I had a real sense of anticipation about today as it was the beginning of the actual conference. Yesterday was a great settling in introduction, now it was the turn of the real thng.
I arrived bang on time, just as Graeme started to introduce the main players i.e. the exhibitors. Each spoke for a few moments on industry updated and development from a commercial stand point. A £139 netbook (Toshiba?) was announced and last nights award winner Study Wiz announced it’s new 14 – 19 version.
After the industry updates their was an opening address by the Chairman of Becta, Andrew Pinder. Which had to be done I suppose… it was a tad dry and forced.
Then came Steven Berlin Johnson, who’s book “Everything Bad is Good for You” is definitely on my Xmas wish list. He spoke about crucial juxtapositions of science, technology and personal experience.
“Steven has also co-created three influential web sites: the pioneering online magazine FEED, the Webby-Award-winning community site, Plastic.com, and most recently the hyperlocal media site outside.in.
Both social critic and technologist, Steven has a genius for mapping the future—for predicting and explaining the real-world impact of cutting-edge developments in science, technology and media.
Steven is a contributing editor to Wired magazine and a Distinguished Writer In Residence at the New York University Department of Journalism.
Named by Newsweek as one of the “Fifty People Who Matter Most on the Internet,” Steven has also written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Nation, and many other periodicals.”
His analysis of the bewildering ‘Lost’ TV show was particularly thought provoking and how it was structured more like a game than a regular production. My question would have been “How the hell do you pitch an idea like that?”. He also went into a Shirky-esque debate, counter-arguing the authorities rekindled fears that our kids aint reading enough. The fact remains that they are probably reading a lot more, its just not from books anymore.
Most intriguing was his outline of gaming and how (he used the example of World of Warcrafts complex UI) interfaces are central to participation. The complexity of navigating and using an interface such as this cannot be any less involved than learning basic algebra, to a 14 year old. Indeed, the series ‘Lost’ is just a complex in it’s structure.
Is this UI any less complex than learning algebra.
I thoroughly enjoyed Steven’s presentation, he has the same calmly approachable manner that is also present with Clay Shirky and Charles Leadbeater.
The iPhones (which I am Twittering and blogging on) is proving to be problematic due to it’s crappy battery life and equally as useless camera. It’s starting to irk.
To see Steven's presentation follow thislink
After the break, another treat, Danah Boyd gave an intriguing insight into Social Media and the sociological implications that this form of medium dredges up. Facebook was the main topic of interest and how youngsters use it and more importantly, see themselves on it. She asked some important questions and outlined the dangers of invading this type of space, from an educational point of view. The student always has the option to shut down and migrate elsewhere, taking their peers with them. Her visuals were stunning, the best I came across at the conference. I don’t know about you, but more than two words on a slide brings on the yawns….
It made it clear to me that knowing how to use social networking sites and how a younger generation uses them are two completely different things. It is their only true private space an extension of their bedrooms, without the parental authority that influences their use.
To see Danah's presentation follow thislink
Laurie O’Donnell (Director of Technology, LTS) had a much bigger agenda to get across, it was also good to hear a Scot for a change. His C.V. is impressive; LTS including Glow, LTS Online Service, Scottish Learning Festival and Corporate ICT support to LTS staff. He was also recently honoured as one of Edutopia’s ‘Global Six’ and personal honour by George Lucas. This was for his work with the Glow project.
His presentation turned out to be more of a discussion than a speech. This seemed to suit him much better. His wordy powerpoint (in contrast to Danah’s) laid out 2 basic philosophies towards learning, inspiringly named philosophy A and philosophy B. A was how it is now in education and B was Laurie’s vision. The area’s covered were immense. See below:
Philosophy A
Education Broken but can be fixed (Quickly)
Technology Drives change
Teachers Another problem that needs to be fixed
Learners The future workforce
Curriculum Don’t trust the teachers
Innovation Let a thousand projects flourish
Success Input targets and attainment
Philosophy B
Education Long term investment
Technology Enables, supports & accelerates change
Teachers Supported professionals
Learners More than just a future workforce
Curriculum Guidance & Support for Teachers
Innovation Scalable & Sustainable
Success Wider long term benefits
Laurie gave an interesting (and obvious) example of what success in education means: Finland: how safe do you feel on the streets, how healthy are your people, longevity, how many people do you send to jail? It goes way beyond improving test scores or training productive workers. You want citizens, community activists, good parents….
“Technology is a catalyst for change, it does NOT drive change. People make changes to make the world better.”
How do you pay for scalability and sustainability?
Question on assessment: QCA representative who answered -> we need to provide learners the environment to learn, we can’t just teach them to learn. Assessment bodies are fairly powerless when it comes to developing assessments as they mainly apply the policy that comes from higher up.
- Implementation with a little help from
- Politicians (committed to long-term development)
- Civil servants (who see the big picture and can manage risk)
- Secure funding (not based on small projects)
- Great people who are doing the right things for the right reasons
- Resilience
- Hard work and a whole lotta luck
To see Laurie's presentation follow this link
