OK, please forgive the stream of consciousness here. This is mostly a compilation of my notes from these sessions, with some added thoughts. here and there. Unless otherwise clear, the ideas here are from the presenters ( I don’t want to misrepresent any of the genius here as my own). Everyth9ing written here is something I considered powerful or important.
Karen Cator, Department of Education
Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology
National Education Technology Plan
Personalized learning, not individualized learning
Measure what matters
Embedded assessments – real-time feedback loops
Technology as force multiplier
Excellent presentation of the Beta version of the NETP. She says it’s close to version 1.0, after the latest round of feedback from educators.
She outlined some of the major challenges and opportunities that will be involved getting to where we need to be. The one that is on my mind lately? Assessment: Defining what is important to measure, and determining how to measure it. Everyone seems to agree that performance assessment is the best (only?) way to measure what is important, but there are huge hurdles. Agreeing on what is important is the first step. But even if that could be agreed upon, is there a way to objectively measure performance in a comparable way that can be used to ascertain the success of methods? Performance assessment is inherently subjective to the reviewer (or is it? – challenge me!). And if so, how can there be a national standard, or even a state standard for proficiency in a given area? Is it ever possible to get away from standardized tests if the goal is to compare outcomes across systems? Should we move to community standards?
Gary Stager
Creativity 2.0: The Quest for Meaning, Beauty, and Excellence
Gary’s blog
All media construction should mirror the writing process
Successful 1:1 programs changed everything when the computers came in
Students should feel intellectually powerful
Learning should be non-coercive
Kids need access to expertise and need relationships with adults
Knowledge is a consequence of experience
Make thinking visible
PBL (Project Based Learning)
If the scale or prompt is too large you narrow the possible outputs. The problems must be bite sized, but large enough to enable depth.
Elements of successful PBL
See slides on site (www.Stager.org/iste – don’t seem to be there yet)
When students come up to teachers in later years they always want to reminisce. Teaching should involve more of the kinds of things they reminisce about.
Mitchel Resnick
Lifelong Kindergarten: Keeping Imagination and Creativity in the Learning Process
Imagine, play, share, create, reflect
Tech should enhance this, not just make the current information-through-funnel model more efficient
Leigh Zeitz and Angela Maiers
It’s Not about the Gadgets, It’s about the Possibilities!
www. DrZreflects.com
www.angelamaiers.com
We’re trying to put new things into old structures = confusion
Internet is about network and community not just another place for
students to find, memorize, and regurgitate data.
Synthesize, communicate, evaluate
These need to be basic skills, not just graduate level
Book: disrupting class
Must read
Chris Dede – must read blog
