I recently spent some time in Shanghai, China, working with teachers on campuses of the Shanghai American School. The teachers were truly International with representation from the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and China. I posed two familiar questions to groups of educators that I worked with, what is today’s definition of literacy and what do you think of when I suggest School 2.0.
This episode of Connect Learning comes entirely from the TRLD conference, which I attended last week in San Francisco. In one of my sessions, we explored some of the technical components of what’s frequently called Web 2.0 and discussed, in some detail, what’s really the spirit of this new Web. At the end of the workshop, I asked attendees to describe, given the qualities the new information landscape, what is School 2.0?
TRLD includes in its conference something called The community of Learners Cafe, where round tables are set up, and groups of people choose to sit at specific tables to discuss and come to consensus on specific issues of teaching and learning. My table was about 21st century literacy, and my iPod and iTalk did a much better job of recorAs other tables were reporting, I did some wordsmithing of our definition of 21st century literacy, based on what the table members had said. I did not keep a copy, though the conference did take our definition for later publishing. From my memory, it read!
Literacy in the 21st century includes all skills involved in learning to learn, learning to build with what you’ve learned, and to express compelling what you have built, utilizing all modalities of sense and expression, within today’s rich information landscape.
What a fantastic week. Today, I’ll be working with education leaders in central Florida, presenting this morning about contemporary literacy and telling the new story, and this afternoon, moderating a panel of selected school and district leaders with a group-wide conversation — which I hope to podcast for a future Connection Learning.
But all fantastic weeks begin with a fantastic beginning, and this one was in Pinckney, Michigan, the home of Geek!ed!. For those, not in the know, Geek!ed! is an education podcast, produced by edtech leaders in Pinckney, usually consisting of a conversation between ed technologist Tom McCurty (former history teacher), Michael Partridge (Theatre degree), and Chris Ozias and Diane Harris (find arts degrees).
After my keynote address for the faculty and staff of the district, these four really crazy people invited me, and a visiting high school student from Germany, Sebastian Conrady, to participate in the recording of their latest episode, episode 40 — which was just published last night.
After a half-hour of talking, they switched their recorder on, and because there was still much energy in the group, I turned my iPod on, and we continued. So you can hear part one in Geek!ed!, and part two here, at Connect Learning.
I know that this presentation will be available as a video from the NECC site, but I wanted to go ahead and get it out there. Several people asked that I post it as a podcast, so here it is.
The presentation the Telling the New Story, delivered at NECC. The response has been good, though I suspect that this isn’t quite as entertaining as Redefining Literacy for the 21st Century. I think that the message is important. In fact, critical. It comes to mind in nearly every conversation I have here at NECC.
I’m at the North Carolina educational Technology Conference (NCETC) in Greensboro, North Carolina, and very excited to be here. This is one of the high points of the year for technology educators in this state, when we get together and share what we’re learning about new technologies, and how we are implementing them in our classrooms. We’re going to hear it again and again, that we should be integrating technology, and I’m going to keep beating my drum that its about integrating a new literacy, but all that aside, it is invigorating to be with so many very smart people in my state who are thinking forward, and getting together to talk about it.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to work with about 20 outstanding educators. I knew up front these people would be special, because of all of the cleverly worded workshop titles they had to choose from, they came to one called “An Educator’s Guide to Web 2.0″.
We explored blogging, wikis, social bookmarks, RSS, and spent some time with Technorati and Blogpulse to explore this emerging idea of conversation as content. At the end of a very strenuous workshop, we had a 40 minute conversation, which I recorded — and will share with you.
It isn’t that good, and probably not the best program to video. But I’m intrigued with the technology involved in video blogging, mostly because it is so easy. iMovie gives you just about all of the creative leeway you could want, and Movie Maker is not that far behind. Very accessible for anyone with the slightest bit of ease with a techno-adventure.
The challenge is taking advantage of the visual to enhance the message. I suspect that most of my podcasts will continue to be audio only. However, I will carry a video camera with me on my travels, and you never can tell.
In this episode, I conduct a brief interview with Dr. Jeff McQuillan, a literacy specialist, who delivered the day-two keynote address at the Minnesota Educational Media Organization Conference in Mankato. McQuillan gave a very informative talk about what in my mind is a hoax about how well our children are learning and have been learning over the past decades. You can read about his findings in a rather old article, Seven Myths about Literacy in the United States. If you find more recent writings by Dr. McQuillan, please post them in the comments.
In the second part of this episode, I interview two forward thinking retired school teachers from Minesooota. I think you will be intrigued by what Lena and Tina have to say. You can learn more about these dynamic individuals at their web site, Lena & Tina.
Finally, I make a statement early in the podcast that I would like to reiterate here. I’ve said so many times that I hope that it is becoming my signature, that it isn’t about the technology, it’s about the Information. And this is why I am coming to enjoy media conferences so much. They are about the information, regardless of the technology that carries it. At these conferences I am forced to think harder about the skills that children need to be learning today, to be ready for an unpredictable future. I recommend these conferences to any educator.
I spent most of last week in Carteret County, working with teachers and the community in understanding contemporary literacy and Web 2.0. The interview is with media specialists and technology facilitators for the district’s middle schools. It was a great week, and I continue to hear from the educators who are implementing blogging in their classrooms.
Not much to say here that isn’t said in the podcast. I may be adding some other things as I begin to get questions about the program. So for now, let’s just start with some pictures.
Here are a few links to Ethics Resources that I include with my Online Handouts:
This episode will be different in quality since I recorded it in the car, while “streaking out across the coastal plain of North Carolina.” Quality is nearly atrocious, but I think you’ll be able to understand.
Part I: The Saga of the Sagging Server
If you read my blogs, then you’ve probably heard enough about this, and can skip ahead to the good part. For those who haven’t, my web sites have been in turmoil over the past week. The first part of this podcast is a blow-by-blow description.
The good news is that all seems to be working well now.
Part II: Literacy IV
In this installment of the Literacy Series, I provide a review of what reading and math evolve into in the new information environment, and also provide some details about communicating.
In this episode, I’m talking about math in the 21st century. Just like expanding what it means to be a reader in the 21st century, arithmetic becomes much more, since all information is now made of numbers.
I recently spent some time in Shanghai, China, working with teachers on campuses of the Shanghai American School. The teachers were truly International with representation from the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and China. I posed two familiar questions to groups of educators that I worked with, what is today’s definition of literacy and what do you think of when I suggest School 2.0.
But all fantastic weeks begin with a fantastic beginning, and this one was in Pinckney, Michigan, the home of 
I know that this presentation will be available as a video from the NECC site, but I wanted to go ahead and get it out there. Several people asked that I post it as a podcast, so here it is.
It isn’t that good, and probably not the best program to video. But I’m intrigued with the technology involved in video blogging, mostly because it is so easy. iMovie gives you just about all of the creative leeway you could want, and Movie Maker is not that far behind. Very accessible for anyone with the slightest bit of ease with a techno-adventure.
