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Society confronts educational change in an odd, entirely counter intuitive manner. On one hand we acknowledge that education can and should do a better job of preparing our children for the future while on the other we cling to the models of education that we knew. This led educational writer Will Richardson to state that 'the biggest barrier to rethinking schooling in response to the changing worldscape is our own experience in schools'. Our understandings of what school should be like and our imaginings of what school could be like are so clouded by this experience that even the best evidence for change is overlooked or mistrusted.

Through any lens schools are complex places. A melting pot of human, social, political, economic, technological, physical and philosophical tensions. At once the stronghold of our cultural traditions and facilitators of our future wellbeing, schools serve as pillars of stability constructed at the event horizon between our now and our tomorrow. Perhaps at this point in time more than ever is this tension between the role that schools play in indoctrinating our youth into the ways of society at odds with the imperative to prepare them for their futures.

"Reverse Instruction"  Flipping learning for Schools of the Future.  New trend is to recorde lesson (lecture) for viewing outside of school.  Use school time for lesson activity, projects, etc.

EduCon 2.2 is both a conversation and a conference. And it is not a technology conference. It is an education conference. It is, hopefully, an innovation conference where we can come together, both in person and virtually, to discuss the future of schools. Every session will be an opportunity to discuss and debate ideas -- from the very practical to the big dreams. 1256484170_twitter_02.png 1256484162_facebook_02.png 1256484938_delicious.png The Axioms Guiding Principles of EduCon 2.2 1) Our schools must be inquiry-driven, thoughtful and empowering for all members 2) Our schools must be about co-creating -- together with our students -- the 21st Century Citizen 3) Technology must serve pedagogy, not the other way around. 4) Technology must enable students to research, create, communicate and collaborate 5) Learning can -- and must -- be networked.

"Educational leaders have to have the courage to reinvent our schools for real this time. And our teachers must be teachers of children as well as teachers of their subject area. This means possessing pedagogical knowledge -- the tools in the tool belt to design a lesson for the students of the present and the problems of the future. "

EduCon 2.1 is both a conversation and a conference. And it is not a technology conference. It is an education conference. It is, hopefully, an innovation conference where we can come together, both in person and virtually, to discuss the future of schools. Every session will be an opportunity to discuss and debate ideas -- from the very practical to the big dreams.

EduCon 2.1 is both a conversation and a conference. And it is not a technology conference. It is an education conference. It is, hopefully, an innovation conference where we can come together, both in person and virtually, to discuss the future of schools. Every session will be an opportunity to discuss and debate ideas -- from the very practical to the big dreams.

"students, learning, future, food, education, schools, teaching"

It is tempting to make predictions of the skills that our students will need beyond their time at school. Such wondering can be a useful guide as we contemplate what we shall focus on with our curriculum. Unsurprisingly, there is no shortage of predictions for future skillsets published by educators, economists and analysts. What might we learn from such lists, and how should education systems respond?

These two powerful questions framed a recent webinar presented by Professor David Perkins of Harvard Graduate School of Education's Project Zero. Answering these questions and helping teachers find meaningful and contextually relevant answers to these questions has been a focus of Perkins' work, especially in recent times. His book "Future Wise: Educating Our Children for a Changing World" introduced us to the notion of lifeworthy learning or that which is "likely to matter in the lives our learners are likely to live". This is a powerful notion and one that has the potential to change not only what we teach but also how we go about teaching what we do.

Kevin Honeycutt watched as a group of students at the Turning Point Learning Center, a K-8 charter school in Emporia, KS, took turns with an iPad, rocking out on a virtual guitar as they rehearsed for an upcoming spring concert. Steve Dembo, online community manager for Discovery Education, has postulated about the device on his blog. "While being able to store a thousand books on the device is wonderful, that in itself doesn't increase student learning," he wrote in an email. "But when you begin combining the written knowledge with images, videos, and interactive activities in a personal, intuitive interface, that's when we begin truly experiencing the future of learning."

iPad education visions

Meet the extraordinary Archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and All Galilee of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, the largest Christian community in Israel, Elias Michael Chacour. Most famous for his work in uniting Israelites and Arabs. He is also the founder of the Mar Elias High School. "We want to live in the present time doing our task and preparing a future, not alone - but, rather, Jews and Palestinians together". To read more about Elias Chacour visit www.thextraordinary.org

This much-maligned question seems so appropriate for education's recent history. All that was normal, everything that was routine, all of our structures, have been turned upside down and hurled into the wind of COVID19. From having spoken of a future dominated by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA), we have found ourselves living in it. Innovation and creativity became the new normal as we "Apollo 13" schooling into a model that met the demands of emergency remote learning. The pressure, the workload, the demands on our time and the cognitive load have all been immense, and so it seems fitting to ask "Are we there yet?".

On Saturday I had the opportunity to join a group of very enthusiastic teachers to hear Alan November and Carl Jarvis speak at North Turramurra Primary School. That so many educators from across Sydney were keen to give up a Saturday is a testament to their desire to improve their teaching but also a measure of the respect these speakers garner.

A contest for students in Middle and High School. What new jobs will be available in the 2020.

Actually, there isn't one, there are three choices that anyone offering higher education is going to have to make. Should this be scarce or abundant? MIT and Stanford are starting to make classes available for free online. The marginal cost...

In June 2014, the Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon. Tony Abbott MP acknowledged the significant role that STEM is to play in the nations future. 'There will be significant emphasis in boosting our focus on science, technology, engineering and maths because science is at the heart of a country's competitiveness and it is important that we do not neglect science as we look at the general educational and training schemes.' But what does this mean for schools?