Alan November, an internationally known "ed tech" consultant, was the keynote speaker at a regional educational technology conference held in Binghampton, NY last March. His presentation talks about what skills kids need in order to be able to be successfully productive and independent in today's world. Mr. November is an entertaining speaker. I've heard him speak several times and he always pushes me to think about classroom practice and the role technology can play in that.
His presentation was "vodcast" (video podcast) on the NYSCATE (New York State Association for Computers and Technology in Education) website. You can view and listen to it at this link, (scroll down to find the video version and then click, "listen") or see a slightly edited version of it at the link I sent to you all in my email.
Please listen and make a comment here. Also, at our next meeting, I'm going to ask you to choose a topic(s) mentioned by Mr. November, for me to go into further detail about at our final meeting on May 31st.
And, if you listen and post, that counts as 1 hour of time for those of you trying to meet the inservice requirement for the study group.
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3 comments:
Mr. November certainly was an engaging speaker. The parts that seemed to affect me were the differences in the schools and the learning culture. I definitely feel that I own the learning and am constantly trying to find a way to get kids to really go after something...to question and want to pursue something. I also was interested in Skype and using the internet to communicate with others around the world. I wish he gave an example for kindergarten!
Throughout the video, I was thinking of all the people who should watch it. Colleagues that I know try to think and do differently, all administrators, the district tech group, maybe even a staff meeting - it might get a small percentage of people thinking. I am glad I spent the time watching it - hope it doesn't count against me for "Turn off the TV" week!
Another inspirational speaker! I was really stirred by Mr. November’s presentation. As a parent and educator, I was uncomfortable with the information about the loss of jobs in US’s future and how unprepared our children are to compete in the global economy. Mr. November made a great point about technology and how it’s constantly changing. We need to concentrate on teaching skills (critical thinking and communication) that will transfer no matter what becomes of technology. His points about differences in educational philosophy are apparent and I agree with the concern about work ethics. I know many of us see this happening already and are unsure how to change this. I agree with Teri. I feel that I “own” the learning and I try to find ways to get my students interested in learning. I would be interested in learning more about Skype. What an interesting way to communicate! I wish we could have seen more examples that are being used with younger grade levels.
Boy, I don't know what to think about Mr. November. In a way it seemed like he really wasn't for technology. I think our white boards, computers and lessons we do in the lab are equally important to our students to have them become productive adults. I do have to agree with him about his concern about work ethics. I also see our students not caring about their education (not doing homework, etc). It's especially true in the higher grades. Having 2 high school students I get to see how the kids at the High School are faring. There are a lot of kids that don't do their homework and fail because of it. It's the work ethic that they are lacking. Another point I agree with is that kids are having a hard time "connecting the dots." They can't seem to apply what they learn in school to other things. For example, when students are in the lab doing type to learn, they have their fingers on the home row, use the correct finger reaches, etc. But if they start typing a paper in Word, all that goes out the window. They are back to finger pecking. How do you teach them to apply the things they already learned? I don't know, maybe it's just me but how does Mr. November think these kids can to all this communication with the world, if they don't know the basics in technology?
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