaway: What we might feel is lesser quality and even a throw away effort, often resonates strongly with others.

Enough Blogging, Let’s Do Something Already
Led by David Jakes and joined by 5-6 others

David asked an honest question whether all the blogging that educators do is really helping make a difference for students. He’s concerned about a lot of talk and not that much action, wondering if our time was better directed towards students as opposed to blogging. It was a sincere question about whether everything that needs to be said has been said and perhaps we need to shift focus from talk to action. It was a great conversation with many bright folks contributing.

Key Takeaway: Reminds me to be careful to keep students first and foremost in our conversations and pay attention to what actually makes a difference for kids. Most agreed it’s not a zero sum game, however, there were some good reminders and perspectives shared.

Monday June 27

Living Facebook
Led by John Spencer

I introduced myself to John and identified him as one of those “smart people” I pay extra close attention to. John shared how he felt a bit out of the edtech group but I only know he writes well and has much to offer. He began sharing about the Living Facebook project he and his wife explored earlier this year. I had heard about it but was intrigued even more as he explained what he learned.

Key takeaway: He really is one of those “smart people”.

Creating Touchstones of Potential with Peer Coaching
Led by Shelee King George, Peer-Ed with Colet Bartow and Mary Knight

This was a poster session and Bud and I had a nice conversations with these folks about their coaching model and implementation.

Key Takeaway: You don’t necessarily have to build in time in the school day to incorporate the coaching model. A few important ideas I can use in my own coaching model with Lani and PLP.

E-Book Quick Tips and Tricks for Interactive Whiteboards
Led by Christine Voigt and Paul Wood

​Paul shared with me the way Bishop Dunne was incorporating ebooks at their school. Certainly they are leading the way.

Key Takeaway: Publishing companies still aren’t sure how to market and sell ebooks.

Vendors, Testing and Politics
Led by Scott Floyd joined by 4-5 others

Being Canadian and somewhat sheltered from much of the nastiness and controversy surrounding politics, testing and big companies, I look to Scott as my go to guy for all things  edupolitics.

Key Takeaway: The reason the vendor floor looks like it does is  because there is big bucks to be made often by leaders who are uniformed and are looking for quick easy solutions. Reminds me a bit of the earlier session on reform.

#EngChat
Led by Bud Hunt and dozens of others

Bud’s very interesting experiment of considering how to pause.

Key Takeaways: Slow down. And Ben Grey does lovely work.

Tuesday June 28

New Media, New Literacies: Educational Transformation through Digital Creativity
Jason Ohler

I’ve always wanted to hear Jason present. He shared 10 ideas for using Digital Storytelling.

Key Takeaways: Surprisingly not as much new here as I would have liked. Wes blogged the session here.  That’s not to say it wasn’t a good session, just nothing new for me.

Wednesday, June 29

Simple Tools for Sharing
Led by Wes Fryer and Me

I was honored that Wes asked me to help him lead this BYOL session. We did a lot of stuff in an hour.

Key Takeaway:  The balance between scaffolding and play is a very difficult one to find in a one hour hands on session.

The Fix Is In: Social Mobilization and School Reform
Led by Carl Anderson and Scott Schwister

A model classroom session exploring and deconstructing the power and idea of citizen journalists. I was one of the “students” in this session and thought they did a nice job.

Key takeaway: Deconstruction and reflection is critical for showing students the value and purpose of social media.

ISTE Closing Keynote
Chris Lehmann

Chris hit a home run with students and a powerful message focusing on agency. While I’ve heard this message in general from Chris several times, the inclusion of students as well as a few new twists made it a great way to end the conference.

Key takeaways: Certainly reminding our students they are beautiful is a message we can’t hear enough.

Customized your TinyURL
Led by Chris Craft

Chris talked to me last year about some geeky custom URL installations. I’m still interested in the idea but would like something that works with a mobile device.

Key takeaway: It’s nice to have geeky friends.

iPhone App Sharing
Led by Tim Wilson and 2-3 others

Tim shared a few key apps and other interesting  tools he’s exploring

Key takeaway: See the previous takeaway

ISTE Keynote Fail
Led by me with 4-5 others joining

This session took place on the roofdeck of Chris Lehmann’s house where I questioned Chris and others if  ISTE had a responsibility to have their keynotes address technology more directly. A rousing conversation ensued and a few ideas sparked this post.

Key takeaways: I love it that I can challenge my friends and push back on their ideas and they do the same for me.

Punchline:

So in case you’ve not figured this out, most of the sessions I mentioned were not found in the program guide. That’s because they didn’t exist there but were rather conversations that I was privy to or indeed initiated. Simply by surrounding myself with smart people, listening a little more than I normally do, I found great value in ISTE 2011. These are often the conversations that, while they exist online in many places, lack the intensity and focus and the ability to clarify that a great face to face conversation has. I attend this conference because of the sheer numbers of people that I can learn from in various contexts and settings. A mix of intentional and serendipitous learning. Everyone has their own approach. This is mine and it’s working pretty well for me.

Cross Posted at Tech & Learning

ISTE 2011 has just completed and once again it people leave with a variety of experiences. I don't know the official number but over the past few years it remains one of the largest educational conferences in the world. A conference, that like many others has evolved over the years and organizers seek each year to improve and increase value for all.

The intent is to offer enough variety and content that everyone can have a great learning event customized just for them. There are sessions, workshops, student showcases, social gatherings, exhibit halls, and more than enough choice for people to find meet their needs and interests. It is very unlikely than any 2 people would leave the event having seen the same things.

The only real unifying events are the keynotes. These represent a singular experience for attendees that insure at least a common conversation and viewpoint that everyone can explore, debate and ponder. The conference has three keynotes. One on Sunday evening, another Tuesday morning and a third to close the conference Wednesday afternoon.

Given the "T" in ISTE, stands for Technology, it would seem to me that the keynotes should, in some way address technology. They didn't. That's not to say they didn't offer value. Given that only one of them was a K-12 educator, I'd have to say the choices seemed odd. I've read John Medina's book and it's a great read with some important ideas for educators. But it's not about technology. I'm guessing 95% of ISTE attendees know more about technology than Stephen Covey.  The conference closed with Chris Lehmann, principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. Let me first say that my good friend did have an important message and as a school that is a 1 to 1 school, they do use technology in some powerful ways. I thought Chris and his students were inspirational and was grateful for the way they ended the conference. But Chris would even admit, because I talked to him about it afterwards, that his talk wasn't really about technology. As a collection of keynotes the focus on technology was weak.

Certainly many believe we ought to be shifting to ideas that learning is learning and it's not always about technology. I agree. But at the same time this is an organization who's mission is to help schools effectively use technology for learning. Shouldn't we at least be trying to focus on learning and technology? How did Stephen Covey and John Medina support this goal?

Finding keynotes that everyone will enjoy is near impossible. Keynoting is hard work.  But we should be able to find someone out there who is doing interesting, challenging, controversial things with technology. Could we actually hear from technologists? ISTE should be the ones to advocate the use of technology and the keynotes are the one time all attendees can rally around a single experience.

Here is a list of a few people I think would be great keynotes that are actually doing or working directly with technology:

Sugata Mitra (a thought provoking experiment and idea)
danah boyd (knows more about teens and social networks than almost anyone)
Biz Stone (the story of twitter)
Ze Frank" (understands the Internet in ways most don't see)
Conrad Wolfram (a true mathematician)

That's a quick list that comes to mind.  There are dozens of others who fall into the caliber of speakers that are using technology or can offer research directly to our use of technology in schools. I say, find people who are technology users. I don't see how Medina or Covey belong at ISTE. I think ISTE needs to live up to their name and find keynotes that will support their mission. Who would you like to hear keynote?

I was involved in leading 2 conversations and both were learning experiences for me. Darren Kuropatwa and I led a session called "What's Wrong with This Picture?" I learned a lot during our planning stages and since Darren and I have never presented together before, it took some time to get our cadence and feel. We both felt there were some good things we did and also some things we would change if we were to present this again. Educon sessions generally focus around rich conversations using a variety of formats and strategies but the idea is for as many as possible to participate. Darren and I wanted to see if we could get our participants to play and explore with ideas around imagery. We were a little concerned it may not work due to time constraints, equipment and simply because it's not normally the format at the conference. We were both blown away with the quality, imagination and thinking that went into their work. Take a look. Upon return the conversation about critical thinking, media literacy, quantity vs quality emerged. The strong takeaway for me was that a little play can lead to important conversations. While I know that part of the Educon mantra is about moving away from shiny tools and discuss the big questions about school and learning, I think we do both. I'm going to be sure to incorporate that more into my work.

I've had the privilege of working with Alec Couros on many occasions.  In our session about an "Obligation to Share" we really wanted to drill deeper into the terminology, have folks share some of their stories and then discuss cultural shifts and barriers. I've had this on my mind for quite a while so I thought it would be a great opportunity to see if others were having similar conversations in their local situations. The stories that were shared were quite amazing in themselves. The lasting idea that came out of this was in various conversations with Shelley Paul. These conversations were a mix of face to face, blog posts and tweets. As Shelley and I talked it became clear to me that as leaders we need to be storytellers and help others begin sharing and see that sharing is just what we do. I'll blog more about this idea later but it was Shelley who helped flesh out this idea much more clearly than I had before. 

Educon is a great way to spend a few days. Thanks to Chris and crew for once again doing an outstanding job. There's lots of time and opportunity to gather and connect. I'm blessed that so many people are willing to spend time with me and connect personally and professionally. For me it's equal parts learning and party. Which is nice. 

Photo of Darren and Shelley by Kevin Jarrett

Photo of knowledge isn't in our heads by Darren Kuropatwa

I was honored to be part of TEDx Saskatoon. I spent the last week engrossed in trying not to suck and I think I at least accomplished that goal. I was also happy to give my talk in the first set which allowed me to totally focus on the ideas and talks of the other speakers as well as engage in some pretty interesting conversations with strangers. I heart strangers.

The organizers put on a first class day. All the details were covered and they represented TED and Saskatoon extremely well. The volunteer hours to put on an event like this is pretty significant and you can't help but be impressed with the dedication.

While all the talks offered something, let me share a few highlights.

Ainsley Robertson is a young women who co-founded The Princess Shop.

The Princess Shop creates an enhanced graduation experience for female students in need, and provides them with mentorship, support, and the tools to pursue success after graduation. Princess Graduates have the opportunity to be lent a graduation dress, accessories, shoes, etc. donated by members of our community. 

Ainsley told her story as a fairy tale and her own humility, energy and determination shone through and creating an inspiring talk. This was a story that celebrated community and proved that a good idea, compassion and support can change people's lives.

Probably my favorite talk was from Jeff Nachtigall. Jeff is currently artist in residence at the Sherbourne Community Centre. Jeff's ideas about creativity align pretty closed with Sir Ken Robinson's and he extended the ideas in his work with people with disabilities. Jeff's stories were stories of hope, heartbreak and offered some powerful lessons for everyone including educators. His open studio, facilitation approach allowed people to discover latent gifts, stories and as a result not only offered therapy for themselves but encouragement to others. The National Film Board of Canada has been shooting a documentary on this work. I'll be excited to watch that.

I should also mention Alec Couros' talk. Alec's talk of change certainly was important for that crowd to hear and he did a nice job of taking his usual 60 minute talks down to 18. Alec remains an educational leader in both Saskatchewan and Canada and I'm proud to be associated with him and his work. 

All the talks offered me something new, something to consider beyond my fairly centric interactions. It's funny because in many schools and districts, ours included, there is a very strong resistance to paying for PD that is not directly related to a teachers' work. At one point I thought that was a fair policy. I think I have to disagree with that. In fact, I'm wondering if teachers should be encouraged to attend conferences that have seemingly nothing to do with education or at least their area of teaching. What if every teacher was required to attend something totally unrelated to the current job. Simply ask them to make a connection back to teaching. Maybe it's just me but I can't help that nearly everything I see, read or hear about usually has me wondering about the implications for teaching and learning. 

Thanks TEDx Saskatoon for a fantastic PD experience.

And now you know.

While I'm sorting through a few ideas for the keynote, I'm planning on making a case as to why we have an obligation to share and teach to students beyond our own institutions and how that makes your own school a much better place. This is where I need your help.

In the spirit of Alan Levine (see Alan, this is what happens when you have great ideas, other people steal them), I'd love for you to post your story. To be more specific, I'm looking for examples of sharing that directly impacted students and curriculum. Maybe it's simply using a resource created by someone else, perhaps it's an idea you shared that someone else built upon. It could be anything that you used with students in your school or classroom. Ideally, I'd like to have stories from a variety of grade and subject levels.

Given the time parameters of the presentation, I may not be able to use all the stories but by simply posting them here, you've already illustrated my point: Teachers who share with the most people are among the best teachers. So leave your stories, links and tell us how sharing has made a difference for your students.

Oh, and please Retweet.

Professional learning comes in all shapes and sizes and I'm hard pressed to assign value to any. Those who speakabout "training" usually are speaking about a linear, by the book approach which is often easily transferred into the classroom. These are not transformative types of experiences but sometimes necessary to help teachers do their job. The professional learning that moves to make us truly better teachers and provide the best learning experiences possible are the really expensive ones. By expensive, I'm not referring exclusively to money but largely time. If change were that easy, we'd all be doing it. The hard work of improving practice generally takes years and as we all know, teaching is a profession you never quite get right and the very best never stop learning.  By that standard, professional learning is simply what we do. You might say, teachers are professional learners.

A rough calculation would suggest that in the last 10 years, my school district has spent upwards of $35,000 on my professional learning that includes conferences, classes, and workshops. That's a lot of money and I realize that it's probably more than most teachers would receive. (Although most of that has no substitute teacher costs which for most teachers, represents a significant expenditure) Was it worth it? There's no doubt that some of those workshops and conferences were less helpful than others but the whole of those experiences I believe are greater than the sum of the parts. Out of all the conferences I've attended, I'd be hard pressed to recall a single event or experience that has significantly shaped my work above any other. However, I can't imagine being anywhere near the educator and leader I am today had it not been for those opportunities. I also recognize that not all professional learning costs money. This space has been one of the greatest sources of professional learning for over five years. The time invested here is significant but has been worth every moment.

In the effort to be fiscally responsible and focus our attention on what truly matters, we hear this question asked almost everyday as we make choices on how to support our school division: "Will it improve student learning?" That's a simple and yet very complicated question. It's pretty easy to suggest that almost anything you do will improve student learning  but not everything will translate into the classroom and impact student learning immediately or directly. 

Here's what I want to know:

1. How do you measure the effectiveness of professional learning?

2. Is there a time frame in which the professional learning translates into student learning?

I'm not sure I'm articulating myself particularly well here but am searching for some ideas that will help me solidify my own beliefs. I'm really curious to hear your thoughts on this one. Thanks in advance.

My intentional learning revolved around specific sessions I choose and specific conversations I wanted to initiate.

While I thought that ISTE did a fine job of offering variety in their sessions, I only had a handful that I felt I must attend.
Bernie Dodge (when an educator has a wikipedia article, you link to it. We don’t have many there)  has always been someone I wanted to hear, and his talk about engagement was one I was hoping to listen to with Chris Lehmann who has already blogged a little about that. Chris wrote about this earlier and listening to the two of them, helped me get a better handle on this.  Lynell Burmark is someone I’ve seen before but wanted to grab a few key ideas from her as I plan to present on similar ideas in the future. Nothing life changing here but certainly solid ideas I can use. There were a couple of other sessions that were okay but these two were certainly the most useful for me.

There were several conversations that I had hope to have with people and simply invited those people to talk more deeply about them. Bud Hunt and I had started a conversation online a few weeks back about writing, digital writing, connective writing and the like. I simply sat down beside him and prompted him to share. We get started and before it got interesting it headed. Luckily for me, Bud turned on the microphone during his commute home and shared more about his thinking. That discussion lingered over the next few days and we’ve made plans to continue that conversation.

Knowing Howard Rheingold would be speaking, I simply asked him on twitter if we could have some time to chat. He obliged and I was not disappointed. In fact, Bud and Rob Wall were able to pick Howard’s brain around his perspectives given he’s been doing things online and in community for as long as anyone I know. That historical perspective about participatory culture is overlooked in an age when people think Twitter is the first time people have ever exchanged ideas online. Howard not only shared many great perspectives but genuinely cared about our work and is thinking through many things as he’s new to the formal teaching gig. Listen to the end of Bud’s podcast for more about that conversation.

Ben Grey has had a problem with the term “literacy” for a long time. It’s a pretty complex issue and represents a larger issue with language. I’m understanding more and more that language does matter, words do matter and sometimes this is really hard to grasp.  I put him on the spot and asked him to talk about it. Ben’s acknowledged for a while that it’s hard to articulate his position but I appreciated his willingness to explore the idea and I’m beginning to get closer to some understanding about this.

I met Chris Craft face to face at Educon earlier in the year and not only is Chris a big boy, he’s got a brain to match.  Chris has talked about cognitive load theory and other educational theories and research that are either false or sometimes misunderstood or applied incorrectly. Chris challenges my thinking and leaves me with important things to ponder.

While those were some of the targeted learning that in many ways I designed and sought out, the opportunity to stay together with the Scott, Paul, Mike, Randy, Lisa and Adina in a fabulous space, put the icing on the cake. We were able to spend time with each other and many who came a bit out of their way to visit. These informal conversations planted many seeds of ideas that I’ll be able to pursue well beyond this week.

Wow, am I ever blessed.

One clear difference was the use of keynotes. Tlt 2010 had the keynote speakers offer one session then simply mingle and participate in the conference. While they obviously shared less and wer not the focal point, their presence was a great asset to the conversational nature of the conference. For IT Summit 2010, both Bernajean Porter and Will Richardson were worked pretty hard doing 2 and 3 sessions in addition to their keynotes.

Outside of my own session and one other, I spend my time in with the keynotes. Although my district only had between 15-20 participants, I’m curious to see who and how others respond to the messages that were shared. In general, questions focused more on “help me make this shift” as opposed to “I’m not sure I agree with where this is going”. The latter view would be more the tone of Tlt. On a personal note, although I was on the organizing committee I was thrilled someone else we bring in Will. Certainly as someone who presents the message of shifts about as well as anyone, it was important for folks to hear him speak. While I’ve heard Will speak often, the freshness and currency in which he contextualizes the new landscape of learning is always engaging.

As I mentioned, I was able to introduce Will and for the record, here are the comments some of you offered:

Will and I closed the conference with a slightly sloppy, cool tools duel. I announced we were playing for Will’s ipad. I think I won. He reneged.

At any rate, I’m hoping for more conversations locally. We’ll see.

I’ve been asked to introduce him. I’d like to crowd source this a bit. So fill out the form if you like and I’ll try and use it on Tuesday morning as I introduce him. I’m counting on the fact that he only subscribes to about 20 blogs and mine ain’t one of them. Don’t give him any heads up, I’d like to surprise him. (Will, if by chance you come across this, pretend you didn’t see it and act surprised on Tuesday, thanks.)

Monday evening kicked off with Scott Leslie. Scott has been someone I’ve followed online for a number of years so it’s always a treat to be able to connect face to face. Scott’s talk on becoming a networked learner was certainly not filled with new ideas for me but a message that I know continues to be needed for many educators in this province. A couple of key ideas did resonate for me, paraphrased somewhat:

“Learning that used to be centered around proximity is now being centered around affinity”
“If you believe your institution is offering has a market on expertise what are you saying about every other place of learning”
“Institutions need to realize they are not only there to offer learning to their own students but have a larger responsibility of learning for all”

David Wiley

I had not heard David Wiley speak live. I’ve been quite aware of his work and was looking forward to hearing him. If you’ve not heard David before, check out his recent TEDx talk. David eloquently shared on openness and addressed head on the barriers and resistance to openness. I couldn’t imagine anyone being able to argue intelligently against his ideas. I’m sure there are those who might try but his ideas are pretty rock solid. Paraphrased once again:

“According to copyright law, a crayon drawing by a 5 year old and the movie Avatar enjoy equal protection”
“Openness is about overcoming your inner 2 year old. It’s mine! No you can’t have it!”

No question, I’ll be using many of David’s ideas in the future.

The concurrent sessions were 30 minutes sessions where presenters were encourage to leave time for questions and discussions. I have to say this is a challenging format and I’m not sure presenters and participants handled this all that well. 15-20 minutes is not really enough time to set the stage for most topics. Given the challenge of creating a compelling  TED talk, that’s about the only presentation format that may have worked. By the time introductions and context were given, actual content was shortchanged. Even if it wasn’t 15 minutes to have meaningful conversation is also almost impossible. I think back to Educon where conversations were the order of the day but sessions were 90 minutes.

The afternoon panel discussion did offer some greatness. Jay Wilson shared about his pre-service teacher courses. He talked about creating opportunities for his students to have success and how he supports them with their passions. Throughout his talk it was evident his genuine interest in his students and love of teaching make him an outstanding educator which by the way the University of Saskatchewan agrees.

The cracker barrel sessions are a great model to spark conversations. 20 minutes on a given topic with 5-6 people. The topic I sat in on was Information Overload. I immediately gave it my best Shirky take and was quickly challenged by some nursing instructors who argued that the demand on knowledge for nurses is getting overwhelming. It was worthwhile talk.

Harold Jarche

Wednesday’s keynote from Harold Jarche was a great historical and current argument for social learning and networking as shifting hierarchy in the workplace. From favorite quote:

“Enhanced serendipity is the emergent result from people involved in networks”.

This conference was a cut above many for the following reasons:

• The keynotes talks all fit a theme.
• Each keynote was followed by question and answer. Some great and challenging questions.
• The keynotes were fully participating in the conference. They attended the concurrents, participated fully and stayed till the end. Nothing endears a keynote more than by hanging around and demonstrating yourself as a learner.
• You’ve never seen a better wine and cheese food selection.

Harold Jarche and Scott Leslie

Although TLt is a higher education conference, discussions of learning, teacher and school aren’t much different.

I was fortunate to be able to spend Thursday and Friday hanging around the school. Here's what I saw:

• Lots of smiles.
• Loud classrooms
• A principal's office that looked more like grand central with equal numbers of staff and students talking and working, coming and going
• Teachers who discussed personal issues with students
• A brief power outage that didn't paralyze learning despite them being a 1:1 school
• A lack of emphasis on technology
  
• Students occasionally off task
• Students excited to talk with adults

None of these things are particularly amazing and are all things you could find in many, if not all schools in North America.  I didn't see one thing that couldn't  be done almost anywhere. The teachers are good teachers but they aren't doing anything I haven't seen before. So what's the big deal?

There are many more observations and insights that one would make beyond the few I've listed but I'm not sure that any additions would tell us that "one thing".  It's obvious that leadership plays a significant role and that grows culture over time which is undeniably palpable.   While many will continue to deconstruct and analyze how, and if this type of place is replicable, Good teaching and caring adults can lead to a really wonderful place which Science Leadership Academy truly is. But maybe SLA isn't so unique after all? Maybe there are more schools and classrooms like this but we just aren't telling anyone? The level of connectedness among staff doesn't hurt their image but indeed follows closely with one of their guiding principles: Learning can – and must – be networked.  But behind that networked learning lurks teachers who know how to teach just like many of the teachers you work with or you already are.

I didn't see any one thing that blew me away at SLA . They just seem to embody the things we think schools should be.

cc licensed flickr photo shared by shareski

Since its inception in 2006, it's been interesting to see the presentations evolve. The decision last year to go to a more "TED-like" format was a good one in my opinion as it  addresses the amount of content in the conference but also gets presenters to get to the point. Twenty minutes is long enough in any context but on the web it's particularly daunting to keep folks interested.

There have been a number of delivery models and to be sure, and a clear winning style has not been established. However, there are a few concepts that seem to work, at least for me.

While it's hard to separate content from design, here are a few presentations that use some techniques that I think make them very viewable. I've taken one from each year, with the exception of 2006.

2009 Around the World with Skype by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano. Silvia does a number of things which makes for a compelling presentation. She's clear on the onset about what she will be talking about. It's frustrating to watch 5 minutes of a 20 minute presentation trying to guess what it's about and what will be shared. Silvia let's you know early on exactly what she'll be discussing. She uses her own images. You can spend a lot of time searching flickr for the perfect image. Her use of her personal avatar figure likely took a long time to shoot all the images but in the end helps her create a great introduction. She uses video to show examples.  Live examples not only illustrates her concept more richly but anytime you can include students in action adds an emotional connection to the ideas.

2008 Film School for Video Podcasters by Matthew Needleman. Matthew obviously possess some storytelling skills and given his topic, you'd expect that. Matthew uses a story, a 1940's detective theme to weave in his ideas. A clever twist but one that's not used superfluously but as a meaningful way to share his ideas. He does a great job of chunking ideas. There are clear breaks and transitions. Easy to review.

2007 Online Professional Development by Jeff Utecht. While this was before the 20 minute time limit, Jeff still has a well designed presentation. It may not be possible in every presentation but Jeff models what he means by have some very informal, natural conversations that truly illustrate his point. Like Silvia, he shows you exactly what it looks like.

2006 Wiki While You Work by Mark Wagner. This was again before the current time limits but Mark really explored the ideas of what an online presentation could be. He made it personal. Simply by recording his presentation from his home office, talking with his friends and wife, it invited you in, to want to learn more. I applaud Mark for being being a pioneer in the online presentation.

2006 Derailing Education: Taking Side Trips for Learning by David Warlick. Having the first Keynote for year one, must have been both pressure packed as well as the feeling of a new frontier. Like Mark, but even more so, David invited us in to his home and town to explore. David carefully used his physical space to make clear connections to his ideas. While it was largely theoretical, the use of that space and helped to forge his ideas into something that I still reflect on today.

I'd invite you to watch these if only to examine them from a presentation perspective. These may not have been your favorites or even the best but I think they do offer some techniques and delivery models that work. Creating a presentation that's worth watching is hard work and nothing any of us were trained in given the fact that the genre has only existed for a few years. 

Now it's your turn. Do you have a favorite K12 Online or other presentation that you think has a unique delivery model?

Cross posted at TechLearning.

If you're looking to participate in a learning event that's different from the regular conference, this is it. Fortunately Chris and his staff and students have always made it available virtually so even if you can't attend in person, you can participate both as an attendee but also as a facilitator of conversation. From Chris' Website.

The students and faculty of the Science Leadership Academy — and all the amazing folks who give of their time and energy and ideas — are again hosting EduCon! This year's EduCon 2.2 is now open for registration and for the call for conversations!

This conference only happens because so many people are excited to come together and share their ideas and passion. We have some amazing events lining up for this year, but the sessions — the things that the community creates and imbues with meaning — will always be the heart of the conference. So please, consider coming, and considering submitting a proposal to facilitate a conversation.

About EduCon 2.2:
 

And it is not a technology conference. It is an education conference. It is, hopefully, an innovation conference where we can come together, both in person and virtually, to discuss the future of schools. Every session will be an opportunity to discuss and debate ideas — from the very practical to the big dreams.

The Axioms

Guiding Principles of EduCon 2.2
1) Our schools must be inquiry-driven, thoughtful and empowering for all members
2) Our schools must be about co-creating — together with our students — the 21st Century Citizen
3) Technology must serve pedagogy, not the other way around.
4) Technology must enable students to research, create, communicate and collaborate
5) Learning can — and must — be networked.

Now, perhaps more than ever, it is important that a community of educators come together to share a vision of what our schools can be. Proposals are due November 1st. Registration will be open without late fee until mid-January.

 

cc licensed flickr photo shared by teachandlearn

Content copied and modified from Kim Caise, Patrick Woessner, and the K12Online09 LAN Party Wiki. Please copy, reblog, and tweet this information!

Please join us on September 26, 2009 for the first live event of the 2009 K12Online Conference On September 26, 2009, the K12Online Conference in partnership with EdTechTalk will host a worldwide, sychronous “LAN party” (free web meet-up) from 2:00PM EDT (6:00PM GMT) to 5:00PM EDT (9:00PM GMT). Organizers encourage educators around the world to get together with colleagues and engage in lively, online discussions during this time using links provided by EdTechTalk. Past presentations will be shown, and participants are invited to engage in live conversations about the presentations with the featured presenters during and following each session. A K12Online Conference overview is scheduled at the EdTechTalk website 30 minutes prior to the LAN party. This event provides an opportunity to try out the synchronous EdTechTalk environment and platform, which we will be using for the 2009 K-12 Online Conference in December. For more background about LAN parties, see Jeff Utech’s post from Sept 2006 and the K12Online08 Shanghai LAN Party wiki. The Shanghai LAN parties are models we hope educators around the world will emulate in 2009. You do NOT have to gather face-to-face with other educators to participate in this Saturday’s live LAN party events, but F2F connections are encouraged! Here’s the schedule. (Times below are EDT. Start time for the first presentation is 6:00PM GMT. Use this WorldTimeServer link to convert this time for your local time zone.)

2:00 – 2:45 EDT Film School Mathew Needleman, Apple Distinguished Educator, has been integrating video in the classroom for seven years as a teacher of kindergarten, first, and second grade. Make better classroom movies with simple tips that will help elevate your vodcast to the next level in terms of artistic and technical merit. Learn how to storyboard like a pro, choose shots that support the telling of your story, and capture better lighting and sound.

2:45 – 3:30 EDT Open, Social, Connected Dr. Alec Couros is a professor of educational technology and media at the Faculty of Education, University of Regina. This presentation unravels a recent open graduate course offering titled “Open, Connected, Social” that was offered at the University of Regina, Winter 2008. The presentation describes the theories influencing the course, types of open practice, reflections and outcomes, and goes on to describe the emergence of “open teaching”.

3:30 – 4:15 EDT Wiki While You Work (Basic) A former high school English teacher, Mark Wagner has since served as an educational technology coordinator at Estancia High School, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, and the Orange County Department of Education.  His session briefly introduces participants to the Read/Write Web, and to wikis in particular. A live demonstration of wikispaces.org and wikipedia.org will illustrate that…, “If you can use a word processor, you can use a wiki.”

4:15 – 5:00 EDT We Like Our Blogging Buddies: The Write Stuff With Blogging Mentors Kathy Cassidy is a grade one teacher at Westmount School in Moose Jaw, SK, Canada.  In the winter of 2008, Patrick Lewis’s university class of pre-service teachers were blogging mentors for Kathy’s grade one students. This presentation talks about that collaboration and the results of the research that was conducted about the effect this mentorship had on the students’ writing.

Kudos to the K12Online09 Live Events Committee for organizing and hosting this event! Please plan to join us and share this learning opportunity with your colleagues!

Not every conversation was outstanding, not every session was amazing. I can’t quantify the learning but can tell you the cumulative ideas and insights will continue to influence my thinking and shape my work.

On the weekend Will Richardson was asking if it possible to provide the kind of learning our kids need by improving schools or do we require a brand new system. I desparately want to believe we don’t have to blow up what we have but a number of things this week has me wondering.

Monday I was able to hear Tom Carroll speak about creating the schools our children need. A few months ago I read this article written by Carroll which was written 8 years ago and was challenged by many ideas. (If you read it and are choosing between finishing this post or the article, read the article) One of the most powerful analogies Carroll used on Monday was this:

"Asking how technology can improve student learning in our current schools is like asking the Wright brothers how the airplane improves the railway system"

That statement resonates with me as I am often asked to provide evidence or proof that technology is making a difference. I hate the question because the question is flawed in the first place.  The better question (I’ve posted about this before) is:

"Does technology support the practices that improve student learning?”

While that is a better question I’m still grabbling with the notion that the impact of technology is creating such a shift that those "practices" have to be re-examined.  Part of the very nature of school requires learning to be compartmentalized by time and content and subject. If I was asked to do that over this past week, I’d be hard pressed to provide you with that kind of data. I learned lots, some of which I’m discussing here and others which may not bear fruit for a while and other learning that will never be directly tied to this week but has undoubtedly been borne and fostered through these many conversations.

I’m seeing more and more that they way connectedness, sharing and access to media influence us and create opporutnities for great learning, often does not have a place in our schools today. Square peg in a round hole.

And yet through all that stuf that spins my brain in 19 different direcitons I’m inspired and encouraged by the many great people who are muddling their way through changes and making it work because of their passion and genuine concern and love of students. You have to have both. I think most of the teachers I work with care about kids. As Chris Lehmann talks about often, kids desparately need mentors. This is a great start and if that’s all teachers did was to be and find mentors for our students that wouldn’t be all bad. But combine that with a passion to learn and you have the makings of a great learning experience for anyone. It’s passion that drives people to seek better and more engaging ideas and content. It’s passion that inspires someone to learn and try things they never thought they’d do. This is when complexity and change occur.

The landscape of learning is changing. Rethinking what control means, understanding the power of sharing and transparency all work to topple many of the foundations our schools are built upon.  I know this, you know this but after spending 3 days amongst 18,000 in the educational technology field, I still say very few else know this. I made this observation (jump down to #4) last year at NECC and while the number may have increased slightly, those who really have any sense of the changes that are possilbe and perhaps inevitable in education is strikingly small. Yet sometimes the conversations amongst them would indicate they think everyone understands. A good example took place in the last session I attended on a panel discussion on Web 2.0. The panel was made up of all people that I and many in the audience knew very well either because we’ve spent time with them or know them from varoius online circles. The panel and audience were calling them by their first names and having a good discussion One lady stood up and felt frustrated since she didn’t know these people, these terms and most of the content of the conversation. That wasn’t her fault that’s ours. The assumption amongst folks who live and breath social media is that most teachers know about but they just don’t understand social media. We jump in with disucssion about Web 2.0 when they aren’t ready for that discussion since they have absolutely no prior knowledge. I"m not against having these kinds of discussions but it’s a bit like Christopher Columbus and crew arguing over how they would organize and structure the new world when most of the old world didn’t even know it existed and if they did, had no idea why or how they would get over to see it, let alone settle there. It’s not a totally useless discussion but perspective is important.

I come away from an event like this feeling blessed to know such awesome people and leave with great memories.

Our talk revolved around our efforts to change traditional teacher education to leverage the power of networks and technology in teaching and learning. We hope to spark some new conversations and support the great work already begun by Scott and friends.

Here’s the video to our Keynote and our other session can be found here. Slides from the keynote are here: Cooliris slides

Thanks again to Scott and  Paul Wood in particular for an outstanding weekend.

We’ve been meeting for 3 years talking about teaching and learning and how their classrooms are evolving.  There story continues to inspire and encourage others in their making learning better for students.

Here are the slides and the audio is below:

Here’s the link to my presentation on Disruptions. I presented this Monday at the IT Summit in Saskatoon and again Friday at the Palm Beach Technology Conference. Totally stolen but also assisted by Alan Levine, I was able to create this using the CoolIris viewer. There is a quick publishing tool you can download if you’re only using images. Adding the video becomes tricky. Videos must be .flv. After building it I found out the drop.io might allow you to do the same thing without all the geekiness. That made me sad after the hours I spent tinkering. I’ll get over it.

In addition to this presentation I did 2 others for the Palm Beach Conference. These are revamped presentations I’ve done before with several updates.

Your Kindergarten Teacher Was Right. Why sharing matters more than ever.

Managing Your Identity

It was an honor to be invited and join a headline list of speakers. Lee Kolbert and team did a great job of running an outstanding one day event.

Keynote/Featured Speakers photo by Lee Kolbert

People

Without trying to list the names of everyone, it’s apparent for most users of social media that face to face gathering times have changed in the past few years. I used to go to conferences and mingle with local colleagues and a few others I’d met a various functions and committees but there wasn’t much of a community. Now we meet people we’ve never seen and can enter in to meaningful discussion since all the banter and small talk takes place  in other spaces.

This conference brings together not only educators and administrators but also IT. I certainly commend our own IT team for focusing on students but not all do. This is a great way to have them understand that their clients are students and it’s a highly complex task to provide safe, secure environments that also enable them to have the access needed to use the tools that help them learn.

Keynotes

I’ve heard David Warlick live a couple of times but I must say this was worth seeing. David is a gifted storyteller but certainly connects to many outside of educational technology.  Carlene captured the essence of it well. It lead to many meaningful conversations and insights for many including my superintendent who said, “I know you’ve been talking about this for years but it’s finally starting to click”. What’s the phrase about being a prophet in your own town?

Being able to provide a keynote with Clarence, Kathy and Darren was truly a treat. Once I get the audio from Rob, I’ll post it but it was a privilege to facilitate these three tell their stories.

Sessions

So many of the sessions dealt with what’s best for students and how does any of this help our students learn more. The phrase “How does the technology support the practices that lead to student achievement” rang through my mind many times. I heard more praise from various sessions than I have at many conferences.

Critcisms

Nothing is perfect and there were a few things that I’d like to see change. Wireless continues to suck. Why? Last year the wireless at another venue was much better. The hotel did not have wireless so someone had to install a temporary system. It was lousy. This has got to be resolved. I would also like to see more built in opportunity to network. Not a big deal for me personally since I have many connections and can steer informal conversations to meet my needs but for many, they need a time and space to ask questions and contribute ideas.  I mentioned the idea of a “linkable” keynote. A killer opening that had many components that could be explored deeper in follow up sessions or simply building an open space style based on the ideas in the keynote and interests of the participants. Then culminating the conference with a sharing time of what was learned and what plans were made.

Mixed in with some laughter, and our usual ramblings is some good stuff largely on the part of our guests. If you’re already subscribed in itunes, just search for EdTech Posse and you’ll find us there.

So on Tuesday I invited a few folks together to watch some presentations, talk about them and share our own experiences. It was good. There were people there for whom they had never heard of many of the ideas and really needed to wrap their heads around the implications for teaching and learning. For those without a network to support them, this is invaluable. Even if one person can come away with a plan or at least a connection, I’m pleased.

And here’s the other thing. Traditionally we send a teacher to a local conference, pay sub costs, registration fees, mileage, meals and maybe accommodation. You can conservatively estimate a cost of about $500 a day.  I brought it supper at about $10 a person and I would say we had an experience, equal if not better than a day at your typical conference. I’m in the midst of reading Disrupting Class and Scott McLeod’s presentation deals with some of the ideas in this book. This is really an example of disruptive professional development.

I’d encourage you to plan your own local events. Use the essential questions at the bottom of each presentation to guide you. If you have something in the works or just want to flesh out the ideas some more, leave a comment.

k12online, k12online08, scottmcleod, disruptingclass, professionaldevelopment

So it’s Friday night, my wife is out watching my girls perform in Annie. (I’m really a good parent, I watched them on Saturday I just don’t need to see it three times). So I find myself watching Jeff Utecht in Bangkok on his computer, streaming his former colleagues in Shanghai gathering together on a Saturday watching presentations from K12 online.  You may have to read that sentence twice to get it.

Jeff held a similar event a couple of years ago.  2 years ago, streaming video was not readily available but Jeff did record some of that event for viewing after the fact.  Today, streaming video is as easy as email. But Jeff had to do some fancy configurations to stream his Skype call from Shanghai back to Bangkok out to the world. I was concerned that the internet might break at any moment. Jeff has a reputation.

As much as I live this stuff everyday, there is still a WOW factor here. The WOW of an almost seamless discussion with people who care deeply about the things I do. I think WOW is good. I think WOW should be leveraged not as an end but a means to really important stuff.  I agree that WOW isn’t enough anymore but to think that I could have a rich conversation with folks who offer a completely different perspective from the other side of the world would seem significant.  I think having rich conversations locally is important and that’s exactly what the teachers in Shanghai were doing.  There’s no reason why we would have to choose.

Among the oodles of ways to view the conference, I prefer subscribing via itunes. There is both a video and audio only channel. You can simply search for K12online and you’ll see both the 2007 presentations and this years.

Yesterday I watched Alec Couros‘ brilliant presentation and today I loaded my iphone with a few more. In particular Sara Kajder‘s Presentation “Promise into Practice” which coincendently was exactly the same length as Alecs’…19:53.  I haven’t even viewed the video but felt the audio itself was compelling.

Sara reviews an action research project in which they examined particular pedagogies of constructivism combined with technology.  The examination of new literacies and reluctant or under achieving students is fascinating in itself. Sara is open and honest about the research which for me always adds credibility. Not everything is a panacea but certainly as Sara outlines the main ideas of the study, offers some compelling reason to consider a new look at English Language Arts and in particular literacy.

This is the kind of piece that might really support change and help policy and decision makers struggling with the validity of new literacies to take a second look.

k12online08pi06, k12online08, aleccouros, sarakajder

Where Alec wins is in his wise mix of media including public domain video and audio, thoughtful graphics and animation, green screen, humor and a personal touch. I’ve always enjoyed presentations that show me context. Who are you? Where do you live? David Warlick did a great job with this in prior keynotes and Clarence Fisher focused largely on place in his keynote last year. Alec begins his presentation by providing a context and allowing us to get comfortable with his content.

Since his content is about open content, Alec uses video from public domain to create transitions to his piece. In this way, it’s easy for us to follow.

His feature on twitter might challenge Common Craft as a visual way to explain twitter. Not the same style but equally effective.

I could go on but you’d be best to watch it yourself. Again, whether you are watching because the concept is intrigues or not, watch as one way to deliver an effective online presentation.  The bad news is this kind of work takes more time than most are willing to offer. But good work requires this. Nicely done Alec.

k12online08pi05, aleccouros, k12online08, davidwarlick, clarencefisher