BLC and Conference Format….An Open Letter to Alan

Hi Alan,

My name is Clint Kennedy and I am currently enjoying my last session of the last day of the 2008 BLC conference.  This is my first time attending the conference and I very much appreciate what you have done and are doing in the world of education and learning.

I do, however, have what I hope is some constructive criticism in regards to the conference and the way it is setup.  Twice during the conference I heard you mention that the real benefits of the conference come from the conversations attendees will be having by coming togther in this location for this week.  You and Ewan also mentioned that you believe the collective wisdom of the conference attendees is far superior to the  collective wisdom of the presenters.  Marc Prensky stated that “in 10 years the BLC conference will not be lecture based because people attending will not learn that way.”  Pedro Noguera stated that “teaching and talking is not the same.”  If we accept these statements as true, for arguments sake, why do we continue to sit in conference sessions as they are designed currently?  Who is to say that we are learning optimally with the lecture model?  Do we think that lecture is the way we as adults learn optimally?  Why do we continue to “sit and get” as opposed to having opportunities to be active learners?  The non-keynote sessions I have attended have ranged from very informative to very boring but most if not all were delivered using a teacher-centered model.   Can we change the format of the conference to be more attendee centric?  Could we  organize the conference around components of the unconference model?  

I would propose keeping the keynote speakers (they have been very thought provoking and they can and should provide theme and context), however, I would change all other sessions to unconference sessions.  Support teams would be needed to organize rooms, times, resources, etc.  Teams could organize and support the recording/capturing/tagging of the sessions.  And November Learning could certainly help educate the conference attendees as to what to expect from an unconference before they arrive.

I am writing this to you Alan because I think our community needs you to be the one that takes the learning conference to the next level and I think you are a leader that can make this happen.  I also think it would be great to be able to practice the pedagogy that we discussed so frequently during the last week.  Again, I want to thank you for a wonderful conference.  The people I met and exchanged ideas with were top notch.  I can only imagine the time and effort that goes into this production.  See you next year!

Thank you,

Clint Kennedy

Mystic, CT

“Who is going to question the way we do business?”

Random Thoughts – Day 1

I am too tired and overwhelmed to bring this all together but I wanted to share some of the random ideas I was “saturated” with today and which I am currently “incubating” on:

The average K12 classroom in the USofA is indeed “boring”

There is no such thing a a “digital native”

Everyone in an organization plays a role in R&D…if they don’t they should be replaced/removed/fired

MySpace is the 3rd largest country in the world

Creativity: Saturation->Incubation->Illumination

Schools are based on convergence, the world is based on divergence

Johnny Lee is a divergent thinker

I want to create a parady of the old Apple “Think Different” ad for Ewan.  It would be called “Think Divergent[ly]“

Be a “retro-planner” not a “pre-planner”

Peer assessment online will lead to summative assessment genius (“2 stars and a wish”)

A Question for tomorrow?

What are the activities that can lead students to divergent ideas/thinking versus brainstorming/convergent ideas/thinking?

Day 1 at “Open Minds” – Too much but not enough!

After my first official full day at the Open Minds conference I can officially say that I am totally blown away.  The culture and climate of the community supporting and using free and open Source software in K12 education is amazing.  This are passionate people that are not going away.  I think what the State of Indiana has done with great success is a true sign of what is to come.

More to come but for now check out our keynote speaker’s website:  mako.cc

See what Indiana has done:  http://www.doe.state.in.us/technology/inaccess.html

Day 0 at “Open Minds” – I met the ASUS Eee PC

I just arrived in Indianapolis for the “K-12 Open Minds Conference”. The conference keynote and sessions begin tomorrow but I got a chance to swing thru the vendor area tonight and I got my first shot at the ASUS Eee PC. I first read about the Eee a few months back. I have since ordered one to test it out. I am very excited about this little machine.

1) Form factor – It is small, but to be fair it is billed as a sub-notebook. I wouldn’t want to use it for 8 hours a day with the smaller scratch pad and keyboard but if I were in 4th grade it would be perfect.
2) Linux/Intel – It runs Linux. It can also run Windows. The customized Linux version is built with the student in regards to software and configuration. No reason you couldn’t put your own OS of choice on it.
3) Speedy – It ran OpenOffice and FireFox on a free Sheraton wifi network very smoothly.
4) VGA output – With a VGA connector and 2 USB ports on the right side you could easily plug into a montior and full size keyboard/mouse. The native resolution is 800×480 but I was told bu ASUS that it will go 1024×768 on a separate monitor.
5) Multimedia – Built in mic and webcam!!
6) Expandability – You can upgrade the 512MB of RAM or you can add to the built in 2 or 4GB flash drive thru the SD slot.
7) Price – $250-$350 (depending on camera and memory options)

I am excited with what could be done with this machine in the hands of students. The price is low enough for schools to afford (we spend the same amount for a PDA or Alphasmart) and/or for parents to afford on a regular basis and there is no compromising functionality. Yes, the keyboard and drive and other features are “smaller” but it is a fully functioning laptop.

I was very impressed with this machine. Even more impressed that this is only rev. 1. I can’t wait until mine arrives!

Powered by ScribeFire.

David Warlick at CECA

David Warlick gave the keynote address at the CECA Conference 2006. I got a chance to talk with him the night before the confeence when we were setting things up for the next day. I have followed David quite closely the past 2 years via his blog and podcast.

During the course of the day I heard from numerous attendees how “enjoyable” and “enlightening” the keynote address had been. I missed it but I am looking forward to listening to the audio version in the CECA podcast (the keynote and all breakout sessions will be avilabel 11/01/06 at http://feeds.feedburner.com/CECA).

IMHO, David does a remarkbale job at making connections between the technology we use and our learning needs and objectives. While many of us often get sidetracked into discussing technology for technology’s sake, David has a knack for bringing the conversation back to how the technology will impact student learning. His remarks as well typically involve the “new” technologies that specifically impact learning as opposed to the scatter shot school of thought that “all technology is good” which we see at most conferences. These technologies include but are not limited to wikis, blogging, podcasting, many Web 2.0 applications, etc.

David…you continue to speak and the people are listening…thank you and keep spreading the good word!

What if we threw it all away? (K12 tech infrastructure)

I have been having an especially frustrating day with my district's technology infrastructure so take all of this with a grain of salt…

What if we threw it all out and started over? What if we relied on students buying their own laptops (subsidized with built in scholarship by the district) and thus outsource the maintenance headaches? What if we gave a basic description of what students should have/need to be prepared for school (like many colleges)? What if we leveraged the many free and open source technologies to replace what we are trying to re-create/buy for our schools? Hang some wifi access points connected to fiber connected to leased lines and let students have at it. Setup printing kiosks (main terminals connected to a dedicated printer) and provide multimedia projectors. What would the total cost be for this alternative as opposed to what we are doing now? Outsource the purchasing decisions to families. Outsource the support of the end user devices to the computer companies. Outsource the software and services to the companies making them. Use your existing staff to provide a bare-bones infrastructure and have them help integrate and suggest solutions that students can go find (and of course admin and teacher machines). Isn't this the constructivists approach to educational technology???  How would we do it?  I think this would be a great unconference topic….

Beyond Technology: Day 2

Today has been a very thought provoking day. We started with Susan Patrick the former head of the Federal DOE Educational Technology Group. Her thesis was that we need to transform schools, not "integrate" good and new ideas into an old outdated model. She proposes that online learning is the key to breaking out of this old model. SHe highly recommends GoVHS.

"online learning is not for everyone"
"(delivery mechanism) learning is not for everyone"

The second talk of the day was by Eric Klopfer from MIT. He is researching and building video games for educational use. HE discussed the use of commercial video games such as Sim City and Civilization. He is also working with Kurt Squire on developing graphical programming tools for students to learn programming and to build games. More info can be found at http://education.mit.eud/starlogo-tng. His general premise is that video games and game designers can add to education and the educational discussion because games model the way that "good" learning happens.

The lunch keynote was by Michael Furdyk. More info on Michael and the amazing things he has done and is doing can be found at http://profiles.takingitglobal.org/mfurdyk.

Beyond Technology: End of day 1

I am back in my hotel room after a long day 1.  Overall…I have very much enjoyed myself.  The best thing about these conferences is the networking.  Because this is year 1 of this particular conference it is even easier to network because attendees only number about 300.

The kick-off keynote was fantastic.  Dr. Daggett made some predictions that I am not entirely in agreement with, however, he is a very dynamic speaker and his talk should be a call to arms for every American citizen.  If we want to compete in the 21st century we must change the way we do education business immediately.

The first session was in regards to audio and its use in educational websites.  The one take away that stuck with me was a concept called "dual encoding."  Dual encoding allows a student to reduce cognitive load during learning by sharing the learning load between multiple modes (ex. vision and hearing.)  The example used in the session was the difference between a printed graph and a written description and a printed graph and a spoken description.  The argument is that a student will experience less cognitive load which will result in better learning in the second case.

 The second keynote of the day was a BOMB.  I will save final judgement for after I re-listen to the talk via the podcast.  My gut reaction, however, was that Dr. Dave Greenfield was totally unprepared, he had no less than 3 typos in his presentation, and his overall thesis statement (if there was one at all) was that the Internet is inherently bad and it is creatign a bunch of addicts (you fill in the specific addiction.)  Dr. Dave, talks like yours today make all of our jobs much harder.  I wish he would have put forth at least one piece of hard evidence to support his wild opinions.  Again, I will listen to the talk again and update you.

 The last session was by John Raymond from Power IT.  John discussed the use of web-based applications in a K12 environment.  The talk was small but good.  Power IT makes a content management system product that seems interesting but I am somewhat hesitant to endrose the product because it is entirely custom built (although it is PHP and MySQL based.)  Who will support it when John is gone?

Day one was fun…again I bery much enjoyed the networking.  Lookign forward to day 2!

Beyond Technology: Kickoff Keynote

We just finished the kick-off keynote presentation from Dr. Bill Daggett. He is an emotional speaker who kept things moving. He believes that the public school system in the US is the best in the world (grad rate, diversity). The general theme of the talk was an update of "The World is Flat" with an educational slant. The big picture is that whether we like it or not China and/or India or both will soon be eating out lunch and if we don't change our educational system soon we won't even be able to grab their coat-tails. The educational walk-away was about the skills-gap. Daggett believes that the rate of change taking place outside of schools is faster than that taking place inside the schools. His leverage point for changing this is to focus on the student. Decisions should be made in favor of students every time.

NOTES:

No nation preeminent economically for more than 100 years…
1600 spanish
1700 Dutch
1800 British
1900 American
….China or/versus India and/or Eastern Europe (China more committed to equity than India more committed to equity than Eastern Europe)

Generation
01-24 GI
25-45 Silent
46-60 Boomers
61-81 Generation X (best edu in history yet still dependent on parents)
82- Millennial (Totally unrealistic about the future)

"Our schools are a museum and we are the curators." 

Blogging Beyond Technology Conference

I am going to be attending the Beyond Technology Conference next week in Springfield, MA on May 1st and 2nd.  Straight from the site:

"ALIGNING Education and Work
ADVANCING Technology Use and Skills
ACHIEVING The Competitive Edge

TRANSFORMING Not Integrating

Attend the conference that will give you a real look at learning in the future. Beyond Technology will bring international experts to New England to share their visions on technology in educational and workplace settings – and to present best practices for developing the skills needed to be successful in the global, high-tech work environment."

I am looking forward to the conference for two reasons.  One, to see some of the keynote speakers (specifically Will Daggett) and two, this conference will hopefully be a good combination of educationand business.  I think it is important for these two to meet more often.  Not so that educators can "better prepare students for work life" but so that educators and those in the private and piublic sector can work togther to create individuals who are challenged and learn thru authentic experiences and are better prepared to be active participants in a global society.

I will be blogging from the sessions I attend…stay tuned!