Thursday, September 12, 2013

Live Interview Today (Thursday) - Kevin Jones on De-Cog-ifying Yourself and Your Students/Children!

Join me today, Thursday, September 12th, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com conversation with Kevin Jones, self-proclaimed leader of the decog movement.

Kevin is a speaker and an organizational consultant (vinjones.com), and has worked for 15 years helping organizations change the way they work, looking at organizational and management strategy, enterprise social networking, culture assessment and change, and performance improvement. His decog.me site caught my eye, and while it's in its infancy, I think it reflects as significant historical moment precipitated by the Internet: the waning of institutional influence and the rise of individual expression.

It's certainly not that individual expression and activity are new, but the Internet-enabled, democratized, geographic and intellectual independence are new. The power of institutions to shape narratives and behaviors is increasingly being weakened by the avenues for individual and alternative voices, and many of the discussions we have in education recognize the importance of helping students live in this new world. We talk a lot about: learning how to learn instead of learning a set body of content; becoming self-directed instead of passive learners; creating rather than just consuming; and representing oneself on the Web (sometimes through digital portfolios) as part of discovering and building one's authentic interests and value.

Here is Kevin's description of the employee who is a "cog." How much does schooling influence or reflect this?
An employee who has lost their passion. They take orders, fly under the radar, get work done and only tolerate the 8-10 hours of their work day hoping that they can just hold on to their job until they retire or until something better comes along. 
They live an unfulfilling career, not making the difference in the world they once dreamed.  This is not their desired state or outcome, but they feel powerless to do anything about it or have given up. 
They have given in.
The embedded video below dramatically shows this connection (or disconnection) between childhood and adulthood in a cog-based world. We'll explore this and more in the interview.

Date: Thursday, September 12th, 2013
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at http://www.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. Apple Mac users:  If you are using a Mac running Mountain Lion v10.8.4, Blackboard has released a special app called the "Collaborate Launcher for Mac" which is now required for Mountain Lion v10.8.4 and later. More information HERE. Mobile users: You can join live sessions from iPhone, iPad, or Android device (including Kindle Fire HD). Links to download the mobile apps can be found at http://www.blackboard.com/Platforms/Collaborate/Products/Blackboard-Collaborate/Mobile-Collaboration.aspx.
Recording: A full Blackboard Collaborate recording and an audio mp3 recording will be available after the show here and at http://www.stevehargadon and http://www.futureofeducation.com.


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