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October 18, 2007
Blog chatter
Posted by Barbara Hunter, NSBA Staff, at 5:10 PM |
Education Technology Issues
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Strolling through the blogosphere today, I noticed some good chatter about the T+L Conference. Check out this posting at the Totally Wired blog, a resource for parents, aunts, uncles, teachers, librarians, youth workers, and others trying to decode what teens are doing online and with technology. Here's another tidbit from Hokanson's Intructional Technology blog, which helps educators on how to seamlessly integrate technology in the classroom. Also, check out the musings of Tracy Weeks, director of instructional technology and media for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools on PargoNet.
Jim Brazell: "The Future is Here"
Posted by Therese Laux, Blog Team, at 3:55 PM |
Breakfast Sessions
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“What are the skills that are relevant in today’s rapidly changing environment?” “What shifts will we have to make in order to increase options for our students?” These are but a few of the questions we need to ask ourselves according to Jim Brazell, from Texas State Technical College System.
Even the Army has embraced the change regarding the perception of the value of gaming in the educational process (Check out Army.com). In our “mixed reality” world, the blending of the physical, imaginary, and virtual planes offer us opportunities to see games as the next tool of educational technology.
If you’re thinking why, just check out Whyville.net. The Texas Workforce Commission is banking on its power to capture the attention of students, but especially females in the 11 – 15 years age range. If you’re a more “old school” learner, go to Ventureramp.com to get the free book download, Gaming: A Technology Forecast.
Being a huge fan of the works by Ray Kurzweil, I was excited to hear Brazell reference the futurist in our breakfast session. From mechatronics to micro-mechatronics and nano-mechatronics, our future may be so many years away, but it is truly just around the corner. A future where our students’ success depends upon a broad, deep, interconnected knowledge as opposed to specialized knowledge.
For a visual picture, think of the traditional “blue collar” becoming the new “gold collar.” Schools must have the educational pathways to produce tomorrow’s workers, and those workers are going to be coming out of our technical colleges. It’s not your grandpa’s community college anymore. It’s the integration of academics, career and tech ed, and the Arts that are going to propel our top performing students and schools.
It’s time to shift our thoughts from why this is happening to let’s make it happen now. Our futures and our country, depends on all of us providing our Millennial generation students with the real-world skills. Let’s get at it!
Peter Diamandis: The Best Way to Predict the Future...
Posted by Therese Laux, Blog Team, at 12:02 PM |
General Session Keynotes
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If you are of the generation where Saturday mornings included watching "The Monkees" and an Apollo lift off, Peter Diamandis is your guy. Scratch that, Houston. Diamandis is a man for all of us. What person in education would not appreciate his philosophy of changing our thought process from thinking "we can't do it," to "make it happen?"
Young Peter dreamed of being an Astronaunt. He thought his best shot at realizing that dream was through a medical degree. Possibilities and probabilities set in, and after seeing the odds of him making the NBA were better than getting in the elite crew of NASA space cowboys, Diamandis went about getting his own ride to the stars.
Don't let me ruin the story for you. Get your kids turned on to science and space travel. Check it out for yourself at http://www.goZeroG.com. While you're out surfing, Google these big ideas: X Prize Foundation, SpaceShipOne and Lunar Xprize.
Don't forget, breakthroughs always start as crazy ideas.
Tie a string around your finger
Posted by Christina Gordon, NSBA Staff, at 10:26 AM |
Education Technology Issues
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We'd like to remind you one more time to log in today to the online discussion, "Navigating the Legal Landmines Around New Technologies," featuring NSBA Senior Staff Attorney,Thomas Hutton. The discussion will take place live from NSBA's T+L Conference in Nashville at 12 noon Central Time.
New technologies such as cell camera phones and online teen hangouts are prompting serious discussions about their use and abuse. Recent examples, such as students posting surreptitiously taken teacher videos onto YouTube, have ignited concern about the presence of these technologies in and out of the classroom. What are the legal issues emerging from these new technologies? How schools can balance First Amendment protections with student safety? How should school board policies adapt to these technological advances?
We invite you to join the discussion during the live hour or post your questions now. (Note: The discussion will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern/11 a.m. Mountain/10 a.m. Pacific.)
And while you're at it, be sure to check out the archive of yesterday's online discussion with Will Richardson. He examined the educational benefits of social networking for students and teachers.
Cirque Du Soleil and Education?
Posted by Shawn Wheeler, Blog Team, at 9:16 AM
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Keynotes are often interesting at best said with a smirk on my face. You never quite know what you are going to hear and worse, you are not sure you will like it. Not the case today as I listened to Lyn Heward from famed Cirque Du Soleil. Now, I must confess, I love the Cirque shows but I did wonder what her keynote would have to do with education. What I walked away with was nothing short of Cirque Du Soleil. You see, one of the most enjoyable aspects of a Cirque show is the wow factor. Not from the point of view of the performers who are spectacular, but show, as they are designed completely out of the box. Personally, this is what I took away from Lyn’s speech today. Note: As I editorialize, I was not able to hear her closing remarks.
5 Doors…
Door Number 1. Great expectation
Door Number 2. Surrender to your senses, develop your intuitive instincts.
Door Number 3. Treasure hunting and creative transformation
Door Number 4. The nurturing environment
Door Number 5. How constraints challenge differences and consumer expectations become creation catalysts.
Looking at this list, some of the items make perfect sense while others, make you wish you were there so you could have heard it first ear.
Great Expectations… Of course, we all strive to meet our goals. Why would anyone create a goal which is low? But what about surrendering to your senses and developing your intuitive instincts? If you are reading this, chances are you do this daily. Think about how many times you hear that little voice or have that gut feeling. Don’t force it down, free it, listen to it. There is no greatness without risk.
Treasure hunting and creative transformation. Who are you? Who is around us? What are our talents as well as theirs? As a leader, you need to seek out talented people and some of those people are in our current organization. But don’t tell them what they are good at, make opportunities for their talent to shine through on its own.
Of course Door number 3 will never work without a nurturing environment. Create opportunities for staff and students to take risk. Maintain an environment where failure is nothing more than an opportunity to try something again in a different way. Just ask the creator of the Post it Note!
Finally Door number 5, how constraints challenge differences and consumer expectations become creation catalysts. We are all faced with funding challenges and these challenges are all the more reason to think outside of the box and find a way to achieve our goals and meet the expectations of our communities.
Unfortunately, I had to go setup at my presentation at this point but I walked out of that hall smiling and thinking this is just the type of environment I want to work in and when I get home, I am going to work to create that environment.
Risk takers doing great things!
Posted by Shawn Wheeler, Blog Team, at 9:13 AM |
2007 Conference
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The day is quickly coming to a close as I put its events on my digital paper. Looking at my notes, I can’t help but smile as I recall the Superintendent of the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District talk about the great things going on in CFB ISD. Last year I had the opportunity to attend the NSBA site visit at CFB ISD and I was inspired. In fact I went back to my school district with my new found knowledge and implemented what I learned from them.
Today, I was so excited to see them being honored for their work with technology in education and they were even presenting at 10:30. Yahoo… Then it dawned on me, I am presenting at 10:30. Bummer, (insert sad face here) but that is okay, great things will be there tomorrow and people who do great things in education love to share. One of the reasons, we stay in our noble profession.
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