NECC 2007 Open Source Pavilion - Making Plans!

OK, NECC is coming up (June 24 - 27 in Atlanta), and this is a combination of a status report and a call for volunteers/help.

Please forward this post to your Free and Open Source Software friends!

NECC is the National Educational Computing Conference, and it attracts over 15,000 educators each year. It's one of the largest (if not the largest) educational technology shows in the world. For the last several years NECC has supported an "Open Source Pavilion" (apologies to Richard Stallman) with a Linux thin-client lab for demonstration purposes. Last year we added a speaker series, which is now a part of the main NECC program. This year we are getting our own large room (!!) and adjacent hallway space. Hurrah!

This years speakers can be seen at our organizing wiki: http://necc2007.wikispaces.com/Speakers. There will also be two "Birds of a Feather" sessions on FLOSS: http://necc2007.wikispaces.com/Birds+of+a+Feather.

OK. Now, about getting help!

We need:

1. "Swag." We've gone round about on this, and aren't sure how successful it is to give things away, but people sure like it. CDs/DVDs have been the rule, but we wouldn't turn down t-shirts or buttons or pens or anything. OK, you big-gun FLOSS companies--this is easy stuff!
2. Logistical funding. We are bringing 60+ computers to Atlanta, a couple of servers, and lots of networking gear. Got some extra cash? We'd also love to get some brightly-colored t-shirts for our volunteers.
3. Setup volunteers. We'll set up the lab and computers late Saturday afternoon/evening. Maybe we'll get some pizzas and make it a party.
4. Volunteer for "milling around." The Open Source Pavilion needs folks who'll just answer questions (mostly really basic) about what FLOSS is. Come for an hour, or come for three days.
5. "Playground booths." These are 5 - 10 stations where we'll be demonstrating different FLOSS programs. Previously we've showcased OpenOffice, GIMP, Audacity, Linspire, SchoolTool, Edubuntu, Moodle, Firefox, and Knoppix. We're open to just about anything that you'd like to demonstrate that will give our attendees some good hands-on, one-on-one demonstrations. We welcome proposals from commercial vendors who will commit themselves to also supporting the FLOSS ideals and helping out in general.
6. Podcasting. Want to record our speakers for posting audio recordings of their presentations? (Paul Nelson?) Let us know.
7. Computers. It would help a ton to have computers/laptops we don't have to ship from California for the thin-client lab. Also, each playground booth will need two or three computers for demonstrations.
8. Students. Got some students who are using FLOSS? We'd love them to help in the Pavilion and demonstrate at the playground booths. They get a free t-shirt and lunch each day. We've even got some open, unscheduled lab time and we could have them do short presentations!

You can go to the wiki (http://necc2007.wikispaces.com) to sign up to volunteer or send me an email (steve@hargadon.com) letting me know what you can do.

Also: For reference, my interview series on FLOSS in education is at http://edtechlive.wikispaces.com. And are you an educational blogger? Check out our all-day Saturday EduBloggerCon 2007 meet-up.

Tim O'Reilly on Web 2.0 and Education

"I think we're in--in a lot of ways--a period of the most profound reinvention of ...education and how people need to learn since the invention of literacy."

Tim O'Reilly is the founder of O'Reilly Media, and one of the originators of the phrase "Web 2.0." His essay on Web 2.0 certainly is considered the seminal description.

Tim and I talked about Web 2.0, education, and what the future holds for networked computing. I haven't put this in my "School 2.0" series because, as you'll hear, Tim's take on education isn't nearly as technology-focused as one might expect.

Topics that Tim covers in the interview:

• Being self-taught
• Having a mental model of how the world works to let you figure out what's important
• A new "digital divide" today between those who know how to think about search and those who don't; those who know where the current hot information is being shared, and those who don't.
• Tim's skepticism of formal education, coming from the computer industry and seeing creativity from those with very different backgrounds, with their formal education almost alway not in the area where they have made an impact (himself included).
• Self-learning.
• How most periods of a creative renaissance start with inspired amateurs.
• The importance of "doing things," "tinkering,", and "exploratory learning."
• That "engagement" is not new to Web 2.0, but the opportunity is being democratized by the technology.
• That it is important not to generalize too much about where the technology is headed from the initial formative period.
• How he believes that spending on educational technology is a bad idea (smile!), and that smaller class sizes would make the most difference in education, period, by giving more interaction with passionate adults who have time and ability to focus on kids. (See if you feel comfortable with how I respond to this point.)
• How we need to get rid of unionized seniority to get fresh blood, so the best can rise to the top instead of the most senior. (Again, I'm interested in your responses to this and your take on how I responded.)
• Open Source software, and how Web 2.0 is actually antithetical to open source software.
• Clayton Christiansen's "law of conservation of attractive profits," where value in Web applications moving toward the harnessing and collecting of data and intelligence.
• How it's not free software that we need but free data.
• The inevitability of large companies absorbing the web 2.0 technologies by leveraging their data collection capabilities.
• The biggest change he sees on horizon: collective intelligence based on our being "sensory enabled." "Live Software" that learns from that data.
• What Web 2.0 technologies that he likes
• His final words for educators: "have fun." Share your own enthusiasm, excitement, and passion.
  

Listen to the the Interview in MP3 format
Listen to the Interview in Vorbis OGG format

Subscribe to this AudioCast: