During August this year I was extremely honored to travel to the Amazon rainforest in Peru with a charity called Cool Earth as part of their new teacher fellowship which is about teachers experiencing the challenges of living in the rainforest and then taking this experience back into their classrooms and schools. For more information on this visit the education part of the Cool Earth website: http://www.coolearth.org/ (in fact they are now accepting applications from teachers for next year as you are reading this).

As part of the fellowship (no I promise it isn’t anything like lord of the rings although once or twice whilst wondering in the dense rainforest I thought I heard voices coming from the trees) we lived with the indigenous group called the Ashaninka people for ten days or so and experienced their lives of living in such an amazing environment, we learned about the challenges that they face living in the rainforest and how Cool Earth as a charity was making a real difference to the future of the rainforest and the people.

One of the most fantastic elements was spending time in local schools with local teachers and students discussing how they learn and the challenges that they face. For me a teacher who loves to use technology in innovative ways I was really interested to see what technology they had and how they used it. Obviously due to things such as infrastructure, logistics and finance the technology they had was pretty limited however how they made use of this was very impressive. For example we visited two primary schools and two secondary schools for around about 60 or so students in each. These schools are in very remote areas of the rainforest which are a short flight from one of the frontier towns on the edge of the rainforest followed by a two hour trek through the rainforest. These schools do not have regular electricity however do have some small solar power units which can power electricity for a couple of hours a day. Each school had probably at least one laptop each which were primarily shared between all the teachers within the school and a few of the students to prepare materials for lessons.

Obviously due to the limited time for electricity and the limited number of laptops this use of technology could only go so far. I spoke to the teachers about whether they really needed the technology. Were they preparing their students in the same way that I was and did they really need to? All of the teachers I spoke to made it clear that they did need the technology and probably even more than my students for several important reasons. The first is that it is extremely critical to educate the students their about the rainforest and how to conserve it. This is extremely important not just for them but because they have a responsibility to the entire world. As protecting the rainforest could be the single biggest influence in tackling climate change, the students will need technology to help them communicate this to the wider world and to future generations.

The next reason is that the world is changing at a rapid rate for these students it is even quicker they will fall even further behind other young people their age if we don’t begin to educate them about the potential of technology. This soon will be an issue for them as the Peruvian government plan to build a road to one of their villages in the next 5 years opening up access to the outside world. Will they be ready for what they will have to face? Technology will be the key to their survival and the future of their race. I saw an example of this while I was there visiting technology like for all of us can opens doors, one girl who had more access to technology as she was studying ended up gaining a scholarship to become a doctor and was undergoing her training at University in Cuba with a view to returning with the right medical training back to her village. Technology definitely helped her in making a success and raising her own aspirations. Finally technology has the X factor the students were in awe and wonder and using it engaged them I could see that just by the way their faces had the biggest smiles in the world and the laughter whilst they used it.

So where now and what can we do? Let’s not forget that it isn’t just about the technology the teachers in the schools often have to pay using their own money for materials like books and pencils, in some of the schools the students have little food and are hungry so what can we do to help? Well you can help fundraise to help give these schools the materials, electricity and technology that they need. I am setting up a collaborative fundraising student project using edmodo in association with Cool Earth if you’re interested in getting involved or finding out more contact me on twitter @chickensaltash.

So do these teachers need to prepare their students for the 21^st Century as we are trying to? The answer is yes and in fact you could argue that they need to even more than we do but they have a much bigger challenge in doing this then we all do. I want the children from Peru to have the final word:

http://www.youtube.com/user/CoolEarthDotOrg#p/a

This is where I, and many others, disagree with these concerned parents. The difference: video games are interactive, encouraging problem solving and critical thinking. TV – no matter how “interactive” it’s advertised as (Baby Einstein, Blues Clues) – is passive media.

James Paul Gee states that the passive learning occurring in our schools is only going to suit those learners for low-level service jobs. Instead he suggests an interactive mode – not excluding use of video games in the classroom. In his book What Video Games Teach Us About Learning and Literacy,  he implies that for learning to be effective, the learner has to see himself as the scientist in the classroom, much like the immersive experience of a video game. This learner is now taking on the identity of “scientist.” His actions become internalized, contextualized, and meaningful.

To Gee, video games represent a process that leads to better and better designs for good learning. That is – good learning of hard and challenging things. Games entice their participants to try even if they are afraid, to put in loads of effort even if there is little internal motivation to do so, and that they must achieve meaningful goals if they are to be successful. Notably, these notions are usually left outside the realm of education debates. (Gee speaking about gaming to Edutopia here).

“Videogames provide elements of interactivity that stimulate learning,” supports Huma Yusuf of the Christian Science Monitor. Yusuf goes on to add that these games are not simply asking users to master manual dexterity, but mental dexterity as well.

The key to this impressive voluntary learning is in the way video games adjust difficulty on an individual basis. They allow the learner to operate on the edge of their competency. It’s not enjoyable to try to perform completely outside or well within one’s competency level. Think of what would happen if a game is determined “impossible”, who would remain interested? who would keep playing? Even Sir Ken Robinson notes, “As with what I was saying before about video games: I think there’s a massive potential that we haven’t yet fully tapped into.”

In an article by E. Horn that ran in the Journal for the Association for People With Severe Handicaps, he found that video games allowed children with severely limited vocal speech abilities (among other handicaps) to make scan and selection responses that could later aid in the use of communication devices. German researcher Masendorf was able to use video games in learning of spacial abilities in developmentally-challenged children. Others have been able to increase mathematical ability and motivation in kids with learning disabilities.

The peer evaluation and interaction inherent in video games is definitely another factor lacking in typical classrooms. With games and gaming communities, users are made aware (painfully at times) of their pro- and de-ficiencies. Video game communities are much better, and honest, evaluators of progress and deficiency than almost any teacher I’ve ever met – if you’ve ever participated in a gaming community, you’ll know what I mean. Critiques can be of user-written fan fiction, game-play strategy, player style, game design, computer systems, or player made flash games, and about a zillion other things. In fact, researchers have found that some ESL learners have flocked to these sites to improve their writing skills, fearing the mockery of their school peers.

Children relish their multimedia experiences and this may be the best way for them to keep abreast of the technological advancements of their time. Stifling implementation of new media, games  included, will no doubt keep kids uninterested in their education – oh, wait! That already happens!

This article is a revised version of the original posted at OrganicEdu.org. Happy Gaming!

(pic from danparent.com)

As educators, what do you think? Are children, ages 11 to 14, wasting their time, perhaps even stunting their development, in our middle school system? Would their skills be better served with hands-on learning methods such as shop class or home economics? Are children being given the necessary skills for adulthood – or are they being trained for just another “boring” desk job?

Read Strauss’s post here, and let us know what you think!

For the last seven years we have used what I call a “push” model and it has proven ineffective because it is the embodiment of 20th century learning. 20th Century learning is all about “pushing” information at a group of passive recipients. The recipients are expected to follow detailed instructions, take notes, absorb information and regurgitate it in the form of a new product.

This is the model we have used for our PD and it stinks. It stinks because the culmination of the effort– the new product– was rarely produced and infused into classroom learning. For seven years the Director of Technology has been responsible for researching new tools and approaches, creating handouts, video tutorials and lectures to be delivered to the faculty to help them meet their yearly PD requirement.

Teachers at our school are required to receive 20 hours of training in technology and all 20 hours have been “pushed.” We are nine years into the 21st century and it is time to rethink this 20th Century model of learning. It is time to stop “pushing” and let the faculty “pull.” Self-directed learning is what I call a “pull” model and this year we will try to pull our learning instead of pushing it.

I am very interested in trying to ignite the passion for self-directed learning in my K-8 students yet, until now, I have not tried this approach with our faculty. The problem with the push model is that it is not as customizable. It violates the the laws of supply and demand that make free markets work so well. Economist Adam Smith described the invisible hand as the mechanism through which needs were filled in a free market society. To paraphrase Smith, when a demand arises in the marketplace, a supply quickly follows as if guided by an invisible hand.

Free market economics is successful because it is a “pull” model and PD should be no different. The “push” model is an artifact of not only the 20th century, but of the failed economies of centrally planned communist states. Centrally planned economies failed for the same reason our PD has failed: you can’t make people want something just because you supply it. Demand for something comes first, then the invisible hand guides the supply to meet it.

Businesses do market research all the time to figure out what people want so that they can customize their product to suit the specific tastes of the consumers. These are the ideas I hope to bring into our PD program this year. Instead of the “sage on the stage” paradigm of the push model, I will be working with teachers to customize their own PD. Teachers will tailor their learning to suit their own demands and I will surrender control to the invisible hand.

The pull model is all about collaborating, creating and sharing in the spirit of 21st century learning, but it does not work without a community. As the trainer I am responsible for the supply of information to our faculty but I am also hoping to enlist you, the community, to help supply me with guidance and solutions to problems that arise throughout the year.

This post is part one of what will be a five part series detailing the ups and downs of this experiment.
In order to ensure that the focus of the training is directed at improving instruction in the classroom, I am proposing a few criteria. I would like to know your opinion about the following guidelines:

1. Training to learn how to build and cultivate a Professional Learning Network (PLN) is encouraged.

2. Training to learn how to use technology to transform outdated classroom activities into more modern approaches is encouraged.

3. Training to learn how to use technology to publicize classroom projects and accomplishments to parents and the greater school community is encouraged.

Is this list too broad or too constricting? Your comments and questions will be very valuable to all of us, so please let us know your take.

(George Haines can be reached on Twitter @oline73)

Ideas for Engaging Students in Passion-Based Learning:

Discover and Consume:
First you need to support your students in finding area of passion and deep personal interest which is an ongoing journey.  Next you may want to connect them with other students and teachers who share these interests so they have a face-to-face (f-2-f) connection with others with like interests.  Once they have identified an area of passion, help them develop strategies to learn more about their topic of interest.

• Finding Passion:
  Help students discover what passions and interests they may have.  One way to do this is by having them take an interest inventory.  While I am a fan of the Renzulli Learning Profile that helps students discover interests, learning styles, abilities, and expression styles, there are many different types of interest inventories out there. While this is a good idea for starting on the road to helping your students discover their passion, take some time to explore multiple ways to helping students find their passion.
• F-2-F Connections with Others with Similar Interests
:
  Ideally an entire school student body and staff would engage in taking a learning profile.  If so, this is a terrific way to connect students with other students with similar interests and even identify teachers with interests shared by students.  These interests can turn into elective classes in the school and provides a tremendous opportunity for students to make deep connections with other students and their teacher.  If a school wide implementation is not possible this is still powerful even if partnering with other classes or finding common interests within your own class.  As an educator you’ll want to work with your students on some conversation guidelines, starters, and extenders to support your students in engaging in meaningful and perhaps accountable talk.
• Researching Your Passion
:
  Once you’ve helped students determine some areas of passion, help them learn more about their area of interest.  Perhaps start with an encyclopedia then move to supporting students in using smart search techniques about their area of interest.  You may want to show them how to use Technorati to locate bloggers who are writing about the topics they are interested in.
• Following Your Passion
:
  Once you’ve supported students in searching for and finding their passions, show them how to follow their passions.  An RSS aggregator like Google Reader is a simple, easy to use tool made just for this purpose.  You can learn how to get started by going here.

Communicate and Connect:
Once students have found an area of passion, it is of utmost importance to know how to search and find information about areas of passion.  While it is certainly powerful for students to have friends and adults in their physical world with the shared passion, learning truly begins when the learning becomes interactive.  Technology provides a never before possible way to find and connect with others who share like interests and to develop and grow in new ways.  Here are some ideas for getting started.

• Help Students Begin Social Bookmarking
:
  Social bookmarking sites such as Diigo allow users to collect resources that will be accessible to them anytime from any computer.  The site also enables students to highlight pages and add sticky notes to record thoughts, ideas, and reflections.  What is potentially most powerful about social bookmarking sites is the ability for users to connect and communicate effortlessly with others who share a common interest.  Educators will want to work with students to model and demonstrate acceptable and appropriate ways to communicate with others online.
• Help Students Become Respectable Netizens (InterNet citiZens)
:
  Once students have used a tool like Google Reader to stay current with their favorite news sites, blogs, magazine and more it is time to begin teaching them how to meaningfully engage in conversations about areas of deep personal interest.  This is where the real learning begins and students begin making connections that lead to the development of what will soon become their personal learning network. Connecting, conversing, commenting, and making meaning with experts in the field is one of the most powerful learning practices in which students can engage. Supporting students in lending their rarely heard voice to these conversations is extremely impactful. Educators will want to work with students on best practices for commenting.
• Support Students in Identifying Learning Networks and Groups:
  Where are the physical and online networks and groups that others with this area of interest connect? Is there a MeetUp group in your area for others interested in this topic? Is there a Ning or a group on Facebook?  Is there an online community or discussion board?  Help students find these resources.  Educators will want to ensure that students and families are aware of safe, acceptable, and appropriate participation in both online and physical groups.

Create and Produce:
Here is where my thinking has changed and moved away from that of some other innovative educators. In The Blog of Proximal Development, Konrad Glogowski says, “I think it’s time to acknowledge that just because students make podcasts or contribute to blogs does not mean that they have become passionate about the topic they’re researching. If a teacher says, “I’d like you to create a podcast to share your work,” students will do it. In fact, they will even show a lot of enthusiasm because the project takes them out of their seats and often even out of their classroom. Are they really working on something that they are passionate about? Rarely.”

Like Glogowski, I don’t believe that having students create blogs, wikis, podcasts, and digital documentaries is the starting point.  It is where we bring students when they have developed areas of deep personal interest and passion; when they have read about and researched these areas; when they have joined the conversation and independently connected with others with similar passions and interests.  It is then that students are ready to create and produce.  To allow for differentiated instruction aligned to each student’s interest, ability, and learning style I recommend that rather than dictate, teachers let students select (with their guidance), what it is they might produce.

• Contribute to or Intern for a Blog, Magazine, or Newspaper:
  Once a student has become immersed in an area of passion and is exposed to those who are publishing in their area of interest, you may want to encourage him/her to inquire about submitting their own post.  This is a great opportunity for a student to publish in an authentic medium to an authentic audience and provide him/her with the opportunity to have experienced experts to guide them and edit their work.  A student may also want to consider interning for their favorite blog magazine or columnist.  A set up fresh eyes and ideas are welcomed by many writers.  This work can provide students with the experience and professionalism that is helpful if they decide to make the committment to writing their own blog or column.
• Join a Cause
:
  Is there an organization that already exists for others with this area of interest?  If there is help students learn how to join, volunteer, and contribute to the group. May the student has an area of expertise or interest that would be beneficial to the cause. Perhaps the student loves photography and can take pictures at an event, maybe s/he is good in using an online publishing program and could make fliers.  Perhaps the student has a network of younger potential group members or knows how to navigate online environments.
• Write a book:
  If you have students that enjoy writing, consider having them work to publish their own book using one of the free online publishing sites like Blurb or LuLu. Not only is it free to publish the book, but students get their own isbn number and can even make a profit if anyone purchases the book. Help students determine who might be interested in contributing to the book? Could this student find someone in the field to revise and edit the book?  Should the book be written collaboratively or individually?  Where can the student promote his or her new book?
• Join or Start a Group or Club:
  Encourage students to find or start a physical group or club that meets at a set time either talking, writing, or engaging in a particular activity. If  a group does not exist, have students research how to start, maintain and build a group. Help students determine the group’s audience. Will this be a school or community based group? Where, when and how often will the group meet?  Will their be a contract that members will sign? What are the groups goals and objectives?
• Start of Join an Online Group:
  If there is not already a group aligned to the student’s interest and targeted audience, perhaps s/he could start one incorporating many of the same considerations that a virtual group would have. If such a group already exists encourage an interested student to take a leadership role in the online community. Perhaps they can serve as a guide, lead discussions, build membership, etc.
• Create a Digital video:
  Is there a powerful message or personal story that a student has found would be important to share?  Then perhaps a student would like to create a video. Now that s/he has an established PLN and base of materials from their RSS reader they have a solid foundation from which to start. Help students determine who from their PLN would be good candidates for collaboration; what resources may they want to pull from?  Help students with a strategy for evaluating and citing their sources.
• Participate in a Podcast:
  Is there a podcast that your student listens to?  If so, encourage him or her to contact the people running the show and participate as a guest. Help students prepare by noticing the components of an effective podcast, coming up with ideas for an engaging topic, determining materials they’ll need to prepare, and ways to inform others of their appearance and build an audience.
• Design a Game:
  Is your student a gamer? If the topic is one that others might be interested in learning about or testing their knowledge, perhaps your student can design a game. Scratch is a free and fantastic tool and online community for students with some interest in programing, but there a variety of options students can explore for such an endeavor.

• Participate in a Contest or Competition:
  There are contests and competitions in a variety of areas of interest. Help your students explore what may be right for him/her. Students interested in architecture and engineering might be interested in investigating the Future City Competition.  Students interested in building, design, and mechanics and engineering may be interested in participating in Robotics Competitions.
• Take Advanced Classes
:
  Just because your not in college doesn’t mean you are not ready for college level material in an area of deep personal interest.  I did just taking college courses beginning at age 15 while I was still in high school.  See what local colleges have to offer and ask if you can take, audit, or get a scholarship for a class. Students may also be interested in investigating online line options like YouTube Edu that organizes the video channels of more than 100 colleges and universities.

WHAT NEXT?

Glogowski observes in his blog that, “I really don’t see that passion around me. My colleagues seem to be concerned with outcomes and expectations, not the passion that they can awaken in their students. Many K-12 students also seem to be going through the motions and ‘playing school.’”

In the blog The Big Picture Erin Murphy shares, “I think about students, and it seems that there are some students who are just born with fires lit in their hearts for particular topics.  Then there are others who aren’t really sure what they want to do with their lives – they enter schools and jobs blindly chasing after money the so-called “right way to live.”  And there are some students who find nothing of value in school for them, and so they stop and go on to jobs where they can feel useful and feel like they are actually learning.  But can we change learning to light fires for students who have a spark in need of kindling?

Can we shift from what Glogowski describes as “playing school” and change how we measure success? Can we start judging an educator’s effectiveness by how s/he answers the question, “How are you helping your students discover and connect with their passions and become contributors to communities in which those passions are developed?”

If educators begin to embrace passion-based learning we can do that and indeed it may be possible to say, “Yes we can” in response to Erin Murphy’s question, “Can we light fires for students who have a spark in need of kindling?”  If we do, we will be truly be developing life-long learners who have the knowledge to discover and pursue their passions, whatever they may be for the rest of their lives.

Recently I attended Alan November’s Building Learning Communities Conference where I participated in a session for educators exploring how to become transformational leaders. A participant at my table said, “This is all nice, but kids need to learn that school isn’t always interesting. Sometimes school is just boring.” “Not true!” I responded. “School shouldn’t and doesn’t have to be boring.”

When I shared this with Alan he recommended I ask this participant, “Which teachers should teach students that they have to learn that school is boring?“ This certainly would not be me. While I’ve witnessed teachers who accept that students are disengaged, sometimes even falling asleep in their class, I do not believe a teacher passionate about his/her career would embrace the idea that it is okay for their students to be bored. In fact, I contend that if every teacher prioritized just one thing, we could eradicate boredom in our classrooms, deeply engage students, and dramatically decrease the dropout rate.  That one thing is…

Supporting Students in Finding Their Passion:

Not long ago I wrote about a school that supports students in finding their passions in my post You Can Get a Dalton Education at a NYC Public School. I was more formally introduced to the concept of educator’s supporting students in finding and developing their passions when I went to Confratute, a conference that focused on the Schoolwide Enrichment model which provides enriched learning experiences and higher learning standards for students through three goals: 1) developing talents in all students; 2) providing a broad range of advanced-level enrichment experiences for all students; and 3) providing advanced follow-up opportunities for students based on their strengths and interests.  Most recently, I was introduced to another formalized way to name what it is I have been talking and thinking about through this status update which I saw on Facebook:

Mark Wagner Today: “Blogs, Wikis, Docs: Which is right for your lesson?” http://bit.ly/XAUUx
Yesterday at 5:01pm via Twitter

As I followed the link, I discovered a slew of resources about what education scholar John Seely Brown calls “passion based learning” as discussed in an article on CNET. I was thrilled to find this body of work, as I felt this concept beautifully captured what it is I’ve been thinking about education.  I dove in to read more and was anxious to share my findings with others.  Here’s what I’ve learned -

Passion-Based Learning:

In the article on CNET Brown says that, schools should complement teaching with what he calls “passion-based learning” that focuses on getting students more engaged with topic experts.” Education expert Will Richardson shares that what really resonates for him is that Seely Brown praised situations where students who are passionate about specific topics study in groups and participate in online communities.

Richardson says, “To me, this is the one biggest advantages of the Read/Write Web, the ability to connect to others who are passionate about whatever it is that you want to learn. How rare is it to have that happen in physical space, where everyone in the room is ready and excited to learn?”

The same topic came up in response to a blog post a school administrator wrote about steps he plans to take to become a transformational leader. In response to his idea about renaming their computer lab and calling it the Global Communication Center, High School teacher Susan Ettenheim made this comment:

“It is wonderful for a class to share with another class across the world, but it is possibly even more exciting for one student to find that there are other people who can teach and share with them and take action to make the world a better place through a shared personal interest.”

In my own conversations with educators about our role as passion detectives, explorers and connectors for students, I have come up against resistance from some who ask, “Are you saying that students should just be able to skateboard all day, sit around watching Harry Potter movies, or worse persue some type of distructive behavior?” Of course not and I think Seely Brown hits on the reason for the resistance by some when he says, “For educators to really take advantage of the potential of technology, we need to rethink our practice.”

Will Richardson believes, and I concur, that the best way to do that is to get involved in “passion based learning” ourselves.  He believes this so much so that he has referred to himself as a blogevangelist and I credit him with being my “blogfather”. When Will would run into me at conferences, speaking engagements and the like where I was often passionately engaged in a topic of conversation, he would ask when I was going to join the conversation and begin authentically publishing and connecting with those with similar passions.  The reality is that it wasn’t until I began doing that, that deep, TRANSFERABLE learning occurred for me that I could confidently and credibly share with other educators.

Technology provides the window to connections and learning around areas of passion and deep personal interest that were never before possible. Some educators I have discussed this concept with have scoffed at the idea for various reasons believing it would be too much work for them to make individualized, differentiated connections for each student. I’ve suggested that their job is not to determine a student’s passion, or find the experts and make the connections, but rather to support their students in doing so.

That doesn’t mean have all the students in your class create blogs where they respond to your prompts or make a podcast about a topic you are studying in social studies.  That really, isn’t an effective means to helping students explore their passions, publish authentically to an audience they care about, or connect with others with their similar interests.  This is a big shift.  Here are some smart ways educators might engage in passion-based learning with our students.

(Continued on Wednesday…)

“Engage Me or Enrage Me” is a quote from “Dr. Kip Leland, online learning specialist and the founder of the Los Angeles Virtual Academy (LAVA) within the LAUSD.

Cascio argues that this age of hyper-connectivity, instead of “dumbing” us down, is actually spurring our brains to evolve to meet the challenge. We’ve done it before, he says, and we will do it again, only now we have powerful tools such as the internet, smart drugs, and artificial intelligences to help us along.

Forget the idea that technology decreases our natural ability to think, instead wrap your mind around the concept that it’s helping us to make more intricate connections and recognize increasingly elaborate patterns. This shift isn’t taking away our intelligence, but changing it to fit our evolving environment.

These skills are referred to as “fluid intelligence”, what Cascio calls “the ability to find meaning in confusion and to solve new problems independent of acquired knowledge”. It’s not that we have too much information available, Cascio says, it’s that we are just beginning to develop the necessary tools to process it.

Put away your fears of losing your livelihood to advanced computer systems because “intelligence augmentation decreases the need for specialization and increases participatory complexity” – in short, the jobs of the future will allow for more people to perform them as advanced technologies will fill in the knowledge gaps.

What about classroom learning? There was a day (and in some places, still is) when calculator use was considered cheating. Now our children use computers at their desks, mobile phones for instant information retrieval, and social applications for study groups. Yes, these tools are becoming “smarter”, but so are the children who grow up using them. As Cascio says, “the same advances in processor and process that would produce a machine mind would also increase the power of our own cognitive-enhancement technologies”.

“Our ability to build the future that we want,” Cascio ends with, “- not just a future we can survive – depends on our capacity to understand the complex relationships of the world’s systems.”

I, for one, agree. What do you think?

Being the parent of a child with autism makes you a little more aware of eye contact in conversation. I’m noticing some interesting patterns at NECC that say a lot about how I socialize. First, there are times when it has become painful for me to make and maintain eye contact. That has to be a sign that I’m overwhelmed by the sheer number of folks I’m seeing and meeting. While this year’s conference has a smaller turnout, 18,000, that’s still a lot of people to plop down in one place.

Sometimes when I’m talking to folks, I find my eyes wandering to scan the crowd and I’ve seen others do this as well. We are either trying to find someone we were waiting for in the sea of people, or checking for faces we know in person already. Sometimes we are checking for someone we have only known online up to this point and have been dying to meet IRL. This is that one golden chance to meet others we haven’t seen face to face and we don’t want to miss that opportunity.

Those of us who have already been to conferences, even local ones, have a circle of people we know and hang out with. They are our base camp in this sea of humanity. It is easy to stay in a tunnel here. If you are completely unfamiliar with teaching conventions, and never go online for PD and professional social networking (and there still are folks like that even at a place like NECC), you will stay in your bubble of local district buddies, an “accidental” tourist at the convention.

If you are too wrapped up in your “network” you already have, you will miss conversations with the person in front of you, or next to you as you go down your must meet check list. You will be in your own bubble that includes only folks you KNOW are like minded, but may miss a conversation you should have had with the person in your district back home, or in a session at NECC who is from the other side of the country.

My favorite meetings are the ones that are impossible to plan, but easy to undermine. You miss them when you only talk to the folks you already know. Those are the connections based on nothing more than propinquity. You sit next to someone at a session, and one of you strikes up a conversation. You are invited to tag along to a dinner, and are seated by someone from the other end of the country that you’ve never met before. Someone strikes up a conversation as you wait for a shuttle bus. You could learn a lot, or, you could miss that metaphorical bus, as you avoid eye contact and conversation.

Photo credit: My eye on Flickr

I was able to attend three sessions at EduBloggerCon this year and facilitate one. While I still would love to see the event follow the model of a BarCamp, I think the wiki organizational structure worked this year better than in 2008 largely because everyone was able to hold sessions they wanted to offer and there was NOT any voting. Half of the sessions I attended were in the hallways, but I was able to hear speakers fine and didn’t mind at all pulling up chairs and just circling up for a conversation.

I wonder how many school district leaders would be willing to take the approach of EduBloggerCon and ask teachers to organically propose as well as facilitate PD sessions on topics of interest, on which they have expertise as well as a desire to share? The participatory nature of EduBloggerCon is radically different than most teachers’ conception of “sit and get” professional development, but I find the participatory nature of the event to be precisely the thing which makes it highly engaging as well as relevant.

Given the speed of change in our society, a professional development structure like EduBloggerCon lends itself well to address both issues of concern to participants as well as emerging or new ideas. It is wonderful ISTE continues to support EduBloggerCon and provide the space as well as WiFi connectivity for participants completely free of charge. Many thanks to Steve Hargadon for his role in organizing the day and facilitating a super opportunity for co-learning with peers.

In reflecting about EduBloggerCon09, Lisa Thumann noted:

I think that we all know that change is hard. We also know that unless we commit to making change, it won’t happen. The fact is that there is uncertainty as to what jobs are coming down the pike. We don’t know what we are preparing our students for. So we need to create a model that they can carry into their adult lives. I’m working on putting together some short video clips on what educators are doing in their 21st Century Learning classrooms. I talked with a college student, April, yesterday about how she felt that her high school, which she classified as a 21st Century Learning school, helped better prepare her for college. I almost jumped out of my chair in excitement when she explained to me how.

Without EduBloggerCon09, Lisa might have not had that opportunity to dialog with April and have those learning experiences.

Jeff Utecht, also writing reflectively about EduBloggerCon09, noted:

This year….smaller, deeper, and more thoughtful. Exactly what I was hoping for and personally what I need to push my own thinking. It was one of those days where you went to one but watch others via Twitter. You wanted to go to all the sessions…and in some ways you did via the conversations that happened between the actual sessions.

As of this evening, just over 360 photos from EduBloggerCon09 have been uploaded and shared on Flickr using the tag “ebc09.)

I wonder to what degree does EduBloggerCon reflect the learning environment of the future for our students as well as ourselves? The day is filled with choice: Choices about sessions to attend, and sessions to lead. Virtually everyone has a laptop, and most people are actually using laptops during sessions to take notes and engage in backchannel conversations. WiFi is open, available, fast and free. Conversations extend from the scheduled sessions into the lunch hour, and continue online. Dialog is richer because of the online discussions which have taken place prior to the event, and are deepened as a result of the face-to-face time spent together.

When will students in our schools be able to experience a similar day of learning to what participants in EduBloggerCon09 were able to share? I hope that day is soon.

Just as I was yesterday, I’m embedded among the teachers and technologists at ISTE Central, reporting from the front lines of the ed tech festivities here in Washington, DC.  I promise to be a tireless correspondent, so be sure to check in frequently for new posts.  And, as always, if you’d like to reach me with questions or comments, I’m @zbgoodwin on Twitter.

(For those who are tuning in for the first time, the briefest of bios: I’m a writer, designer and technologist based in Washington, DC, and a member of the iStrategyLabs family.)

With introductions and formalities out of the way, let’s get down to business: This morning has been busy!  The @ISTEConnects team and I arrived at 7:30 to set up our scores of MacBooks, and our workhorse of a videocamera (a Sony PD170 for any A/V nerds out there) in preparation for today’s live-streaming.  At 9 am, Joe Corbett — who oversees the ISTEConnects universe — began interviewing a long list of NECC attendees.  Check it out:

After a few hours of interviews with the ISTE faithful, I headed off to the Conference Room 146B, to hear one teacher’s reflections on teaching to the “digital generation.”  (My plan was to live-blog the presentation, but an over-burdened wi-fi connection made that impossible!)  The session documented the experience of Camilla Gagliolo, a Jamestown Elementary School teacher, who has been experimenting with employing the Nintendo DS in her daily instructions.  She began by purchasing 12 Nintendo DSs, using a BestBuy grant for teachers, and creating a ‘classroom kit’ which could circulate around the school as needed.  She found, from the very beginning, that kids were extremely enthusiastic with the notion of playing “games” in class.  From the looks of the video Camilla played during her presentation, the kids couldn’t believe their good fortune.

The programs Camilla used were right off the shelf: BrainAge, BrainBoost, MyWord and a few others.  She seemed to suggest that the math games were most sucessful — though the language-arts oriented games were used as well.

The networking function of the Nintendo DS is likely its most important feature.  The DS allows for teachers to create chat rooms, which can hold up to 12 student on their own DSs.  For larger classes, each teacher can create four chat rooms of 12 students.  The chatrooms allow one teacher to get real-time information about how each student is grasping new concepts.  What’s 12 * 56?  The DS will allow one to teacher to figure out which of his or her 30 students knows — and, more importantly, which are struggling.

All in all, it was a fascinating presentation — and one that prompted a lot of great questions from the audience.  And with that, I’m off to my next session!  See you in a few,

Zach