Monday, February 27, 2012

Live Tuesday February 28th with David Weinberger on How the Internet Is Transforming Knowledge and Expertise

Join me Tuesday, February 28th, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com webinar with David Weinberger about his new book, Too Big to Know: Rethinking Knowledge Now That the Facts Aren't the Facts, Experts Are Everywhere, and the Smartest Person in the Room Is the Room


We used to know how to know. We got our answers from books or experts. We’d nail down the facts and move on. But in the Internet age, knowledge has moved onto networks. There’s more knowledge than ever, of course, but it’s different. Topics have no boundaries, and nobody agrees on anything.

"Yet this is the greatest time in history to be a knowledge seeker . . . if you know how. In Too Big to Know, Internet philosopher David Weinberger shows how business, science, education, and the government are learning to use networked knowledge to understand more than ever and to make smarter decisions than they could when they had to rely on mere books and experts.

"This groundbreaking book shakes the foundations of our concept of knowledge—from the role of facts to the value of books and the authority of experts—providing a compelling vision of the future of knowledge in a connected world." (From the book's description.)

Date: Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern / 01:00 GMT (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at http://futureofed.info. The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page.
Recordings: The full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2012-02-28.0537.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350 and a portable .mp3 audio recording is at http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/davidweinberger.mp3.

David Weinberger is co-author of the best-seller The Cluetrain Manifesto, which InformationWeek called the most important business book since Tom Peter's In Search of Excellence. He is also the author of the critically-acclaimed Small Pieces Loosely Joined: A Unified Theory of the Web and of Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder

David is a senior researcher at Harvard Law's Berkman Center for the Internet & Society, Co-Director of the Harvard Library Innovation Lab at Harvard Law School, and is a Franklin Fellow at the United States State Department (2009-2011).  He has been published in a wide variety of journals, including Wired and Harvard Business Review many times, as well as in Scientific American, The New York Times, Smithsonian, Foreign Policy, Salon, USA Today, the Boston Globe, The Guardian...even TV Guide.  He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (from the Univ. of Toronto) and taught philosophy in college for 6 years, has been a frequent commentator on National Public Radio, and is frequently cited by national and international news media.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Live (Early) Friday February 24th with Dennis Littky on Big Picture Schools Schools

Join me Friday, February 24th, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com webinar with Dennis Littky to talk about "The Big Picture:"  his book, Big Picture Schools, and Big Picture Learning. The Big Picture Learning design is "a dynamic approach to learning, doing, and thinking that has been changing the lives of students, educators, and entire communities since 1995. All of components of the design are based on three foundational principles: first, that learning must be based on the interests and goals of each student; second, that a student’s curriculum must be relevant to people and places that exist in the real world; and finally, that a student’s abilities must be authentically measured by the quality of her or his work." Please note that this interview is at an earlier-than-normal time!

Date: Friday, February 24th, 2012
Time: 11am Pacific / 2pm Eastern / 19:00 GMT (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at http://futureofed.info. The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page.
Recordings: The full Blackboard Collaborate recording is available at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2012-02-24.0944.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350 and a portable .mp3 audio recording at http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/dennislittky.mp3.

Dennis Littky is the co-founder and co-director of Big Picture Learning and the Met Center in Providence. He is nationally known for his extensive work in secondary education in urban, suburban, and rural settings, spanning over 40 years. As an educator, Dennis has a reputation for working up against the edge of convention and out of the box, turning tradition on its head and delivering concrete results. Presently, Dennis’s focus is to expand the Big Picture Learning design to include college-level accreditation through College Unbound, where students will have the opportunity to earn a B.A. and advanced certifications through a critically challenging, real-world based, and entrepreneurial course of study.

Dr. Littky holds a double Ph.D. in psychology and education from the University of Michigan. His work as a principal at Thayer Junior/Senior High School in Winchester, N.H. as featured in an NBC movie, A Town Torn Apart based on the book Doc: The Story of Dennis Littky and His Fight for a Better School. In 2004, he (along with Samantha Grabelle) published a book about the Big Picture Learning design entitled The Big Picture: Education is Everyone’s Business, which went on to win the Association of Educational Publishers’ top award for nonfiction in 2005. In 2003, Dennis was recognized as a leader in the small schools movement and awarded the Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education. Fast Company ranked Littky #4 among the top 50 Innovators of 2004, and the George Lucas Educational Foundation selected both Dennis and co-founder Elliot Washoras part of the Daring Dozen – the Twenty Most Daring Educators in the World.  More at http://www.bigpicture.org/.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

PBS NewsHour Is Hoping You'll Give Them Feedback! Online Meeting Tomorrow.

PBS NewsHour is part of our great experiment to help tap the tremendous capacity of the Classroom 2.0 and Library 2.0 audiences and help worthwhile education projects get feedback from real educators. We think you have a lot of advice to offer those who want to serve education!

First, if you haven't already joined the PBS NewsHour feedback group, you can do so at http://www.classroom20.com/group/pbs-newshour.

Second, whether you are a member of that group or not, please consider coming to their first live feedback event tomorrow, Wednesday, February 15th, at 2pm US-Pacific / 3pm US-Mountain / 4pm US-Central / 5pm US-Eastern / 22:00 GMT.

Leah Clapman, the Online NewsHour Managing Editor for Education, entreats you: "We need, crave, appreciate your feedback! Come tell us how to make teaching current events easy and rewarding. This will be an informal discussion of the NewsHour's overall strategy and your ideas for teaching current events. Thanks again for being a valuable part of our education consulting team!"

Date: Wednesday, February 15th, 2012
Time: 2pm Pacific / 5pm Eastern / 9pm GMT
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at http://bit.ly/edincubator or https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2008350&password=M.3A365CAA7F47517E637C7DE59DBB34. The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early.
Preparation: To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page at http://support.blackboardcollaborate.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=8336&task=knowledge&questionID=1473.

We hope you will join me and Leah, Veronica, Imani and Thai (the team from PBS NewsHour).

Monday, February 13, 2012

DATE CHANGE: Live Thursday May 31st with Khalid Smith About Startup Weekend EDU

Join me Thursday, May 31st, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com webinar with Khalid Smith to talk about Startup Weekend EDU, the potential impact of entrepreneurial activities on the education ecosystem, and the recent and controversial decision to partner with Pearson.

Date: Thursday, May 31st, 2012
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern / 12am (next day) GMT (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at http://futureofed.info. The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page.
Recordings: The full Blackboard Collaborate recording and a portable .mp3 audio recording will be available soon after the show at http://www.futureofeducation.com.

Former engineer, brand manager, management consultant and community organizer - Khalid Smith leads education programming and strategy at Startup Weekend, the premier experiential education organization teaching entrepreneurship. He helps hackers, entrepreneurs and education experts build teams, start companies and acquire the resources to make meaningful advances in the way people teach and learn. Khalid is geeked and profoundly grateful that everyday he gets to meet great people, promote innovation, and continue his own education via osmosis. A father of two, Khalid and his teacher/principal wife co-founded LessonCast Learning Inc., a professional development platform for leaders of professional learning communities. More short ramblings can be found @KhalidRudo and longer ones at KhalidRudo.com.

Startup Weekend EDU is a "global network of passionate educators, entrepreneurs, developers and designers on a mission to revolutionize the education and learning markets. This is citizen-driven EDU reform." As part of the larger Startup Weekend program, they are "weekend-long, hands-on experiences where entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs can find out if startup ideas are viable. On average, half of Startup Weekend’s attendees have technical backgrounds, the other half have business backgrounds.  Beginning with open mic pitches on Friday, attendees bring their best ideas and inspire others to join their team. Over Saturday and Sunday teams focus on customer development, validating their ideas, practicing LEAN Startup Methodologies and building a minimal viable product. On Sunday evening teams demo their prototypes and receive valuable feedback from a panel of experts."

Join Us for Community Activities at the CUE Conference in Palm Springs



CUE Unplugged is a series of crowd-sourced activities that take place in, around, and with the support of the annual CUE (Computer Using Educators) Conference, held in Palm Springs each year.

All of these events are free and do not require signing up anywhere except to be registered for CUE, so just come join us! Specific locations will be posted prior to the conference. And a HUGE thanks to CUE for making this all possible!

Thursday, March 15th (9am - 3pm) - SOCIALEDCON: SocialEdCon (formerly EduBloggerCon) is an "unconference" activity allowing educators to create and then hold a set of informal discussions. Started five years ago with a very small meeting (me and Barbara Barreda!) at Shakey's Pizza in Palm Spring and held for the last several years the day before CUE, SocialEdCon graduates this year to our own room during the conference! Come join us early Thursday morning to plan the day, then feel free to come and go as you please, attending both traditional CUE sessions and our unconference ones! There are no formal presentations, just "conversations" that you or others facilitate. To lead a session, it is not expected that you prepare material but that you have a topic you want to open to discussion. Let others know you're going to be there by joining the CUE SocialEdCon group at Classroom 2.0.

Friday, March 16th (All day)- UNPLUGGED: Originally conceived as a "fringe festival" or a "salon de refuses," CUE Unplugged is an all-day alternate presentation venue inside the conference--anyone can sign up to present on a topic that might not have been current when proposals for the conference were due, or maybe even a topic that didn't get accepted to the main conference! Or maybe you were too nervous to even apply! Held in a formal presentation area at CUE, these sessions are also streamed live to those not able to physically attend CUE. Sessions are half the normal length of a CUE presentation. A signup page will be posted shortly--check back or wait for an announcement at http://www.classroom20.com. The unplugged sessions are not for commercially-sponsored presentations, however, so please do not submit to present on any commercial project or product with which you have any association.

ALL CONFERENCE, March 15th - 17th, - THE BLOGGERS' CAFE: Also in it's FIFTH year now, the Bloggers' Cafe is an informal, couch-chairs-floor gathering area in the conference center for bloggers, social media mavens, and anyone else who wants to find and connect with others. A beehive of constant activity and conversation, the Bloggers' Cafe makes it hard to go do anything else once you discover it.

Previous years' activities are stored at http://cueunplugged.wikispaces.com

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Learning Instead of Teaching - Nicholas Negroponte

Thanks to Gary Stager for sending me the following video of Nicholas Negroponte talking about rethinking global education based on learning rather than teaching.



The current experiment he describes in the video--to see if the millions of children in villages that have no schools can learn to read by themselves--should be married to 1) Sugata Mitra's work on social learning by groups of children, and 2) the education team I've heard that Amazon has looking at providing Kindles in similar circumstances.

Still hoping I can get both Nicholas and Sugata on the FutureofEducation.com show for interviews!  

This Week: "Unplugged Ed" Tonight; Empowering Teachers; Alan Blankstein; Free Conference Events Coming Up; Hacking Education with Audrey Watters

TONIGHT:
  • Join me as I talk tonight with Laurette Lynn, the "Unplugged Mom," about "unplugging from the conventional and artificial process" of traditional education. More details, with instructions on joining in the live session HERE.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
  • Read the DMLcentral interview with me about about the process of rebuilding educational narratives , the value of thinking of education as a process, and the importance of engagement and empowerment for not just students but also teachers, administrators, families, and communities. And consider attending the DML Conference March 1 - 3 in San Francisco!
INTERVIEWS:
  • This THURSDAY, February 9th, join me as I talk with Alan Blankstein on "Improving Individual Schools" and we discuss his latest book, The Answer Is in the Room.
  • On FRIDAY I'll be appearing live on the Blended Librarians Online Learning Community Webcast, speaking on the topic of "Building a Successful Online Learning Community for Librarians." You aer welcome to join, and more information is HERE.
  • The SATURDAY Classroom 2.0 LIVE! show this week hosts Steven Anderson on "TPACK and the Common Core Standards."
  • NEXT WEEK interviews are with Khalid Smith from Startup Weekend EDU (Tuesday the 14th) and Jane Hart on "Social Learning" (Thursday the 16th). Details and links will be posted at http://www.futureofeducation.com.
  • Recordings from last weeks interviews are now posted:  hear Cable Green talk about the "Obviousness of Open Policy" and Barbara Bray, Kathleen McClaskey, Shannon Miller, and Lisa Nielsen discuss "Personal Learning Profiles." The recording of the Classroom 2.0 LIVE! show with William Sites on "Using Evernote" has also been posted
REMINDERS:
  • Looking for your contributions to the 5th anniversary Classroom 2.0 book!  Join the project HERE. Great submissions coming in!
EVENT CALENDAR:
  • MARCH 15 - 17 (Palm Springs, CA + Virtual): Free social media fun at CUEunplugged during the annual CUE Conference, March 15 - 17--SocialEdCon, Bloggers' Cafe, and anyone can present (streamed as well).  
  • APRIL 26 (Virtual): The first-ever (and free), Classroom 2.0 Gaming in Education virtual conference. More information and announcements shortly at Classroom20.com.
  • JUNE 23 - 26 (San Diego, CA + Virtual): The free and totally fun ISTEunplugged before and during the annual ISTE Conference, including the 5th-year celebration of what used to be called EduBloggerCon but is now SocialEdCon
  • OCTOBER 3 - 5 (Virtual):  The free Future of Libraries world-wide conference, Library 2.012. Sign up for free at http://www.library20.com.
  • NOVEMBER 12 - 16 (Virtual):  The free and amazing 2012 Global Education Conference.  http://www.globaledcon.com.
  • In the planning stages:  
    • The Social Learning Summit this spring
    • Search Matters virtual conference on the importance of search literacy (with a little help from our friends at Google!).
    • AltEdCon, the first world-wide virtual conference on alternative education:  homeschooling, unschooling, distance learning, etc.
    • Bootcamp 2.0 virtual summer professional development institutes taught by some of your favorite Web 2.0 gurus.
    • Community 2.0:  Social Networking in Education
EDINCUBATOR:
  • Join the educator council for PBS NewsHour HERE
HACK EDUCATION PODCAST:
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:
  • Many of the free community activities that I bring to you through Web 2.0 Labs are looking for appropriate and authentic sponsorship! Email me if you'd like to support one of the events or activities above.
Have a great week!