Talkin’ bout the revolution…

14th May 2008

posted in schoolreform, web 2.0 |

I’m sharing the keynote address tomorrow morning here in Richardson, Texas, for Education Service Center Region 10’s 14th Annual Technology Planning Conference. The theme this year is “Assessment for a Web 2.0 World.” I shared a keynote here two years ago titled “The Vocabulary of 21st Century Learning.” It would be interesting to compare my message and ideas two years later and see what has changed, and what has not!

I’ve reworked my slides from last week’s CILC webinar on “Quick Victories for Blended Learning” to focus specifically on the ways web 2.0 tools can be used for assessment. I always like to utilize some video in my keynote presentations, and when looking for a new video to share I came across “A Vision of K-12 Students Today” which is similarly styled to Michael Wesch’s “A Vision of Students Today” but created with students from K-12 classrooms instead of a university. Thanks to David Warlick, however, I discovered the video “Learning to change” created by by Pearson for CoSN to use in public advocacy, and posted to YouTube by Greg Whitby as well as COSN. The final version of this video is titled “Learning to Change — Changing to Learn” and is the video I’m going to use to help frame my presentation tomorrow:

I’m titling my keynote “The Assessment Menu in our Web 2.0 World.” I’ve posted my presentation slides as a PDF file, and will attempt to broadcast and archive my presentation tomorrow on Ustream.tv since my wife generously loaned me her laptop for this trip. The presentation is scheduled to begin at 9:00 am US Central time. Please join us if you can!
Moving at the Speed of Creativity Live from Ustream

Technorati Tags:
learning, assessment, education, school, reform, web2, internet, technology, revolution, texas, NCLB, testing, schoolreform

On this day..

Article consumption on the go - 2008
links for 2008-05-14 - 2008
Roads of Learning in the 21st Century (v 1.0) - 2007
Idyllic life in the Shire - 2007
Opposing NCLB renewal - 2006
Unexcuseable inhumanity / the dark side of the human psyche - 2004

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 11:59 pm and is filed under schoolreform, web 2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On May 15th, 2008, Alan Lutz said:

That little video sure is making the rounds. When I saw it last weekend I determined that would be the one I used Monday with my staff. They were quiet and took it all in. So many quotes how can one take it all in. So i jotted many of them down on PPT slides for emphasis afterward. I still didn’t get much response but then my teachers don’t know what to make of the whole “revolution” thing yet. I told them I was tired of just being a status quo type of Technology Coordinator and was going to rattle some cages, but not in those exact words. After showing a couple YouTube videos like that and sharing many new things in Web 2.0 and my PLN tools, many went away with LOTS to think about. I asked them to email me ONE thing that stood out in their mind. Most were impressed with Google Earth 3D and Skype, Ustream, stuff like that. They are at least, beginning to see some of the power at their fingertips. Now if they can just be willing to SHARE some of that power with their students!

2 On May 15th, 2008, Amy Strecker said:

I really enjoyed the video and I’m looking forward to catching the full presentation!

3 On May 15th, 2008, Wesley Fryer said:

Alan: I always find it challenging to locate videos for presentations like this which the vast majority of participants have NOT seen. I will survey the group to see how many have seen it before I show it today.

I think it is worthwhile to rattle cages and ask people to think differently, but I think two things are critical following experiences like these:

1- We must provide time for educators to process and discuss these ideas TOGETHER, soon after the “cage rattling session.” If we do not provide this processing time, I think much of the potential disruptive power of videos like this and the ideas they convey can be lost on the group. We should encourage teachers to push back and question information they see and hear. What about that first Keith Kruger quotation? David Warlick says that came from a 2002 report. Have things changed much with respect to technology in our schools since 2002? In some cases no, but in many cases the answer is yes. Do all the criticisms levied by the speakers in this video apply to our school? Do they apply to our district? To my classroom? These are personal questions and would be great to tackle in small groups and then discuss together.

2- I think we need to help provide teachers with specific, low-barrier entry points into the use of web 2.0 tools for creation and collaboration, and encourage the PERSONAL use of these tools. I created the session “A Summer Of Professional Learning Choices for Educators! Where Should I Start?” a few weeks ago with that specific purpose in mind, with a 1 page PDF document anyone is free to use, copy, and/or modify.

I think Ian Jukes was probably the first speaker I saw on the educational technology conference circuit who really rattled my cage. He had a huge influence on me, no doubt. One of the things Ian inspired me to do, however, is not only get the attention of educators, but also try to share practical ways the ideas we’re focusing on can make a tangible difference in the learning tasks we provide for students in our classrooms. That is where the rubber meets the road, and where we need to make changes today.

None of us can make the big scale changes alone that are discussed in this video and elsewhere, but we certainly have some autonomy to embrace digital tool use for creation and collaboration. That is my focus in sharing this video and this presentation.

Congrats on sharing this video with your staff and challenging them! I’d love to hear if some new uses of technology to truly ENGAGE rather than just ENTRALL students start at your school - at least in part thanks to your advocacy for those pedagogic changes.

4 On May 15th, 2008, “Death of Education, Start of Learning” « The MindOH! Blog said:

[…] and communication kids are creating online. I loved this video I found from Wesley Fryer’s Moving at the Speed of Creativity Blog. The video addresses 21st century learning skills and how we have to change the face of traditional […]

5 On May 16th, 2008, Keith Krueger, CoSN said:

Glad that our new PSA is getting folks talking about the need for education to change.

Folks wanted to know the citation I gave in the report for Digital Economy 2003 , U.S. Department of Commerce Survey of IT-Intensity of 55 Industries

Table 4.b https://www.esa.doc.gov/reports/DE-Chap4.pdf

Finally, I think that folks are linking a pre-release YouTube version. The final version (which has corrected credits) can be viewed at http://www.cosn.org - just scroll down on front page.

Keith

6 On May 16th, 2008, Wesley Fryer said:

Keith: Thanks for the link to your source for that opening statement, as well as the link to the final version of this video. I’ve linked the one on YouTube which is linked from the COSN homepage to my Videos for PD page. I also changed the embedded version above on this post to the one COSN has linked.