I am sitting in the closing keynote of CONTACT, a joint conference of teachers from the four atlantic provinces in Canada, listening to Betty-Jean Aucoin.

This is NOT a technology-oriented conference, kind of a change for me.  I wasn’t sure what to expect coming in, knowing that I was invited to speak on “Creating Flat Classrooms for the 21st Century”.  Would delegates be interested in the shift?  Would they resist? Where would the conversations flow?

Right off the bat, I was impressed with the quality of the ideas.  Quite a few teachers engaged in the conversations about the future of learning at a higher level.  They got it.  Others were interested and eager to learn more. Other pushed back, an important role to make those of us who tend to charge ahead challenge our ideas.

I think the biggest takeaway from this event for me, however, is that teachers seem ready for change.  They are beginning to see that change is needed and seem ready to start the shift – at least as a collective.  The conversations I have had here with classroom teachers have been valuable.  It was an eye-opener to see what our next door neighbors in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland faced each day.  Despite the opportunities to attend international conferences and connect with teachers globally through blogging and twitter, I was not all that connected to the people right next door.

I feel for them.  Ten-year old computers, slow connections and filters that block blogs.  Change will happen, but it will be slow.  Too many bureaucrats make too many decisions about learning that they don’t understand and those decisions do nothing to prepare our students for their future.  In fact, many of the decisions create barriers.  I can’t tell you how many times last night I was told by teachers from the other provinces that their departmental decision-makes needed to hear the message of 21st century learning.

As this conference wraps up, we see it as the end. What I am hoping is that it is only the beginning – the beginning of conversations in our region of the country to continue the shift in learning.

tags: technology, education, whipple, learning, contact2008