Drape's Takes

David Warlick led a session during EduBloggerCon 2007 that was extremely enlightening and by now, landmark. As a result of the enthusiasm felt in that session and subsequent relationships that were formed following that initial introduction, I have been reflecting further on the read/write web and its implications for the future of education.

To begin Mr. Warlick’s session he asked a simple question: “What is working?” Answers varied from brief one-word answers to elaborate descriptions of effective practice. I took fairly comprehensive notes during the session that I have yet to publish. As the content was very thought-provoking, I felt that it would be helpful for all to benefit from the discussion we had. My notes follow.

What is working:

• Wikis – An example of this is the EduBloggerCon wiki. This entire event was planned thereon.
• Online collaboration – School systems are getting together and sharing resources. –Diane Hammond
• Because of new Web 2.0 tools, students and teachers are progressing toward a new learning environment –David Jakes
• Students can show competence.
• Digital cameras, interactive whiteboards – Teachers are starting to engage.
• “The digital camera is the gateway drug [of educational technology].” –Mark Wagner
• “What should the classroom of today look like?” –Steve Dembo
• The classroom of today is a tandem classroom, paired with another classroom of another culture. –Hence the need for increased community (like EduBloggerWorld).
  
• “It’s all about connections.” –Vicki Davis
• “Start where you’re comfortable.” –Vicki Davis
• “I have some students that - what goes on in schools stays in schools.”
• “Now that we have all of this data on our students, what is there in the long tail for education?” –Doug Johnson
• “The school of the future doesn’t concentrate on tools – because the tools are constantly changing. The school of the future concentrates on the learning.” –Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
• “Kids need to know how to choose which tool – because there are so many…” –Scott Merrick
• “Smart classrooms have to be more than just the hardware – it’s a philosophical change about what happens with the tools in the classroom.” –Jeff Utecht
• “We’re at the very beginning of a huge shift.”
• “The smart classroom is the classroom that becomes a conduit for connections.
• “In the smart classroom, the technology’s not integrated, it’s integral.” –David Jakes
• “Social networking is going to be an integral part of the school of the future.” –David Warlick
• Should it be called “Student Networking” instead of “Social Networking”? –Vicki Davis

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Exciting things are happening out there. Very exciting things.

Those of you that attended this year's EduBloggerCon "un-conference" in June remember that it was an amazing way to begin this year's NECC. Because not all bloggers were able to attend EduBloggerCon, we have created EduBloggerWorld - a Ning social network designed to facilitate connections and community for educational bloggers worldwide, serving as a first step toward future virtual events similar to EduBloggerCon.

Less than a week old, EdubloggerWorld is growing rather quickly (over 100 members in less than 5 days - with no formal advertising). Comparatively, there are more EduBloggerWorld members now (115) than there were attendees of EduBloggerCon (104) in Atlanta. Interestingly, communities within the community have also sprung up - with the creation of several groups including a Spanish bloggers group that has written several posts to the community in Spanish.

On behalf of Steve Hargadon, Julie Lindsay, and Vicki Davis, I write inviting you to join us (http://www.edubloggerworld.com/). We think this is an important step in embracing the international culture of a flattening world and an excellent way to pay attention to the world around us.

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Well it's official. Or as official as any "un-conference" can be.

I just finished a chat session with three of the smartest people I've entered a Google Talk session with. Alright, it was my first time using Google Talk, but they are pretty smart.

Julie Lindsay, Steve Hargadon, Vicki Davis, and I discussed a few of the formalities surrounding an international version of EduBloggerCon. In our discussion, we decided it would be best to allow for asynchronous communication - accompanied by occasional "live" sessions - dates and methods to be determined later. What's the name of all this madness, you ask?

EduBloggerWorld - coming to a Ning near you. Steve has done an excellent job in creating an online community in which we can all participate - the official URL of which is http://www.edubloggerworld.com/. It is our hope that this site will serve as the home and planning location for future, international versions of EduBloggerCon.

There's no turning back now.

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Graham has done it again. He's gone off, spreading his pie-in-the-sky ideas about how there is actually life outside of the United States. He's even got the nerve to suggest that his thoughts (as well as the thoughts of countless others out there) are valid and should be valued. Then, to top it all off, he's decided that we Americans shouldn't alone decide how edubloggers around the world should tag.

The nerve.

Doesn't he know that we had things under control during our Edubloggercon meeting-of-the-minds? Noooo. He's published his theory explaining why many Americans have a tendency to ignore the Non-American. And you know what?

Graham's right! Again.

His theory, while a little wordy, is dead on. Americans (or those hailing from the United States) have rarely acknowledged the greatness of international participants in Olympics past because, frankly, they were never exposed to them. As anyone that has viewed Olympic competitions from an American television set knows, the United States media does little to expose us to anything but the American athletes. Wait a minute - weren't we talking about education and technology? Yep. From Graham Wegner:

Unless you live in a smaller country, you can’t see that many of the issues pushed as being important around the edublogosphere are actually focussed towards the biggest participating nation and its education system. This is not a criticism. Don’t get me wrong. But it is something to be aware of if you are a Stateside blogger - your view is not necessarily the world view. Just like the American public watching the Sydney Olympics. There are others involved, maybe in lesser numbers, but just as passionate at leveraging new technologies for learning. And some US edubloggers (people I read and respect) are influenced by my Olympics Effect Theory.

So what are we going to do now? I'll tell you what might help:

Reason #7 - Blogging can actually give teachers an international perspective.

I mean think about it. When teachers sit, isolated in their classrooms, they are stuck with their limited, four-walled perspective. If teachers were to at least participate in the blogging process (reading, commenting, hopefully writing), the entire world could be in on their thoughts, needs, and desires - opening doors, encouraging creative thought, giving perspective. I know that I have gained a much needed (far-more-international-than-before) perspective as a result of my participation in/with the blogosphere.

And what about EduBloggerCon and our dire need for an international meeting of the minds? For those of you that were fortunate enough to attend the first EduBloggerCon (last week in Atlanta, Georgia - also home of the 1996 Olympic Games), you realize (or realise) the tremendous value it was to have Julie Lindsay, Mario Asselin, Anja C. Wagner, Vincent Jansen, and Diane Hammond join the ranks - each providing a refreshing international perspective to our discussions. I hope that upcoming EduBloggerCons can be increasingly global in approach.

Furthermore, I propose that it's time to begin planning an international EduBloggerCon that's truly international. In the spirit of upcoming regional EduBloggerCons, it's time to organize an event that any and every blogger can attend. Indeed, Second Life should do the trick (possible site for the 2020 Olympic Games). Here are a few of my initial thoughts (also started here). If this is really going to work, we will need to:

1. Decide on a date. Personally, I think that any of these days would work: August 27, September 21, October 17.
2. Decide on a time. I like 08:00 SL-Time (15:00 GMT). Once we decide on a time, I suggest that we continue to use SL-Time to avoid confusion with Daylight Savings.
3. Decide on a location. Ryan Bretag's Blogger's Cafe would work nicely for small groups, but can it handle a large one?
4. Decide on sessions, the format, etc.
   

I personally think that Ryan would be the best person to set this thing up (he did an excellent job with the Second Life International Conference back in May). David and Will should also be involved - if this is ever going to gain any traction. Heck, I'd even throw a few Lindon$ in Hargadon's general direction if he were to take up the organizational reins.

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Combined with the first annual Edubloggercon, NECC 2007 was the best conference I have ever attended. Ever. And I've been to my share of conferences. Part of the reason it was so great is because, for the first time in our planet's history, this conference was AJAX-ed to the MAX, steeped in Second Life, and totally Twitter-powered. Presenter after presenter described exciting new online tools and trends including references to:

• Mashups and remixes
• Google Tools and other online productivity applications
• Podcasting, blogging, and collaboration - this time shifting emphasis to activities that our students can do (instead of only us teachers)
• Creative Commons
• The educational uses of cell phones, Palm Pilots and other mobile devices
• The Digital Generation

Second Life was another technology that received a lot of "buzz". It was exciting to see so many educators learning about Second Life and ways that they could use it in their teaching. My personal favorite thing to do while I was "in-world" during the conference was to find a group that was learning about Second Life and then move my avatar so that it was in their avatar's field of view. Once there I would quickly perform a series of flexing, yawning, and hula-dancing gestures while the presenter's back was turned - guaranteed to produce a few laughs for participant's first lives. On a side note, ISTE returned my box of free Second Life Pay Attention T-Shirts. If there's interest, I'll find another place to stash the box - post a comment if you're interested.

Finally, NECC 2007 was the first conference I had ever attended in a Twitterized fashion. With Twitter, I have been able to "follow" the lives of dozens of other like-minded people from all over the world. Excitingly, I was able to personally meet many of my "Twitter Friends" this year at NECC, turning them in to genuinely real friends. I think that Kevin Honeycutt said it best when he told me that this conference was amazing because we were finally able to match the faces to the brains we had already come to know and love.

I'm struck with an amazing realization as I view both my RSS Reader and my list of Twitter friends. From those two lists alone, at NECC 2007 I was able to meet (and in most cases hold genuine, transparent conversations with) each of the following people for the first time:

• Brian Crosby
• Chris Craft
• Chris Lehmann
  
• Christopher Sessums
• David Jakes
  
• David Warlick
• Jeff Pulver
  
• Jeff Utecht
• John Pederson
• Julie Lindsay
• Karl Fisch
• Ken Pruitt
• Kevin Honeycutt
  
• Mark Wagner
• Ryan Bretag
• Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
  
• Steve Dembo
• Steve Hargadon
• Terry Freedman
  
• Tim Lauer
• Tim Wilson
• Tom Woodward
• Tony Vincent
• Vinnie Vrotney
  
• Wesley Fryer
• Will Richardson

Like I said, it was a great conference. I'm ready to do it again soon.

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Edubloggercon has definitely been the highlight of my NECC experience. In the morning I, along with dozens of others) was able to meet the faces that accompany the names and the tweets. It was truly an honor for me to meet (and associate with) the entire Edubloggercon community.

Reason #6: Edubloggercon - need I say more.

The second session at Edubloggercon will leave a lasting impression on my mind as to the power of the blogosphere, collaborative software, and the spontaneity of ad hoc conferences. David Warlick led an incredible discussion about the future of schools, students, and teachers. My brain excluded, the collective brain power of that group could have powered all the lights in the Georgia World Congress Center for an entire weekend. While the audio is sub-par, you can listen to the session here. You can also view David's summary here, view a Flickr slideshow of the un-conference here.




This video (sorry so shaky - I guess it's best if you play/pause, play/pause, play/pause...) gives a quick glance at those participating in the second session.

Thanks for the memory, guys. Let's do it again soon.

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