#Ties10 Doug Johnson - Change from the Radical Center

I have been reading Doug's blog for about three and a half years now, he lives less than 100 miles from my house, and has attended and spoken at 5 conferences I have attended in the past 4 years. He has even attended at least one session I presented a couple years ago. He is one of the most widely read education bloggers and definitely a sage in the field. Yet, yesterday was the first time I have actually been able to hear him speak (aside from his TEDx session from last winter I watched online). Problem has always been that every time he was scheduled to speak in the past I was also scheduled to present. So, when I saw Doug was presenting at a time I wasn't yesterday I had to take advantage. I must say, I wish I could spend more time learning from The Blue Skunk.

What follows is an archive of the few live tweets I managed to make. I wish I had done more but I found myself doing a lot more listening in this session and a lot less tweeting.

#ties10 DougJohnson: If you take s centrist position you double your number of enemiesless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 DougJohnson: adopt an "and" not "or" mindsetless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 DougJohnson: why wouldn't we encourage diversity in teaching styles in our schools?less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 DougJohnson: Teachers need a technology IEPless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 DougJohnson: If they are out of the barn anyway, why not try to saddle & ride them.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 DougJohnson: At edtech conferences we are largely just preaching to the choirless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 DougJohnson: there are poor teachers in our best schools and great teachers in our worst schoolsless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#TIES10 Steve Dembo - From Consumers to Creators

I met Steve Dembo (@teach42) briefly at the ISTE Conferfence in Denver this summer hanging out in the Blogger's Cafe. What I remembered about him was his energy and regretted not being able to make it to any of his sessions there. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he would be attending this year's TIES conference and made sure to make up for what I missed in Denver. What follows is an archive of my live tweets from his session:

#ties10 Dembo: Do you have your nuggets yet?less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 Dembo; problem educators have with web2 is a problem of schemas..we tend to build what is on the front of the boxless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 Dembo: once kids have experienced a technology they expect to experience it everywhereless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 Dembo: the classroom is not going to change all that much, the shift will be what happens at those desksless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 Dembo: If we are giving our students nothing but step-by-step instructions we are crippling themless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 Dembo: the mouse is increasingly going to be a useless peripheral deviceless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 Dembo: how many kids will be hiding their iPod touches in their backpacks when they could be using them to document their learning?less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 Dembo: "I no longer give my students assignments, I give them creative briefs."less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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Http://Ujam.com interesting audio generation program (via @teach42)less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#TIES10 Bernie Trilling Keynote

Bernie Trilling, author of "21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times" presented the keynote address for the second day of the TIES Conference. I must say that I was conflicted about his presentation and not all that impressed. It really seemed more about selling books than anything really substantive. Mostly, I am tired of that term "21st Century" and the constant presupposition that the primary reason we have schools is to prepare kids to compete for jobs. I am now at a point where I am ready to start saying that anyone who refers to the future as "the 21st century" is stuck in the past. While I largely agree with Trilling on pedagogy I am uneasy about focusing too much only on the future. I came away feeling like his message was to ignore the past and we all know that those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it. What follows is an archive of my live tweets from the event:

#ties10 Trilling: like we have one foot on an old industrial boat & one foot on a new iboat.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 Trilling: eventually we are going to have to decide which boatless than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 Trilling: What do we need to be successful in the 21st century?less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 Trilling: I want you to take your rearview mirrors and throw them out.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 the quote, "those who do not know the past are doomed to repeat it" comes to mindless than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 on Trilling's 2nd ? he stopped sharing poll responses 1/2 way through results & didn't share ?3 results. Why?less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 Trilling: 65% of student are bored in class.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 Are students ready to work? [is this really the most important question? Is this really the primary purpose of school?]less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 Trilling: there is a global consensus on the "7c skills"less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 Trilling sharing @danmeyer's TEDx Talkless than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 Trilling gives nod to @edvisions schools.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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I am with Trilling on pedagogy here but can we stop using the term 21st century & talking in terms of business? Please. #ties10less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#TIES10 STEM Panel Discussion

On Monday at the TIES Conference I attended a panel discussion on STEM. I was most impressed with what third grade teacher Ananth Pai was doing with technology in his classroom. Mr. Pai is a second career 4th year teacher who says that in his first year he realized that he had to make a change in his classroom. He started collecting technologies that could enhance learning in his classroom including many that some would find surprising like the Nintendo DS and other small portable devices. What struck me most about his approach was not so much how he integrated the technologies but how he selected them. His principal, three of his students, and their parents attended the session to support and share the good things that Mr. Pai is doing in his classroom. What struck me was their testimony about how much their teacher listens. Mr. Pai says he starts with what technologies the kids tell him they think they should be using admitting that they know more about what will engage them than he does. I absolutely love this approach and hope to visit his class sometime in the next couple of weeks to discuss more with him about his strategy for assessing technology and creating a student-centered learning environment. I highly recommend you check out his class webpage.

Sir Ken Robinson #TIES10 Keynote and Q&A

Photo by Tim Wilson

The following is an archive of the tweets from Sir Ken Robinson's Keynote for the 2010 TIES Conference in Minneapolis:

Gettimg ready to hear Sir Ken Robbinson's #ties10 keynote. Wireless is shotty, using Nokia instead. Tweets will be clunky.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 sirKenRobbinson: there is no reason for Las Vegas to be there.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKenRobbinson: Vegas represents something uniqu to human culture...imagination.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKenRobbinson: power of imagination has underpinned everything in human culture.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKenRobbinson: power of imagination has underpinned everything in human culture.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: when you have a 40% dropout rate you can no longer blame the kids.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: dropout rate is a systemic problem-system is not designed to meet the needs of individual kids.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: too often ppl think of the basics as a small set of subjects, I think it is individual tallentsless than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: if you have an iphone you have more computing power than was available on earth in 1950less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: in 1970s if you found 6 authentic references for research it was good, today you can get that in moments on your iphoneless than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: Apple rep says the most powerful computers on Earth have the brain power of a cricketless than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: within 10 years computers will likely have the brain power of a 6mo old human childless than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: There is a sort of technological neural membrane covering the globeless than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: problem is cultural change is not keeping up with technological changeless than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: our education systems were designed for the 19th century. It was not bad but it is obsolete.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: it seems like a wonderful attitude for teachers to take to say, "I don't know."less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: being in your element is not just about being good at things, you also have to love it.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: many of us have our natural interests thwarted, supposedly in our best interest.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: in the end it is not what happens that creates your life, it is what you make of itless than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: everyone owns their own education, if they are not engaged it is a waste.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: we have to move from an industrial metaphor to an organic metaphor.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 standing ovation for The Sir Ken...don't think I've seen a standing ovation at this conference before.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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Getting ready for a Q&A session with @SirKenRobinson at the #ties10 conference. What questions do you have for him that we should ask?less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@anderscj What are some schools who are successfully implementing "personalized learning"? How did they get there? Staff Development?less than a minute ago via TweetDecksaellner
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@anderscj can he give us some examples of schools that are putting these ideas into practice?less than a minute ago via TweetDeckBrian Downing
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@anderscj Does our current system of education have enough capacity to adapt for the future or is it 2 limiting ( and we need a new system)?less than a minute ago via TweetDeckRyan Cunningham
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#ties10 SirKen: I've seen fantastic schools where headmasters & teachers clear the slate & rebuild their programs.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: in western cultures we tend to see the subject only and not the whole picture.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: we should get rid of subjects entirelyless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: things that matter in schools 1 the curriculum, 2 pedagogy, 3 assessment, 4 physical environment, 5 partnershipsless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: The way to engage reluctant learners is to put their focus off-center.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: there should be a time each day where students engage in what they are interestedless than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 Sir Ken is now talking about the School of One.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: individualization has to do with knowing about how individual kids learnless than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: the problem is not standardized testing, it is that only a few things can be assessed in this wayless than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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#ties10 SirKen: nothing is inherently boringless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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