Group items tagged

key points (see also my bookmark to the BLC '07 keynote by Professor McFarlane) - technology is not helping learning (1:30) - american high schools are counterproductive to success in knowledge society (Bill Gates) (2:30) - have a model where kids produce their own digital representation of how they see the world (4:00) - make learning deeper rather than try to cover a lot of content but shallow learning (5:00) - one suggestion is teaching people to be able to recognise an evidence-based argument and not be susceptible to incorrect information (6:00) - model for assessment based on this sort of change to curriculum (7:30) - meaningful coursework - mainly in school - not allowing homework to restrict their self learning - treat school like work in a way with emphasis on quality not quantity (10:00) - need to connect with parents who see school as different than their schooling and unsure about its benefits (11:00) - access to technology (12:00) - benefit based on having the access first bit also that their environment but also their culture at home helps them benefit - top 15% (from BLC keynote) are getting most benefit from access and their culture - but these normally high achievers can't see school as relevant to them based on what they experience at home and are failing at school (13:30) - community knowledge and learning capacity building in technology (14:00) - "digital challenge" program in Bristol (14:40) - community mentors that learn something then teach to others in the community - giving more people access and that means they can have choices on what they can do

Professor MacFarlane discusses many issues which ring true to me. In particular: - lack of vision for what education could be like with new technology (around 4 min mark) - the web2.0 and technology revolution is great for the 15% of people who have a good life anyway because of their suituation and culture (5:30) - others don't benefit from the access to the technology - they need help (6:00) - no change in classroom over last 20 years with computers and in danger of no change in next 20 years (7:30) - instruction vs. construction (8:30) - expect learning to change with introduction of technology (10:30) - but hasn't really done so - student self-directed learning is separate from school work i.e. at home and not related to school (14:30) - much of what kids do on computers at home is trivial (16:00) - the ones that do have good experiences are the same 15% (16:30) - kids that are missing out have a computer at home probably but no access to the community that enables them to have these experiences (17:10) - doing something by themselves does not really benefit them - it is being part of a community that had benefit for learning - what are we dong for these people? (19:10) - talking about missing pedagogical model for how to teach (22:00) - teachers are expected to use technology to provide innovative learning but no model against which to do so, some don't use it at all, some use it inappropriately - there maybe some individual examples but not overall (23:00) - schools bad at connecting with their communities in a learning sense (26:00) - talks about chinese online writing community and how they comment, collaborate (34:00) - community (47:30) - communitites aren't formed when people are brought together in schools etc. - need to have a common problem or interest (48:30) - Plant's definition? - in education the problem is because assessment is done individually (49:00) - so forming groups and sharing ideas is not attractive for students - worried about not getti

Gary Stager's keynote

HelloSlide is a pdf-only tool that allows you to add computer-generated voice to your documents. Upload your presentation, type the speech for each slide, and the programs automatically generates audio. Presentations are searchable, editable, and available in 20 different languages. An edit feature allows you to tweak the speech without re-recording the audio. Translations are available as a paid feature. This may be useful for ESL learners. (Note: it is super easy to export PowerPoint and Keynote files as pdfs.)

This is the audio/slide recording of my talk "Web 2.0 Is the Future of Education," given as the keynote address for the Knowledge Bank online conference,

Move over Slideshare - think Keynote meets Adobe Air.

Blog posting from Vicki Davis

Start spreading the News to leave some PD time open during the K12 online conference October 20-24 and 27-31! If you want to download the flyer you can get it in PDF format. http://k12onlineconference.org/ Julie and I met 3 years a go at the K12 online conference and shortly thereafter the first Flat Classroom Project was born. Little did we know we'd be keynoting a strand so soon. But the best thing about the K12 online conference is you -- us. All of "us" -- the loosely defined, ever changing edublogosphere full of plurkers, lurkers, and prolific conversationalists. So, you've been hanging around the fringes wondering if all of this "stuff" is for you and your classroom. I challenge you -- read / listen to ONE session -- participate in ONE conversation. Just dip you toe in and see what you think! Share what you're doing! Learn from others! This is not about any ONE person telling US how to do things the best way. This is about US telling US how to do things. Free. By teachers and educators for teachers and educators. What is there to lose?

Last week I spent three days thinking about curriculum and all that it means to teaching and learning thanks to the Australian Curriculum Studies Association's biannual conference. It was three days of deeply thoughtful conversation and learning with just the right mix of academic research and ideas for grounded practice straight out of innovative classrooms and schools. With keynotes by Alan Reid, Dan Haesler, Bob Lingard, Robert Randall and Jan Owen combined with Masterclasses from some of Australia's leading educators there was much on offer. The biggest challenge was deciding which workshop you would attend when every session offered such outstanding opportunities.

"Flat Classroom Project 2010 - 1"

Keynote for Flat Classroom Project 2010 -1 created by Judy O'Connell, Sydney, Australia

reducing our aims just to types of skills risks boring everyone to death with short lived, tool specific training which doesn't address the social and political context of people's lives or their reasons for engaging with technology.