I’ve been trying to peek in on the K12 Online Conference over the past couple of weeks, but haven’t found the time I had hoped.  However, I have watched David Warlick‘s pre-conference keynote a couple of times.

The first time I saw/met David Warlick was in a formal conference environment (we had a brief chance to talk on a bus drive). He was amazing, rekindling an enthusiasm for learning and the immense potential these instruments have in our classrooms (Just ask any of my colleagues – they hear it every day!!).

But his on-line keynote was even more special…even though he was there then and I was here now (and I watched half at school and the other half in the evening at home) his keynote had an innate sense of intimacy. The way he moved around to illustrate and convey ideas, it reminded me of how kids might send video clips to tell their stories to their Grannie who lives across the country. It was personal and a truly amazing learning experience. I only wish I could have particpated in the on-line discussion.

What a GREAT idea for a conference. Don’t get me wrong, there is still a valuable place for the traditional conference (where else can we share a laugh or two together??!!), but this experiment will surely take its place in the repertoire of learning essentials.

I have been peddling the conference to our staff. Despite their time crunch, I am hopeful that at least some of them might find some time to participate.  I’ll be interested to hear their thoughts.

 Technorati tags: warlick, conferences, k12online06

Yesterday was a wonderful day for me. To start I was privileged to attend the wedding of a wonderful young teacher-to-be. Last year Rebecca spent three months as a Teacher Intern with my teaching partner and myself in our dual 1:1 class.

Reared in a conservative British education system and having attended university in my alma mater (of which I have written previously), Rebecca had little exposure to the potential impact of technology in creating a student-centered learning environment. However, to her credit, she was open to learning and re-learning, and her impact on the community of learners in our classroom was amazing.

She is going to be an awesome teacher, and I am so happy that she is planning on staying in Canada with her husband (a young Christian minister) and contributing to our children’s education. Congrats Bec and Matt!

Last evening I had the pleasure of hanging with my wife and my former team-teaching partner and his wife as we enjoyed an amazing show by Juan de Marcos (of the Buena Vista Social Club) and his Afro Cuban All Stars. I am not a musician (although I was able to pass an Elementary Music Education course in university) but I was able to fully appreciate the quality of the performances.

I counted no fewer that 17 different performers on stage last night, ranging in age from 22 to 83! Unbelievable! But as the show continued and the wonderful waves of music washed over me, my mind kept revisiting the analogy that I had written about in my last blog entry.

Each and every one of the 17 performers had a chance to be the “headliner” during the show. You could tell how much they loved being given their chance to show their talents on whatever instrument they played and the others enjoyed playing a supporting role.

The most amazing part of the show was when the amazing 83 year old Ibrahim Ferrer took center stage and wowed the audience with his voice and showmanship. It was obvious that the younger group took much from him, a strong case for multi-age learning environments, but I digress…

There were so many analagous connections with the classroom that I lost track, but it was obvious that just like the band, every student in our classrooms deserves a chance to shine at whatever they are best at. For some their “instrument” might be performing, others it might be athletics. To say it again, it is NOT about the technology! Technology simply serves to provide many other instruments for students in our schools.

Technology allows everyone to join in the band (learning). Whether it be adaptive technologies that allow a struggling reader to harvest information or presentation software that allows a less-than-artistic youngster (we’ve all seen their poster displays) to have a presentation that looks just as professional (at least in his eyes) as the higher achievers in the class, technology serves as a great “leveler” in our learning community, allowing everyone to participate in making music in their own way.

As part of the Department of Education’s decision to outfit all 7000 teachers in New Brunswick with laptop computers and expand the 1:1 student laptop program  to almost 3000 students in 28 schools province-wide, they also committed to hiring two or three dozen technology mentors.  I am one of them (and the only one specifically dedicated to a 1:1 program). We get together once in a while to talk shop and share ideas.  

We were together a couple of weeks ago.  I happened to be engaged in a conversation with several of my colleagues when one of them (I can’t recall right now exactly who it was) made an astute observation which I have been chewing on since.

The 1962 movie The Music Man told the story of a con artist who went into a town and persuaded the locals to fork over their cash and he, in turn, would supply musical instruments and teach their children to play.  In the end he is exposed, reforms and does indeed teach the town to play by focusing their efforts on forming and playing in a band. In the end, it wasn’t about the mechanics of playing an instrument that made people successful as musicians, it was about their collective vision of making music together that made musicians out of individuals.

There is an analogy here with what we do as educators.  It is not about the technology.  We can teach the mechanics of the technology all we want, but learners (students and teachers alike) will never be truly successful without a reason to learn.  Technology has no real reward in and of itself, but is only valuable within the context of authentic communication.  This is especially true in our classrooms.

We need to place more focus on giving our students a reason and opportunity to use the technology.  They will figure out – like motivated learners always seem to do – how to use it! 

Our only question now should be what kind of music we want to play together – the instruments will take care of themselves, eh?

technorati tags: education, technology