Moving at the Speed of Creativity by Wesley Fryer

The Transformational Power of Social Media Technology in Learning: Inspiring Stories from the Classroom and Beyond! (Idit Caperton)

These are my notes from Idit Caperton’s closing keynote at NECC 2008, “The Transformational Power of Social Media Technology in Learning: Inspiring Stories from the Classroom and Beyond!” MY THOUGHTS ARE IN ALL CAPS. THIS WAS A FANTASTIC KEYNOTE AND ONE OF THE BEST I’VE EVER SEEN AT NECC. INSPIRATIONAL, CHALLENGING, RESEARCH-BASED, KID AND LEARNING FOCUSED. SUPERB. GREAT KEYNOTE SELECTION, ISTE NECC BOARD!

Wikipedia article for Idit Harel Caperton

Watching an intro for the final keynote speaker by a character in Second Life at ISTE’s Education Island

her mentor and collaborator was Seymour Papert

founded MaMa Media in the 1980s

this is my keynote 2.0

The official keynote description in the conference program was:

Social Networks, Wikis and Blogs are changing the informational, social, political, and educational landscapes. Wikipedia has become the information resource of choice. There are more than 160 million users on MySpace. YouTube is hosting 80 million videos and managing 3 million user accounts. Hundreds of millions of people are gathering daily on the Web to explore, express and exchange media projects and ideas through online social networks. A large portion of them are children and youth.

Dr. Idit Harel Caperton predicted these phenomena after a decade at the MIT Media Lab, and left to start MaMaMedia.com in 1995. As the originator of the term “Clickerati” (the generation born after the mid-90s who cannot imagine life without the Internet), she invented the first Internet media company with special services for Clickerati kids, envisioning their near-addiction to digital learning through creation of rather than consumption of media. To this end, she gave them hundreds of dynamic activities for creating, collaborating, and socializing online. She taught many online networks (AOL-KidsOnly, ATT-WorldNet, Earthlink, Disney-Go, WebTV) and advertisers (General Mills, Nintendo, Disney) how to engage the young and harness business potential within digitally-connected communities of kids.

One of the first graduates of the MIT Media Lab and a student and colleague of learning-technology guru, Professor Seymour Papert, Harel-Caperton has been studying the ways in which learners are empowered with programmable technology since the early 80s.

To close NECC 2008, she will present her recent invention in 1:1 computing—the Globaloria Networks (www.globaloria.org)—complete with cases of how today’s social media technology is creating opportunities for student collaboration and global exchange never before possible. Included will be a synthesis of specific examples hand-picked from content presented at NECC 2008.

Her fast-paced, multi-dimensional tapestry of stories is sure to stimulate and inspire your thinking about contemporary learning ideas in education, and where we are heading. See how the work you and your peers are doing is transforming education!

“In search of the Forgotten C”

outline:
– go through 3 decades of catalyzing change
– go through 3 days (who are the catalysts of change now)
– 3 wishes for the future

Newest project: www.worldwideworkshop.org

(THE WEBSITE ROOT WEBPAGE IS MISSPELLED RIGHT NOW

learning beyond powerpoint
– we must go beyond, into what is complex
– I didn’t see much of that at NECC this year

I CERTAINLY DID! THE PYTHON, SCRATCH, AND GEORSS SESSIONS I SAW TODAY WERE GREAT AND VERY COMPLEX AS WELL AS ENGAGING

Founding fathers of 1:1 computing
– Seymour Papert: Logo (NECC 1989, 1992)
– Alan Kay: Squeak (NECC 2003)
– Nicholas Negroponte: OLPC (NECC 2006)

I have been a fan and a champion of their ideas
– I have been focused on inventing the future with them
– I am convinced of the need for constructivist teaching and learning

it is time for an outbreak

what do we need to do to help grow a mindset that catalyzes change: in children, in parents and in policy makers?

THIS IS A GREAT QUESTION. I AM SO GLAD TO HEAR HER ADDRESSING THIS!
– what does the archeologist of the future do now
– digging for “weak signals” today, in order to study the greatness of the future
– we can become the signals of the future ourselves, overcoming resistance in various forms
– we can become the weak signal and become strong togehter

I asked Elliot Soloway where great ideas come from
– his answer “from the soul”

Like Papert, Kay and Negroponte, I have been focused

my company: MaMaMedia

The 1980s: BL/BC era (before laptops and before cell phones)
– you can be futuristic even with constraints
– if you really want to, you can

I graduated in 1988 from the MIT Media Lab

Let’s watch 5 minutes from the 1989 NECC, this is part of a 20 minute documentary
– student eventually felt “free to play” and make connections / transfer of her math knowledge to other domains
– used a designers notebook
– focus is on Children Designers

Innovative learning environments can support children designers
– 20 years later these ideas from this video are still relevant

What Seymour Papert and I brought to the table

Enter 1990s whe “social” was not yet “networked”
– we were happy with the interet, but it was mostly about integrating old media
– publishers, only digital
– closed curriculum, not different from textbooks
– centralized communities controlled by few

MAMAMEDIA.COM
– designed for the clickerati
– a first attempt at 21st century learning (1995)
– the three X’s: eXpression, eXpoloration and eXchange
– it is not just about the 3 R’s anymore

telling kids it is not just about media consumption, it is about expression
– it is a home service with places to write stories, create art
– introduction to programming and animation
– were popular first
– giving kids a place to store their media
– giving place to play and learn

intergenerational approach to engaging parents and kids on the same network
– big move from academic world to business

MaMaMedia is still up and running and being enjoyed
– it is now open sourced and available on the XO Laptop
– also put it up on globaloria

in the old world content was king
– in the new world, contact is king

I THINK THIS IS A GREAT QUOTATION

it’s about participation now

2008 is a summer of transitions
– transitioning from 1.0 to 2.0: the new internet

contributions and participation RULE
– meaningful engagement in learning is the key

not just about social networking and keeping up with friends
– posting links and keeping up with friends
– engagement is about participation in pretty complex global projects

now lets watch some NECC presenters in taking learning global
– featuring different projects including the award winning “Rock Our World

Howard Levin The Urban School in San Francisco, CA
– entire interview
– entire thing is transcribed and available
– only oral history projects
www.tellingstories.org

WOW! I AM SO GLAD TO HEAR ABOUT THIS PROJECT AND FIND THIS LINK. YES! SUPER! THIS IS WHAT WE ARE DOING WITH CELEBRATE OKLAHOMA VOICES ON A SMALLER SCALE. IT WILL BE GREAT TO CONNECT WITH TELLINGSTORIES.ORG AND LEARN FROM THEM!

THAT WAS A GREAT SERIES OF VIDEOS, MANY OF THESE WERE FROM THE NECC POSTER SESSIONS. SUPER STUFF. GREAT IDEAS! SO WONDERFUL FOR IDIT TO SHARE AND AMPLIFY THESE PROJECTS AND VOICES IN HER KEYNOTE! YEAH IDIT!

The new 3 C’s
– Content
– Contact
– Contribution

convene, connect, create, collaborate, cultural diversity

the forgotten C: about constructionism
– a little forgotten in many of the presentations I saw
– maybe it is time to transform constructionism a bit and make it more relevant and appealing to current generation

– constructionism
– modern constructionism
– contemporary constructionism

some of the best engagement and learning takes place

is the new reading and writing dynamic
– we

Piaget: to understand is to invent
as Papert says: you really learn best by creating

function as a creator, not just a user
– this is the new literacy
– especially important for social networks

The new read/write equation
– calls for new ways of learning to learn
– it’s about participation in enw forms of writing
– in web 2.0 environments, with social media technology

the winners in the new economy will be those who master the web 2.0 technologies to create and innovate new creative ideas and services
– I can see a new digital divide between those who know how to operate and work in the new digital constructionism and those who do not

those who are not part of this new movement will be left behind, separated from those who do
– those who do not know the read/write and understand how to program them cannot participate in the new knowledge economy
– those are often the most poor among us
– they attend low-performing schools or failing schools

I am asking us to let go of the “digital natives” term
– some concepts and ideas are hard to grasp
– some abilities take a lot of work and a lot of time to develop

as an avid constructivist I have always focused a lot on the writing side
– we need to develop new models together
– that is an example of an innovation signal that I found

the opportunity exists on two fronts
– access
– knowledge

hopefully 1:1 initiatives will address this, esp access

knowledge development and master of the new abilities will continue to persist
– we need to invent new spaces for learning to learn

for this very reason I picked designing by gamemaking

we need a new theoretical framework that comes with this territory
– we have named this “the 6 contemporary learning abilities” with new technologies
– constructionist learning in web 2.0

Abilities Set 1- invention, progression, completion of an original project: program an educational game, wiki or simulation

Abilities Set 2: project-based learning in web 2.0 environments, and processing complex project management (programmable wiki systems)

Abilities Set 3: producing, programing, publishing and distributing interactive purposeful digital media

Abilities Set 4: information-based learning, search and exploration

Abilities Set 5: social learning, participation and exchange

Abilities Set 6: thoughtful surfing websites and web applications

web 3.0 semantic web is coming in 3 years

do we need another set of standards? NO
– we need abilities to identify

can we invent and promote learning activities that cultivate the development of each of these new abilities in learners?

most school-based programs for 21st century skills just focus on abilities 4 and 6
– it is with this developmental framework in mind that we

Example of student projects created with MicroWorlds EX

Other sessions at NECC this session were Mitch Resnick’s presentation about Scratch

Now let’s look at Globaloria
– network participants learn to design and program original interactive media, simulations and web-games with social and educatioanl purposes

Video of West Virginia first lady: talking about 21st century skills, talking about a “do curriculum”
– HOW SUPER TO SEE THE GOVERNOR’S WIFE ADVOCATING FOR 21ST CENTURY SKILLS WITH AN ACTUAL “DO CURRICULUM” FOCUS!!! WE NEED THIS IN OKLAHOMA! (and every other state / nation)

Student quotation from the video:
“the best way to get us to learn is to put it into a video game, but it into a narrative, and we’ll learn it even if we don’t want to.”

Another network that we just launched: My Global Life
WikiPedia article for My Global Life

My Global Life (MyGLife.org) is a worldwide network of educational, programmable websites and related wikis designed to empower youth in developing countries and emerging markets to learn, create and collaborate online. The goal of this non-profit project is to help the world’s youth experience and master technology tools and methods for democracy and globalization. Site users are mentored to learn Internet technology skills (including wiki development, graphic design and Flash programming skills), build global awareness, and at the same time, experience positive communication with other communities.

FOR SOME REASON THE WEBSITE MyGLife.org IS NOT RESOLVING FOR ME NOW / NOT ACCESSIBLE.

I have started to develop ideas aabout web 2.0 “best practices” for the purpose of knowledge development
– interaction and impact

1- what is the time duration
2- what is the scope and scale
3- is it purposeful participation
4- is there an exhibtion hall? open source spirit?
5- is there global reach

what will NECC be in 10 years?

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