Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Just a Day Away: Yong Zhao, Michael Fullan, Bill Brennan, and the 2013 School Leadership Summit

Thursday, March 28th, is our inaugural, online, and free School Leadership Summit. http://www.SchoolLeadershipSummit.com.

We invite you to join us for a very full day of sessions from Yong Zhao, Michael Fullan, Bill Brennan, and 67 other presenters as part of a virtual and collaborative global conversation on school leadership.

The hour-by-hour conference schedule, with instructions for attending, is available to view in 35 different time zones at http://admin20.org/page/schedule. The Summit welcome is at 6:30am US Pacific Daylight Time, and the conference finishes with an informal online "after party" at 7:00pm, twelve and a half hours later.

Conference strands are aligned to the internationally-recognized ISTE National Education Technology Standards for Administrators and include the leadership topics of: Vision in a Changing World, Teaching and Learning in a Changing World, Professional Learning in a Changing World, Data-driven Reform in a Changing World, and Ethical and Responsible Use in a Changing World.  TICAL (the Technology Information Center for Administrative Leadership) is the founding partner of the conference.

We invite you to join us! All are welcome.


Friday, March 22, 2013

The School Leadership Summit Is March 28th - All Welcome! Plus, Call for Volunteers


Thursday, March 28th, is our inaugural, online, and free School Leadership Summit. http://www.SchoolLeadershipSummit.com.

Below you will find information about the event, how to attend, the current schedule of presentations, and a call for volunteers to help moderate sessions (we need you!).  Please distribute this information wherever you can.

The Summit:

The School Leadership Summit is a unique chance to participate in a virtual and collaborative global conversation on school leadership with presentations by practitioners.  Conference strands are aligned to the internationally-recognized ISTE National Education Technology Standards for Administrators and include the leadership topics of: Vision in a Changing World, Teaching and Learning in a Changing World, Professional Learning in a Changing World, Data-driven Reform in a Changing World, and Ethical and Responsible Use in a Changing World.  TICAL (the Technology Information Center for Administrative Leadership) is the founding partner of the conference.

To Attend:

The Summit is held online using Blackboard Collaborate and open to anyone to attend.  The conference schedule is kept current at http://admin20.org/page/schedule and during the conference will be viewable by specific world time zones. During the conference each session will also have a specific link to the Blackboard Collaborate room for the session, as well as instructions for using Collaborate (which works on all major computer platforms).  While not required for attendance, we do encourage you to join the conference host network to receive notices and announcements.  

Keynotes and Distinguished Speakers:

The Summit has a terrific set of keynote and distinguished speakers:  Michael Fullan, Yong Zhao, Bill Brennan, Pam Moran & Ira Socol, Lucy Gray, Keith Krueger, Eric Sheninger, and Steven Anderson.  More information at http://admin20.org/page/keynotes.

The Schedule:

The current session schedule for the Summit is listed below.

Volunteers:

Of course, and event like this is not possible without the terrific support of volunteers who help to moderate the virtual rooms for the conference!  If you are familiar with Blackboard Collaborate, or are willing to take the training to become so (http://admin20.org/page/training), we are now calling for volunteers to sign up to help in time slots.  Please join us!  To volunteer, please 1) join the volunteer group at the website (http://admin20.org/group/volunteers) and 2) go to http://sls13volunteer.youcanbook.me to sign up for specific time slots.  If you haven't been part of the volunteer team at one of our previous conferences, it's a great experience.  Thank you!

See you online!

Steve

Steve Hargadon
Co-Chair, 2013 School Leadership Summit

The Summit Schedule:

Times below are in US-Pacific Daylight Time (UTC/GMT - 7).  During the conference you will be able to view the schedule on pages specific for each of the world's time zones.  There are likely to be small changes to the schedule before the conference, so be sure to confirm final session times on the website.

6:30am
Summit Welcome

7:00am
OPENING KEYNOTE: Bill Brennan

8:00am 
Building a Productive School Community - Kathy Blackburn, Executive Director
Creating Social Awareness and Ethics Among Students - Ways and Means - Dr. Revathi Viswanathan
Gamifying Curriculum: Quest-Based Learning - Sean J. O'Neil, Technology Coordinator
How Can Mainstream Education Meet The Needs of Post-Modern Society? - Kim Jones, CEO
Professional Development Workshop for Citizenship Education & Conflict Analysis in Teaching of Social Studies - Noureen.M. Salim Reimoo
The use of the Interconnected Model of Teacher Professional Growth for the professional development of science teachers’ of a remote town - Mehreen Saleem
The winds of change: Harnessing technology to the school’s benefit - Chryssanthe Sotiriou High School EFL Coordinator

9:00am 
22nd Century Educational Leadership skills needed NOW! - The Bearded Dog (a.k.a. Frank Samuels) - Principal
Appropriate Digital Technology Use for School Leaders - Mike Ribble, Director of Information Technology
Digital Citizenship Education for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders - Dr. Lesley Farmer, Professor of Library Media
Mentoring skills for better leaders - Tamas Lorincz, freelance teacher trainer
RADIO SOLIDARIA AMIGA, ONLINE UNA HERRAMIENTA PARA EL APRENDIZAJE - M ยช Magdalena Galiana Lloret. Docente
The Social Media Dilemma in Education: Policy Design, Implementation and Effects - Dr. Devery J. Rodgers
Whole Child Arithmetic: More than the Sum of its Parts - Jason Flom, Director of Learning Platforms

10:00am 
BABY BOOMER SUPERINTENDENTS: THEIR LEADERSHIP AND SUPPORT OF MILLENNIAL PRINCIPALS - Jay A. Greenlinger, Principal
Belief drives epistemology drives pedagogy. We teach based on our belief of how students learn. - Dr. Patrick Faverty, Faculty Lecturer
Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) Programs: Baby Steps for Schools - Susan Brooks-Young Author/Consultant
If Information Overload is the Sickness - Then Curating is the Cure! - Nancy White, 21st Century Learning & Innovation Specialist
Improving trust and co-operation in learning environments using Nonviolent Communication - Louise ROMAIN, Lead Trainer and Director of Peace Factory, trainer certified with the Centre for Nonviolent Communication (cnvc.org)
Professional Development Session for Mathematics Teachers - Rizwana Haji Mohammad
Teaching and Learning with iTunes U - Shelley Dirst, State Coordinator

11:00am
Appreciative Leadership in Education - Tom Weegar, Regional Director, Port Alberni & Alberni-Clayoquot Region
Cultivating Innovative Leaders - Richard Kassissieh, Academic Dean
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER: Leading for Radical Openness - Pam Moran & Ira Socol
EDUCATION’S LEADERSHIP IN WELLNESS - Pheo Martin, PhD Director
Engaging Generation Z - Shannon Fulp / Instructional Technologist
Escaping Penitentiaries of Boredom - Jeff Cooper Gonzo Educator
Flipped Classrooms - Larry Wilson Consultant
Using Instructional Rounds to Create 21st Century Schools - Tracy Watanabe, Technology Integration Specialist

12:00pm
KEYNOTE: Yong Zhao

1:00pm 
Engaging Students with 1:1 and an LMS - Pati Ruiz - Instructional Technology Coordinator
Infusing Technology Into the Common Core - Letia Cooper
Motivating the Reluctant Reader Through Technology - Dr.L. Robert Furman Principal
The Collaborative Essay - Colette Marie Bennett
Using Pinterest and Twitter to Build Your PLN - Elissa Malespina School Library Media Specialist
Vision of Learning in Changing World : The emergence of Authentic Pedagogues - ROZINA JUMANI , Associate Prof 
What’s Working in Online Teacher Education Courses? - Amy M. Williamson, Ed.D., Assistant Professor

2:00pm
Adult Education: Professional Development - Lisa Longoria, Director of Curriculum & Instruction
Bridging theory and practice in global education: Implementing the Pedagogy of Plenty across disciplines through teachers’ reflections - Melda N. Yildiz
Digital Citizenship: Teacher Librarians as Information Central - Dr. Lesley Farmer, Professor of Library Media
I was just like you: my professional learning story in a changing world - Dr. Spike C. Cook
Leading Schools in a Web 2.0 World - Lesley Reilly: Online Facilitator and Course Designer
Learning Spaces in a Mobile World - Don Orth, Director of Technology
Teacher Preparation 2.0 - Kristoffer Kohl, Global Partnerships and Engagement

3:00pm 
Building Community Through Powerful Digital Media & Story - Thom Dunks, Leadership Coach, Digital Media Advisor
DeforestACTION! A Global Learning Program for Environmental Stewardship - Sara Hassan
How Data Systems & Reports Can Either Fight or Propagate the Data Analysis Error Epidemic, and How Educator Leaders Can Help - Jenny Grant Rankin, Former Chief Education & Research Officer
Innovation in Composition through Leadership - Barbara c.g. Green, Assistant Academic Chair--Composition
Key Issues in Teacher Evaluation: Implications for Policy and Practice - Ann Gaudino, Ed.D.
Sustainable Development through a Strategic, Data-driven Approach. - Jo Wilson, EPS Co-ordinator 
“Extendiendo el Aula en Tiempo ,Modos y Espacio” - Professor Stella Maris Berdaxagar

4:00pm
A Call for Innovation - Karen Fasimpaur, Educational Consultant 
Digital Literacy: 'reading' the internet critically - Kay Cantwell: Education Officer, Digital Learning
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER: Leadership 2.0 - Eric Sheninger - Principal
Employment Issues in Higher Education, Retaining Professional Viability in a Changing World - Kara Mac Donald, Assistant Professor
Mystery Skype in the Library - Toni Olivieri-Barton
Publish and Prosper: Tips on Promoting Student Generated Knowledge in the Public Sphere - Craig Perrier; High School Social Studies Specialist
Small School Big Tech: Doing More With Less In A Post Desktop World - Andrew Schwab, Director of MIS

5:00pm
Building Future Friendly Schools Through the Use of Collaborative Technology - Kate Gatto, Education Program Manager
Building Learning Pathways: Collaborative Project Based Learning for Any Classroom - Michele Haiken, Ed.D.
Leadership and Collaboration through Technology - Barbara c.g. Green, Assistant Academic Chair Composition Department
Learning and Leading with Emerging Technologies - Jill Berkowicz, Director of Curriculum and Instruction and EdWeek Blogger
Preparing International Students For Success After College - Michael Miller, Author and Founder
Professional Development Session for Language Teachers - Huma Roshan
Unblocked and Unfiltered: Advanced Digital Citizenship -Understanding the Importance of a Personal Web Presence - Holly Clark

6:00pm
CLOSING KEYNOTE: An Interview with Michael Fullan

7:00pm
After Party

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Today - Adam Bessie on the GERM Epidemic: The Global Education Reform Movement

Join me today, Thursday, March 21st, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com conversation with Adam Bessie on "G.E.R.M." - the "Global Education Reform Movement." Adam and graphic journalist Dan Archer explore G.E.R.M. in a three-episode comic titled "The Disaster Capitalism Curriculum: The High Price of Education Reform" (links below).

Pasi Sahlberg, author of Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn About Educational Change in Finland?, created the idea of the Global Educational Reform Movement as G.E.R.M.: "It is like an epidemic," he writes, "that spreads and infects education systems through a virus. It travels with pundits, media and politicians. Education systems borrow policies from others and get infected. As a consequence, schools get ill, teachers don’t feel well, and kids learn less."

Adam and Dan's comic-style exploration of G.E.R.M. is intended to "pull back the progressive propaganda disguising the neoliberal, corporate nature of education reform." Their goal is "to expose the free-market policies that really make up 'education reform'; how these policies threaten our public education; who supports these policies; and, ultimately, what we might be able to do about the 'Disaster Capitalism Curriculum.'"

Here are links to the three episodes:
The Disaster Capitalism Curriculum: The High Price of Education Reform
Murky Waters: The Education Debate in New Orleans
The Finnish Alternative: Reclaiming Public Education From Corporate Reform

Date: Thursday, March 21st, 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.
Recording:  A full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2013-03-21.1706.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350 and an audio mp3 recording  is at http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/adambessie.mp3 and at http://www.futureofeducation.com.
Mightybell:  A Mightybell space with interview resources and to continue the conversation is at https://mightybell.com/spaces/35179.

Adam Bessie is an assistant professor of English at a Northern California community college, where he teaches reading, writing and literature courses, including one devoted to the graphic novel. Before this, Adam was briefly a public high school teacher (and his wife currently teaches social studies in a public high school). He has published essays on education, comics and culture in a wide variety of sources, including Truthout, The Washington Post's "Answer Sheet" and Daily Censored. Follow Asn on Twitter: @adambessie

Monday, March 18, 2013

Tuesday Live: Jay Cross on Informal Learning

Join me Tuesday, March 19th, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com conversation with Jay Cross on his book Informal Learning: Rediscovering the Natural Pathways That Inspire Innovation and Performance. If you are like me, you are going to love this book, and then you are going to spend hours trying to bridge lessons from its work-world and training focus to students in school.

Take, for example, Jay's "Why is this topic important?" blurb at in the "About This Book" page, where he gives us a clue that he is going to seriously question the effectiveness of formal learning. Think about how it might read and what the implications would be if we substituted student learning for worker learning:
Workers learn more in the coffee room than in the classroom. They discover how to do their jobs through informal learning: talking, observing others, trial and error, and simply working with people in the know. Formal learning--classes and workshops--is the source of only 10 to 20 percent of what people learn at work. Corporations overinvest in formal training programs while neglecting natural, simpler informal processes. This book describes how visualization, impromptu conferences, organizational network analysis, conversation space, and communities of purpose fuel innovation and agility. In short, informal learning is generally more effective and less expensive than its formal counterpart.
Or recast this review of the book by Gloria Gery:
When you look back at your most powerful and deep learning, it's informal. It's in context. It has meaning. And it's guided by realities that rarely get addressed in formal training programs. Accepting this thinking is fundamental to designing learning and performance experiences realistically. Acting on it is necessary for success.
Might we say that these same realities "rarely get addressed" in formal education? I think you will certainly say yes as we talk with Jay.

Date: Tuesday, March 19th, 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.
Recording:  A full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2013-03-19.1237.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350 and an audio mp3 recording is at http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/jaycross.mp3 and at http://www.futureofeducation.com.
Mightybell:  A Mightybell space with interview resources and to continue the conversation is at https://mightybell.com/spaces/33335.

Jay Cross is a champion of informal learning, web 2.0, and systems thinking. His calling is to help business people improve their performance on the job and satisfaction in life. He has challenged conventional wisdom about how adults learn since designing the first business degree program offered by the University of Phoenix three decades ago.

Jay has provided advice and guidance to Cisco, Eaton, IBM, Sun, National Australia Bank, Intel, Genentech, Novartis, HP, the CIA, the World Bank, and numerous others. He helps companies build online communities and boost innovation.

Jay served as CEO of eLearning Forum for its first five years and has keynoted such conferences as Online Educa (Berlin), I-KNOW (Austria), Research Innovations in Learning (U.S.), Emerging eLearning (Abu Dhabi), Training (U.S.), Quality in eLearning (Bogota), LearnX (Melbourne), and Learning Technology (London).

Jay is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School. He and his wife Uta live with a miniature long-haired dachshund in the hills of Berkeley, California.

Wednesday Live: Gina Bianchini on Lean In Circles, the Power of Groups, New Mightybell Features, and Q+A

Join me for a live and interactive Webinar with Gina Bianchini, founder of Mightybell, on Wednesday, March 20th, to discuss: how Mightybell Lean In Circles are supporting Sherly Sandberg's Lean In book and movement; Gina's LinkedIn post on the power of groups; Mightybell's new ability to add multiple files, videos, and photos to the same post; and your questions about using Mightybell!

Gina was the co-founder of Ning.com, familiar to many in education, and Mightybell is her latest project in the social space--and one that again has terrific (and free) capabilities for educational use.

Lean In is a global community committed to offering women the encouragement and support to 'lean in" to their ambitions, through community, education, and "circles." Circles are small groups that meet regularly to share and learn together—like a book club focused on helping members achieve their goals--and they are powered by the Mightybell platform (Gina is a core member of the Lean In team). We'll talk with Gina about this project, and about how the technology behind Lean In Circles will potentially provide new ways of thinking about using Mightybell in education. As Rhonda Doyle commented on Gina's post Why Creating a Lean In Circle is Easier Than You Think: "My cheeks hurt from smiling, very excited and amazed at how much Lean In and MightyBell can do to recreate learning communities."

We'll also discuss Gina's recent LinkedIn post "If you want to do something that terrifies you, first find a group" and her vision of the power of purpose-driven groups and how that drives the development of Mightybell. Then we'll dive into Mightybell's new ability to add multiple files, videos, and photos to the same post (a highly requested feature!), and Gina will answer any questions you have about using Mightybell.

There is a Mightybell hosts space where you can ask questions at any time, another space specific for educators at Mightybell in Education, and as well there is a Mightybell Education Showcase and Directory space. Full disclosure: I consult with Mightybell on their education outreach, which is part of Gina's personal commitment to having the broader education community benefit from her social software projects.

I hope you'll join us! If you can't make it, don't worry, there will be a recording (the link will be posted at http://www.stevehargadon.com afterwards).

Date: Wednesday, March 20th, 2013
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern (international times here)
Duration: 30 minutes +
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2008350&password=M.C4415D8049A57DF74A3B77771411A0. 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.
Recording:  A full Blackboard Collaborate recording will be posted at http://www.stevehargadon.com after the show.


Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Thursday - Virtual Book Club Discussion of Mindstorms by Seymour Papert

Join me Thursday, March 14th, for a special FutureofEducation.com virtual book club conversation on Seymour Papert's book Mindstorms: Children, Computers, And Powerful Ideas.

There is also a Mightybell conversation space for Mindstorms is at https://mightybell.com/spaces/21657, and the conversation that has been started there will continue to live on after our live meeting.

To give some credit where credit is due: Audrey Watters of Hack Education, with whom I do a less-than-regular-these-days podcast, really got the ball rolling for me lately actually reading Mindstorms, but it's certainly been on my list for a long time. In fact, it was the impetus for starting Book Club 2.0, and you'll see some other education "classics" on that site for future discussions.

Seymour's work deserves a significant place in any discussions of education and technology:
People laughed at Seymour Papert in the sixties when he talked about children using computers as instruments for learning and for enhancing creativity. The idea of an inexpensive personal computer was then science fiction. But Papert was conducting serious research in his capacity as a professor at MIT. This research led to many firsts. It was in his laboratory that children first had the chance to use the computer to write and to make graphics. The Logo programming language was created there, as were the first children's toys with built-in computation. The Logo Foundation was created to inform people about Logo and to support them in their use of Logo-based software for learning and teaching. 
...Papert is considered the world's foremost expert on how technology can provide new ways to learn. He has carried out educational projects on every continent, some of them in remote villages in developing countries. He is a participant in developing the most influential cutting-edge opportunities for children to participate in the digital world. 
(From http://www.papert.org. In December of 2006, Seymour was hit by a motorcycle while attending a conference in Hanoi, the consequences of which are detailed in the Wikipedia article about him.)
As this is the first virtual meeting of the first Book Club 2.0 book, I'm expecting we will learn a lot in the process. My plan is to allow those who attend to indicate at the start the topics they want to discuss, to vote on them, and then to proceed by starting with the most popular. I don't think there is any requirement to have read or finished the book, but it certainly will be more enlightening if some number have!

I hope you join us for this experiment!

Date: Thursday, March 14th, 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.
Recording:  A full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2013-03-14.1732.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350.
Mightybell:  A Mightybell space with interview resources and to continue the conversation is at https://mightybell.com/spaces/21657.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Today: A Conversation with Idit Harel Caperton on Constructionism, Social Learning, Web 2.0, Seymour Papert, and More

Join me today, Tuesday, March 12th, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com conversation with Idit Harel Caperton about her work and research on learning.

Dr. Caperton is a pioneer in using new-media technology for creative learning, innovation, and globalization through constructionist learning theory. She founded the World Wide Workshop in 2004 to leverage her unique blend of award-winning research, business acumen, and leadership in spreading innovative new-media learning projects for benefiting kids and youth around the world.

Most recently, the Workshop launched Globaloria to invent ways of using social networking and Web 2.0 tools to teach computing and game-making in schools worldwide. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Dr. Harel Caperton conducted breakthrough research at the MIT Media Lab that led to publishing the book Constructionism with Seymour Papert. Her book Children Designers received the 1991 Outstanding Book Award by the American Education Research Association (AERA).

In 1995, she founded MaMaMedia and launched MaMaMedia.com, ConnectedFamily.com, and Papert.org. Pioneering kids Internet media, MaMaMedia established global distribution and advertising partnerships, and won numerous honors, including: the Computerworld-Smithsonian Award (1999), the Internet industry's coveted Global Information Infrastructure Award (1999), and the 21st-Century Achievement Award from the Computerworld Honors Program (2002). In 2002, she was honored by the Network of Educators in Science and Technology and MIT "for devotion, innovation, and imagination in science and technology on behalf of children and youth around the world." Selected MaMaMedia activities were recently re-programmed for OLPC and are being used worldwide by thousands of kids in developing nations. Most recently, Idit was named the 2010 Recipient of the Jessie McCanse Award for Individual Contribution to Media Literacy by the National Telemedia Council.

She is a published author and speaker worldwide, and serves on Advisory Boards and Committees at the MIT Media Lab, Harvard Graduate School of Education, CUNY Macaulay Honors College, CU-ATLAS Institute, PBSKids Next Generation Media, MEET in Israel, TIG in Canada, and Saybot.com in Shanghai. Idit holds degrees from Tel Aviv University (BA, 1982), Harvard University (HGSE EdM 1984; CAS 1985), and MIT Media Lab (PhD, 1988). (Bio information from http://www.worldwideworkshop.org/aboutus/the-workshop-team.)

Date: Tuesday, March 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.
Recording:  A full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2013-03-12.1717.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350 and an audio mp3 recording is available at http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/idit.mp3 and at http://www.futureofeducation.com.
Mightybell:  A Mightybell space with interview resources and to continue the conversation is at https://mightybell.com/spaces/29610.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Monday Interview - Poverty, Public Education, and Corporate Influence

Join me Monday, March 11th, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com conversation with Paul Thomas on his book Ignoring Poverty in the U.S.: The Corporate Takeover of Public Education.

In the book, Paul "examines the divide between a commitment to public education and our cultural myths and more powerful commitment to consumerism and corporate America," and it attempts to "confront the growing misinformation about the interplay among poverty, public schools, and what schools can accomplish while political and corporate leadership push agendas aimed at replacing public education..."

Paul's strong critique of the framing of and the influences on discussions of education ultimately calls for a recognition of the "human potentiality" of all children, and for humane teachers (quoting Ralph Ellison) "who can convey to [students] an awareness that they do indeed come from somewhere, some place of human value, and that what they've learned there does count in the larger society." The contrast with our current narrative of individual achievement, ignoring the incredible barriers and influences on the lives of students, is stark.

Date: Monday, March 11th, 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.
Recording:  A full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2013-03-11.1726.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350 and an audio mp3 recording is at http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/paulthomas.mp3 and at http://www.futureofeducation.com after the show.
Mightybell:  A Mightybell space with interview resources and to continue the conversation is at https://mightybell.com/spaces/27779.

P. L. Thomas, Associate Professor of Education (Furman University, Greenville SC), taught high school English in rural South Carolina before moving to teacher education. He is currently a column editor for English Journal (National Council of Teachers of English) and series editor for Critical Literacy Teaching Series: Challenging Authors and Genres (Sense Publishers), in which he authored the first volume--Challenging Genres: Comics and Graphic Novels (2010). Additional recent books include Parental Choice?: A Critical Reconsideration of Choice and the Debate about Choice (Information Age Publishing, 2010) and 21st Century Literacy: If We Are Scripted, Are We Literate? (Springer, 2009) co-authored with Renita Schmidt. He maintains a blog addressing the role of poverty in education: http://livinglearninginpoverty.blogspot.com. His teaching and scholarship focus on literacy and the impact of poverty on education, as well as confronting the political dynamics influencing public education in the U.S. Follow his work @plthomasEdD and Radical Scholarship.

Thursday, March 07, 2013

Thursday Interview - In Defense of Childhood with Chris Mercogliano

Join me Thursday, March 7th, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com conversation with Chris Mercogliano, author of In Defense of Childhood: Protecting Kids' Inner Wildness. 

"The pressures of modern life are increasingly squeezing the adventure, the wonder, the physicality--the juice--out of children's lives. Virtually every arena of kids' experience is now subject to some form of outside control, and this is a serious threat to the unique spark that animates every child. Lamenting risk-averse parents, overstructured school days, and a lack of playtime and solitude, this book is a clear and compelling plea to save childhood" (from the publishers description).

From Publishers Weekly (emphases mine):
Mercogliano... isn't the first to take the current over-controlling models of parenting and education to task, but the co-director of the Albany Free School ("a noncoercive, democratic inner-city school") is one of the most passionate, and he demonstrates compellingly how institutions, over-structured schedules and "hyperconcern" are robbing children of their childhood, smothering their creative spark and "inner wildness." Exploring the life cycle from birth to adulthood, Mercogliano covers a lot of ground, taking into account history, biology, psychology, sociology, philosophy and literature, as well as plenty of anecdotes. But even in his more intellectual moments, examining the work of leading scholars and experts (including Albert Einstein and Henry David), his message is simple: in order to save our children we must allow them time for solitude and play, and restrain the urge to pathologize (and medicate) their "disruptive" behavior. He makes a convincing plea for a return to a broader, less judgmental definition of childhood "normalcy," a term that used to evoke a "Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn archetype-brash, willful, naughty, rambunctious, aggressive, and always dirty." Showing parents and teachers how to curb the "domesticating" impulses that have turned growing up into "a carefully scripted medical procedure," Mercogliano's book, full of insight, enthusiasm and hope, is as readable and practical as it is illuminating.
Please join us for what promises to be a pretty fascinating interview.

Date: Thursday, March 7th, 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.
Recording:  A full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2013-03-07.1601.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350 and an audio mp3 recording is at http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/mercogliano.mp3 and at http://www.futureofeducation.com
Mightybell:  A Mightybell space with interview resources and to continue the conversation is at https://mightybell.com/spaces/26333.

Chris Mercogliano was a teacher at the Albany Free School for thirty-five years and stepped down as director in June, 2007 to concentrate on writing and speaking about non-controlling education and childrearing. His essays, commentaries and reviews have appeared in numerous publications, as well as in four anthologies: Challenging the Giant (Down to Earth Books 1992), Deschooling Our Lives (New Society Press 1996), Creating Learning Communities (Foundation for Educational Renewal 2000), and Field Day: Getting Society Out of School (New Star Books 2003). He is also the author of Making It Up As We Go Along, the Story of the Albany Free School (Heinemann 1998), Teaching the Restless, One School's Remarkable No-Ritalin Approach to Helping Children Learn and Succeed (Beacon Press 2004),  How to Grow a School: Starting and Sustaining Schools That Work (Oxford Village Press 2006), and In Defense of Childhood: Protecting Kids’ Inner Wildness (Beacon Press 2007).

Currently Chris is a regular columnist for Encounter magazine. He has been featured on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,” Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio's “Ideas,” and other nationally syndicated radio shows. The father of two wonderful daughters, he lives with his wife Betsy on a one-acre farm in downtown Albany, New York.

Monday, March 04, 2013

Early Monday - The Importance of "Stupid Ideas" and How That Relates to Education

Join me Monday, March 4th, for an early live and interactive FutureofEducation.com conversation with return guest Richie Norton on his new book, The Power of Starting Something Stupid. Richie's previous book, Resumes are Dead, is currently available for free on Kindle, was the subject of a previous Future of Education show, and formed the basis for a huge discussion group at Mightybell.

There’s magic to The Power of Starting Something Stupid: ideas which seem to be stupid often turn out to be brilliant—they only looked stupid because we hadn’t seen them before, and it took courage for their creators to stick to their visions and bring them to light. History is replete with examples of "stupid" ideas that ended up changing our world: e.g., the telephone, the automobile, the radio, the airplane, the personal computer.... Learning to curate, cultivate, and play with ideas that others don’t understand (or are openly critical of!) is not just a hallmark of great innovators, but also of great thinkers. This becomes an interesting test for education: how well do we help every students to believe in themselves and their projects that require commitment, courage, and personal vision? Do we even think that is realistic?

As a sobering reminder of the inherent potential in every child--and the difficulty of seeing it--comes when  Richie quotes Thomas Edison:
I don’t know now what it was, but I was always at the foot of the class. I used to feel that the teachers never sympathized with me and that my father thought that I was stupid, and at last I almost decided that I must really be a dunce. . . . One day I overheard the teacher tell the inspector that I was ‘addled’ and it would not be worthwhile keeping me in school any longer.
There's a second aspect to this discussion as it relates to education--how do we feel about new ideas or innovations in teaching and learning? Do innovative teachers face this same challenge or being misunderstood (yes, of course), and will they find support from his message (yes, again). Richie also makes a distinction between ideas where we don't recognize the value because of our cultural blinders, and ideas that are not well-informed or where the real work hasn't been applied. Which of the recent education reform efforts are "stupid-smart," which ones aren't, and how do we tell the difference?

Please join us.

Date: Monday, March 4th, 2013
Time: 10am Pacific / 1pm 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.
Recording:  A full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2013-03-04.0922.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350 and an audio mp3 recording is available at http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/richiepsss.mp3 and at http://www.futureofeducation.com
Mightybell:  A Mightybell space with interview resources and to continue the conversation is at https://mightybell.com/spaces/21779.


Richie Norton was named one of Hawaii’s Top Forty Under 40 “best and brightest young businesspersons” by Pacific Business News at age 29. He is a ChangeAid award winner for outstanding accomplishment in international development, international relations, humanitarian aid and academic achievement. He is also a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Richie is the CEO of Global Consulting Circle, a boutique international business development consultancy. He is a sought after speaker and consultant for the corporate growth and personal development industries.

A more personal bio worth reading is here.

Friday, March 01, 2013

Announcing Amazing Keynote and Distinguished Speakers for the School Leadership Summit

The 2013 School Leadership Summit, on March 28th, is a free one-day, online conference.  We're excited to announce our keynote and distinguished speakers for the day! As well, please note that we are still accepting (and encouraging!) proposal submissions until March 15th, and training sessions for presenters start next week (for information on training and session times, please go HERE).

Be sure to join the conference network for further updates and details, and follow #sls13.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Michael Fullan is Professor Emeritus of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. He holds Honorary Doctorates from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; University of Edinburgh, Scotland; Newman University College, University of Leicester; and from Nipissing University in Canada. His book, Leading in a Culture of Change was awarded the 2002 Book of the Year Award by Learning Forward (formerly the National Staff Development Council), Breakthrough (with Peter Hill and Carmel Crรฉvola) won the 2006 Book of the Year Award from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, Turnaround Leadership in Higher Education (with Geof Scott) won the Bellwether Book Award in 2009, and Change Wars (with Andy Hargreaves) was awarded the 2009 Book of the Year Award by Learning Forward.

Yong Zhao is an internationally known scholar, author, and speaker. His works focus on the implications of globalization and technology on education. Dr. Yong Zhao has designed schools that cultivate global competence, developed computer games for language learning, and founded research and development institutions to explore innovative education models. He has published over 100 articles and 20 books, including Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization and World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students. He is a recipient of the Early Career Award from the American Educational Research Association and was named one of the 2012 10 most influential people in educational technology by the Tech & Learn Magazine. He is an elected fellow of the International Academy for Education.

He currently serves as the Presidential Chair and Associate Dean for Global Education in the College of Education, University of Oregon, where he is also Weinman Professor of Technology and Professor in the Department of Educational Measurement, Policy, and Leadership.

Until December, 2010, Yong Zhao was University Distinguished Professor at the College of Education, Michigan State University, where he also served as the founding director of the Center for Teaching and Technology, executive director of the Confucius Institute, as well as the US-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence.

Zhao was born in China’s Sichuan Province. He received his B.A. in English Language Education from Sichuan Institute of Foreign Languages in Chongqing, China in 1986. After teaching English in China for six years, he came to Linfield College as a visiting scholar in 1992. He then began his graduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1993. He received his A.M. in Education in 1994 and Ph.D. in 1996. He joined the faculty at MSU in 1996 after working as the Language Center Coordinator at Willamette University and a language specialist at Hamilton College.

Bill Brennan is Director of Instructional Technology at Farmingdale UFSD and co-founder of School Leadership 2.0. Dr. Brennan will promote the next generation learning organization. Findings are based on a National study of building principals using social media as a means to enhance professional learning, organizational change and innovative teaching and learning practices. His keynote will address the various antecedents to any organization seeking to accelerate individual and organization change. At the heart of this experience is a renewed commitment to learning and an understanding of what it means to be a connected leader/learner. Bill will challenge us to look beyond the surface barriers technology may present to the opportunities that knowledge sharing and fluid interaction offer us and our students. Paramount to Bill's initiative is the unyielding belief that Learning Networks are key structures and practices for continued student, teacher and administrator growth in this age of networked intelligence.

DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS


Keith R. Krueger is CEO of the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), a nonprofit organization that serves as the voice of K-12 school system technology leaders in North America.  CoSN’s mission is empowering educational leaders to leverage technology to realize engaging learning environments.

In 2008 he was selected by eSchool News as one of ten people who have had a profound impact on educational technology over the last decade.

He serves on many Advisory Boards including eSchool News, the Education Committee of the National Park System, the American Productivity Quality Council, the Virtual High School Global Consortium, the Friday Institute at NC State University and the Wireless Reach Advisory Board. He is a past Board Member/Treasurer of the National Coalition on Technology in Education & Training (NCTET).

Keith has a global reputation as a key thought leader and has organized senior level U.S. delegations to visit Australia, Asia, Europe and South America to examine best practice in ICT in education.

As a Certified Association Executive, he has extensive background in nonprofit management and has a Masters from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

Eric Sheninger is the Principal at New Milford High School located in Bergen County, NJ. He is passionate about establishing and fostering learning environments that are student-centered, collaborative, flexible, and prepare all learners to succeed in the 21st Century.

As an educational administrator he firmly believes that effective communication, listening, support, shared decision making, and the integration of technology are essential elements necessary for the transformation of school cultures. Eric has emerged as an innovative leader in the use of social media and web 2.0 technology as tools to engage students, improve communications with stakeholders, and help educators grow professionally.  Eric is a NASSP Digital Principal Award winner (2012), PDK Emerging Leader Award recipient (2012), winner of Learning Forward's Excellence in Professional Practice Award (2012), Google Certified Teacher,Adobe Education Leader, ASCD 2011 Conference Scholar, co-author of "Communicating and Connecting With Social Media: Essentials for Principals" and "What Principals Need to Know About Teaching and Learning Science", writer on education for the Huffington Post, co-creator of the Edscape Conference, sits on the FEA Board of Directors, and was named to the NSBA "20 to Watch" list in 2010 for technology leadership.  He now presents and speaks nationally to assist other school leaders embrace and effectively utilize technology. His blog, A Principal's Reflections, was selected as Best School Administrator Blog in 2011 by Edublogs.

Eric began his career in education as a Science Teacher at Watchung Hills Regional High School where he taught a variety of subjects (Biology, Chemistry, Marine Biology, Ecology) and coached several sports (ice hockey, football, lacrosse). He then transitioned into the field of educational administration as an Athletic Director/Supervisor of Physical Education & Health and Vice Principal in the New Milford School District. During his administrative career he has served as District Affirmative Action Officer and is the current president of the New Milford Administrator’s Association.

Steven W. Anderson is the Director of Instructional Technology for the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools in Winston-Salem, NC. He also regularly travels the country talking to schools and districts about the use of Social Media in the classroom.

Steven has been a presenter at several educational technology conferences, including ISTE, ASCD and NCTIES, as well as served as a panelist at the #140 Conference in Los Angeles, New York and was a featured speaker at the first ever #140Edu Conference, focusing on the real-time web in education. He is also responsible in helping create #edchat, a weekly education discussion on Twitter that boasts over 500 weekly participants. Steven has also been recognized with the NOW Award, highlighting the Movers And Shakers in the world of social media and the 2009 and 2011 Edublogs, Twitterer of The Year Award. In 2012 he was named an ASCD Emerging Leader, recognizing young, talented educational leaders in their field.

Steven holds a Bachelor of Science in Middle Grade Mathematics and Science Education from Western Carolina University and a Master of Arts in Education in Instructional Technology from East Carolina University.