Reflections on Education Technology Conferences Attended by members of the Office of Instructional Technology of the NYC Department of Education Troy Fischer, Director
Hi all -- this is a blog to facilitate sharing of our conference experiences. Read from the bottom up to get background information and guidelines/ideas for posting.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Celebration of Teaching and Learning, New York, NY
Use this entry to reflect on the Celebration of Teaching and Learning Conference on March 7-8, 2008 attended by all.
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SADNESS When I close my eyes and reflect on the Teaching and Learning event I envision a pathway. At the first bend in the pathway I hear the words “carbon footprint.” Those words resonate as Jane Goodall goes on to explain the importance of every person believing they can make a difference. Each person has the power and ability to make a positive change in the world we live in. Through her Roots and Shoots program http://www.rootsandshoots.org teachers, leaders, parents and students become empowered to initiate a change and collaborate with groups throughout the world. We are no longer bounded by the furthest distance a train or bus can take us in our neighborhoods, but actual collaboration with groups throughout the world that can and want to make a difference. HOPE
SADNESS As I travel further down the pathway I hear the words “urgency and conflict.” Those words resonate from Jean-Michel Cousteau talking about his return to the Amazon 25 years later. http://www.oceanfutures.org/default.asp He shares with us his findings of the Amazon River and what has happened due to expansive soy farms, lumber companies, commercial fishing and illegal animal trafficking. He explains to us that these events (along with other human interventions) are compromising the health and ecology of the Amazon River. His findings and presentation of solutions that are already underway will be fully shared on April 2nd and 9th on PBS. He (and I) encourage teachers, leaders, parents and students to watch this show and learn what is being done to reverse the negative effects humans have inflicted upon the river and become inspired to make a change and a difference. HOPE.
SADNESS The pathway in my mind winds a little bit more and I hear the words “assessment” “student achievement” and “test prep” as I realized the enormous amount of vendors there that were pushing volumes of books. It was overwhelming to see so many vendors with so many “paper” products and very few had anything remotely digital to offer the teaching and learning community. I asked for digital and the best I heard was “We have a cd-rom of the teachers guide” I looked, I searched and I came up empty. While reading Will Richardson’s blog about the T&L Conference, I realized I was not alone. He too, shared frustrations with the lack of technology, although his was from a presenter’s perspective, needless to say, it was lacking across the board. http://weblogg-ed.com/ I am glad to see I am not alone with this frustration in a shift that seems to be stuck in neutral. HOPE.
SADNESS Not to be melancholy and leave you with the impression that this pathway in my mind was a dark and depressing one, it wasn’t. I was filled with HOPE. I was inspired to start something (what I’m not sure) but I left believing that somehow through my skills in technology, my abilities to reach far and wide and my passion that I can make a difference to begin getting the shift out of neutral. To do something positive, to change the footprints we leave and inspire young and old to do the same. HOPE.
As with the last poster, I also noted the lack of technology in much of what was available. I think it is easy for us to get caught in worlds where technology is assumed and improving practices around technology is the focus, especially when we attend technology or technology education focused conferences. Remaining in touch with the broader educational community though discipline specific conferences or general education conferences (such as T&L) helps us to remember the context within which cultural change needs to occur. However, unlike the initial poster, I saw glimmers of that happening as I made my tour around and even the occassional glimmer of others working to imporve on their practices that utilized technology within education. Christopher
I was particulary moved by Jane Goodalls words. Our world is not what it used to, and change is no longer an option, but a necessity. It is us to us invdividually and collectivey to choose to change our ways and consider the future. Teachers have the power to inform, facilitate discussion, create critical thinking and learning opportunities and most of all inspire students (and parents and other teachers)on issues and situations which affect all of use in immediate ways. Technology and it's integration into the curriculum serves as an engagement tool for students. It can and will help with the process mentioned above.
While working at our booth, I also found it great to talk to teachers, coaches, principals and other educators from around the City, listen to their thoughts, ideas and concerns and answer their questions. Got a sense of what is important to them "today" regarding instructional technology use, integration and training. Mitch
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend any of the keynotes at this conference. I was teaching on Friday and manning the booth during the other sessions. I did get to meet many wonderful people at the booth. Several come to mind:
The teacher from Nome, Alaska who was quietly reading our sign when I asked him if he used technology in his classroom in Nome. His face lit up and he said "Have you ever heard of long distance learning?" He then described how he teaches students 150 miles away from Nome using blogs and wikis. Talk about small world!
Or the new Principal who came up to the booth and introduced herself to me, saying she was taking courses with iLead and needed to know what we could do to help her teachers...So I told her!
And, let's not forget the many DOE teachers who stopped by at the booth who didn't know anything about us. It was great introducing our courses to them for the first time.
All in all, a wonderful experience to meet new people. Thanks for taking the time to design such nice shirts...many people wanted to know where they could buy them!
First let me thank the powers that be for providing the funding to allow us to attend this event. I think it was great to publicly get our name out there and I believe it built "Our Team" even more. I enjoyed the conference and was honored to sit in on Jane Goodall keynote. She is an amazing human that we can all learn from. I also felt that the convergence of Teaching and Learning and Technology was certainly evident at the conference, but lacking in depth. I think as "techies" we are a bit spoiled being that we attend Educational Technology conferences, where all we see is an infiltration of technology. It makes me realize how important our task is to help guide the Students, Teachers, Administrators and Parents that we work with directly and indirectly in the right direction.
I thought Will Richardson gave a great insight into the conference in his post URGENT: 21st Century Skills for Educators (and Others) First (http://weblogg-ed.com/2008/urgent-21st-century-skills-for-educators-and-others-first/) A large focus of his entry was his difficulty in respecting these experts with no real digital footprint to speak of. I felt the same way, so much so that I began my own personal blog http://TheInnovativeEducator.blogspot.com and accompanying wiki http://TheInnovativeEducator.wikispaces.com.
Richardson also was disappointed about the death by PowerPoint presentations from so many experts. I agreed and really took the time to focus on those presentations that were powerful and the techniques they used vs the death by PowerPoint. I really enjoyed Dave Warlick’s presentation style using the finder organized with thumbnails of videos, pictures, urls, etc. that he seamlessly bounced around between. This is another area I am interested in focusing on as well. Lisa Nielsen
6 comments:
SADNESS
When I close my eyes and reflect on the Teaching and Learning event I envision a pathway. At the first bend in the pathway I hear the words “carbon footprint.” Those words resonate as Jane Goodall goes on to explain the importance of every person believing they can make a difference. Each person has the power and ability to make a positive change in the world we live in. Through her Roots and Shoots program http://www.rootsandshoots.org teachers, leaders, parents and students become empowered to initiate a change and collaborate with groups throughout the world. We are no longer bounded by the furthest distance a train or bus can take us in our neighborhoods, but actual collaboration with groups throughout the world that can and want to make a difference. HOPE
SADNESS
As I travel further down the pathway I hear the words “urgency and conflict.” Those words resonate from Jean-Michel Cousteau talking about his return to the Amazon 25 years later. http://www.oceanfutures.org/default.asp He shares with us his findings of the Amazon River and what has happened due to expansive soy farms, lumber companies, commercial fishing and illegal animal trafficking. He explains to us that these events (along with other human interventions) are compromising the health and ecology of the Amazon River. His findings and presentation of solutions that are already underway will be fully shared on April 2nd and 9th on PBS. He (and I) encourage teachers, leaders, parents and students to watch this show and learn what is being done to reverse the negative effects humans have inflicted upon the river and become inspired to make a change and a difference. HOPE.
SADNESS
The pathway in my mind winds a little bit more and I hear the words “assessment” “student achievement” and “test prep” as I realized the enormous amount of vendors there that were pushing volumes of books. It was overwhelming to see so many vendors with so many “paper” products and very few had anything remotely digital to offer the teaching and learning community. I asked for digital and the best I heard was “We have a cd-rom of the teachers guide” I looked, I searched and I came up empty. While reading Will Richardson’s blog about the T&L Conference, I realized I was not alone. He too, shared frustrations with the lack of technology, although his was from a presenter’s perspective, needless to say, it was lacking across the board. http://weblogg-ed.com/ I am glad to see I am not alone with this frustration in a shift that seems to be stuck in neutral. HOPE.
SADNESS
Not to be melancholy and leave you with the impression that this pathway in my mind was a dark and depressing one, it wasn’t. I was filled with HOPE. I was inspired to start something (what I’m not sure) but I left believing that somehow through my skills in technology, my abilities to reach far and wide and my passion that I can make a difference to begin getting the shift out of neutral. To do something positive, to change the footprints we leave and inspire young and old to do the same. HOPE.
As with the last poster, I also noted the lack of technology in much of what was available. I think it is easy for us to get caught in worlds where technology is assumed and improving practices around technology is the focus, especially when we attend technology or technology education focused conferences. Remaining in touch with the broader educational community though discipline specific conferences or general education conferences (such as T&L) helps us to remember the context within which cultural change needs to occur. However, unlike the initial poster, I saw glimmers of that happening as I made my tour around and even the occassional glimmer of others working to imporve on their practices that utilized technology within education.
Christopher
I was particulary moved by Jane Goodalls words. Our world is not what it used to, and change is no longer an option, but a necessity.
It is us to us invdividually and collectivey to choose to change our ways and consider the future. Teachers have the power to inform, facilitate discussion, create critical thinking and learning opportunities and most of all inspire students (and parents and other teachers)on issues and situations which affect all of use in immediate ways. Technology and it's integration into the curriculum serves as an engagement tool for students. It can and will help with the process mentioned above.
While working at our booth, I also found it great to talk to teachers, coaches, principals and other educators from around the City, listen to their thoughts, ideas and concerns and answer their questions. Got a sense of what is important to them "today" regarding instructional technology use, integration and training.
Mitch
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend any of the keynotes at this conference. I was teaching on Friday and manning the booth during the other sessions. I did get to meet many wonderful people at the booth. Several come to mind:
The teacher from Nome, Alaska who was quietly reading our sign when I asked him if he used technology in his classroom in Nome. His face lit up and he said "Have you ever heard of long distance learning?" He then described how he teaches students 150 miles away from Nome using blogs and wikis. Talk about small world!
Or the new Principal who came up to the booth and introduced herself to me, saying she was taking courses with iLead and needed to know what we could do to help her teachers...So I told her!
And, let's not forget the many DOE teachers who stopped by at the booth who didn't know anything about us. It was great introducing our courses to them for the first time.
All in all, a wonderful experience to meet new people. Thanks for taking the time to design such nice shirts...many people wanted to know where they could buy them!
Fran
First let me thank the powers that be for providing the funding to allow us to attend this event. I think it was great to publicly get our name out there and I believe it built "Our Team" even more. I enjoyed the conference and was honored to sit in on Jane Goodall keynote. She is an amazing human that we can all learn from. I also felt that the convergence of Teaching and Learning and Technology was certainly evident at the conference, but lacking in depth. I think as "techies" we are a bit spoiled being that we attend Educational Technology conferences, where all we see is an infiltration of technology. It makes me realize how important our task is to help guide the Students, Teachers, Administrators and Parents that we work with directly and indirectly in the right direction.
Mike S.
I thought Will Richardson gave a great insight into the conference in his post URGENT: 21st Century Skills for Educators (and Others) First (http://weblogg-ed.com/2008/urgent-21st-century-skills-for-educators-and-others-first/) A large focus of his entry was his difficulty in respecting these experts with no real digital footprint to speak of. I felt the same way, so much so that I began my own personal blog http://TheInnovativeEducator.blogspot.com and accompanying wiki http://TheInnovativeEducator.wikispaces.com.
Richardson also was disappointed about the death by PowerPoint presentations from so many experts. I agreed and really took the time to focus on those presentations that were powerful and the techniques they used vs the death by PowerPoint. I really enjoyed Dave Warlick’s presentation style using the finder organized with thumbnails of videos, pictures, urls, etc. that he seamlessly bounced around between. This is another area I am interested in focusing on as well.
Lisa Nielsen
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