Dave Bill

Chaos and TEDxNYED

by Dave on March 10, 2010

TEDxNYED, which was last weekend, has created a great deal of engagement. Our Twitter hashtag is still being used, there have been a number of blog posts about what happened on Saturday and there is still a strong interest in repeating an event like TEDxNYED.

This engagement has also made me think about a few things (ok, a lot of things but i’ll list three here):

1. The critiques of the format (See examples: one and two)

2. Follow up – a want to continue the conversation

3. How this model can assist us through the chaos

The format

The TED format works on a number of levels. It introduces ideas, inspires and drives conversation that can lead us to new understandings and directions. I am a big believer in what TED does offer: access to ideas. For many those ideas can only be accessed online, there is access nonetheless and those ideas can start something bigger.

TEDxNYED did a number of things well as we attempted to follow the TED format. We brought together a number of great minds and provided as much access to their ideas as possible.

That being said, we were limited to 275 seats and could have approached the attendee process differently but either way we would have disappoint many people. Yes, interacting online is not the same but we attempted to provide forums for discussion by using our Facebook Fan page discussion boards and will work to develop the online community even more in the future.

While we were limited by the number of physical attendees, our biggest problem was that TEDxNYED was designed for educators and focused primarily on education reform. This is only a problem because when dealing with teachers who want reform, they NEED more of a take away than simply presenting ideas. So, as we move forward we plan on addressing a few things.

What to fix

Conversation: Based upon arvind grover’s idea, once the talks are up, we plan on hosting online discussions based upon the talks and inviting the speaker and any interested parties to come together and talk about what can be done to address the speaker’s particular thesis. That is just the start.

Action: Because ideas and brief conversations alone will not sustain teachers and administrators who are interested in educational reform, future versions of TEDxNYED and other TEDxED events will have a model that allows deep interaction and planning. Based upon Dan Cohen’s idea of using the THATCamp idea, we are envisioning a format that is potentially half a day of talks and half a day of a physical and virtual unconference. The unconference would be the opportunity to unpack the ideas presented and envision what can be done to help implement those ideas.

Elitism: To ensure that we are not “elitist”, I think creating more awareness through a number of mediums well before the event and then have a first come first serve sign up a few weeks before the event might equalize who can physically attend. Again, the entire event would continue to be streamed live for those who can not attend.

Diversity: As for the problem of diversity, we must reach out to all communities that can improve education as well as have an open application process for speakers. If you have other ideas, I am all ears.

Finding our way through the chaos

The goal of TEDxNYED was and will be to help educators learn about and implement ideas that will improve our schools. Clay Shirky talks about how immediately after the introduction of the printing press there was 50 years of chaos as the masses adjusted to a new medium. There were extremes. A number of people adopted the powerful printing press immediately and then there were the scribes who held on to their now outdated positions of power with all they could. Stuck in the middle were the rest of the population trying to find their way.

In the world of education, we stand in a very similar situation. TEDxNYED was started to help educators “in the middle” be introduced to ideas on how technology can improve the way we teach and learn. While the ideas are at the core of what will help, it will be the action that will create the results and lead us out of chaos. As we move forward we will improve this model so that we can address what needs to be fixed in order to improve teaching and learning.

If you think I am overlooking anything, like what i have to say, or think am just plain wrong please feel free to add your comments below. I want to see TEDxNYED and the idea of TEDxED improve and hopefully meet the needs of ALL educators looking to improve their schools.

Expanding the model

As I mention in my previous post, my goal is to extend the TEDxED model to other cities. To help shorten this period of chaos my hope is to have a number of events dedicated to using the TEDx model and incorporating a more action oriented approach. I will be writing more about this in the coming weeks as we begin to plan the next steps for future TEDxED events. Let me know if you are interested in contributing to the future of TEDxED.

Photo Credit: SpecialKRB

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TEDxNYED – a look back

by Dave on March 7, 2010

After months of planning, TEDxNYED finally happened on Saturday, March 6th. We were filled to capacity with teachers, administrators and those passionate about the future of education.

Not only did we have a packed house but through a partnership with Livestream, we were able to stream the entire event and had over 20,000 views. Our hashtag had 2,871 tweets from over 1,100 tweeters and we were trending on Twitter for most of the day. We accomplished our goal of reaching as many people as possible as we attempted to promote “Ideas (about education) Worth Spreading”. There seemed to be many people energized by TEDxNYED. While there was a lot of energy about yesterday, I want to discuss and clarify a few things.

What TEDxNYED was

TEDxNYED was a conversation starter. The talks were meant to be an opportunity for people to come together, listen to leaders in the worlds of media, technology and education and create a call to action. They were meant to be the start of a process that will help move our schools forward. It was the ideas presented by the likes of Lawrence Lessig, whose talk on openness is here and Chris Lehmann, who spoke about inquiry and community, that were meant to generate discussions that will help change our schools.

What TEDxNYED Was Not

TEDxNYED was not silver bullet for the future of education. Rather, it was intended to be a starting point. The talks were a means to spread ideas that can start conversations where there may not have been one. From its inception, we wanted TEDxNYED to be about introducing ideas to educators and letting them determine how those ideas would best fit best their schools and communities. TEDxNYED was not a final answer.

It was an opportunity for people from around the globe to come together to think, connect, discuss and plan. A great example of this was a YouTube video created yesterday that explained how to use a Etherpad that was created by viewers to document the ideas at TEDxNYED. Dan Meyer mentioned that textbooks are right in the wrong way, they provide the answers. We at TEDxNYED did not want to provide the answers, we wanted to provide you with the platform to find your OWN answers.

Talks at TEDxNYED were not lectures. They were not meant to teach. Rather, they were meant to be an introduction or affirmation that could lead to further investigation.

TEDxNYED was not perfect. I started this whole roller coaster and I’ll be the first to admit it. A number of people have mentioned the lack of diversity among our speakers. While we had an amazing group of speakers and I am truly grateful to all of them, there was a gender and racial imbalance. This discussion about the lack of diversity is a very valid one and as I move forward with the TEDx program it will be something I will take VERY seriously.

The Next Step

This is just the beginning. No doubt, there is room for improvement but TEDxNYED has started something. TEDxNYED was an introduction to what is possible with the TEDx platform. I envisioned this as a first step in using the TED brand as a way to spread ideas on improving education. The platform may not have been perfect but as I said earlier, it was a starting point. My dream is to improve the model and have events like TEDxNYED (TEDx events focusing on teaching and learning) in cities around the world.

The talks were meant to introduce ideas that can change education while providing a platform for attendees and viewers to connect and dream about how those ideas can be spread. We, the organizers, offered you the opportunity and the ideas. Now it’s your turn. What are you going to do with it? What would you do with a TEDx program to help improve education? The potential is there. Let’s do something with it.

Thank You

This has been a life changing process for me. I am forever indebted to SO many people but I want to thank those who helped make TEDxNYED actually happen and made this such an amazing experience. Without them, it would still just be an idea.

It was Lara Stein, the organizer of the TEDx program, who put me in touch with Chel O’Reilly, who was instrumental in helping get this ball rolling. Once the ball was rolling, it has been the hard work and dedication of Alex Ragone, arvind grover, Karen Blumberg, Erin Mumford (I didn’t forget this time), Basil Kolani, Eric Sanders, Adam Kenner, Jeff Wetiz and Lisa Chun of Elizabeth Events that not only made this experience possible but one I will never forget. For that, I am eternally grateful.

A special thanks to Brady from the Collegiate School. Brady was our the master of light and sound at TEDxNYED and he made everything run smoothly and run on time. Finally, I’d like to thank all the students and teachers from Rough Cut Productions who did a phenomenal job of recording all the talks.

Finally

If you are interested in the TEDx program and want to start your own, contact tedx [at] ted [dot] com or visit their website to learn more about how to start your own “independently organized TEDx event”. If you have any questions about how this was organized or how can get involved, feel free to email me at david [at] tedxnyed [dot] com and I will be happy to get back to you.

Photo Credit: arvindgrover

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Creative Commons Salon NYC

by Dave on March 1, 2010

I will speaking on a panel with a couple of my of K-12 educator peers at a Creative Commons Salon NYC event focusing on Opening Education on March 3rd.

We will be a part of a night that will also include the founder of Flat World Knowledge and co-founder of Peer 2 Peer University. The event will last from 7pm to 10pm. Registration information can be found here.

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What Matters Now

by Dave on December 15, 2009

Seth Godin just published a book called What Matters Now. In his new e-book, which is really more of a pamphlet, Godin and a number of other thinkers examine some important ideas that every educator must ponder and attempt to incorporate into his or her teaching. These are concepts that will cross every industry and will prove to be invaluable for our students as we move into the second decade in the 21st century.

Download the free PDF here or read the book below.

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The case for mobile phones in education

by Dave on December 13, 2009

Mobile phones are ubiquitous. Whether you like it or not, your students have them and are probably texting or on Facebook while in your class. Some may see these tools as a massive problem for teachers but mobile phones are the one technology that has the most potential to improve education around the world.

There are many initiatives to improve educational opportunities for students. Laptop programs have been extremely popular for the past few years. While laptops provide access to information and offer the opportunity to engage the world, they are expensive and not every student can afford one.

Mobile phones, on the other hand, are less expensive and provide many of the same opportunities to extend the classroom for learning. We need to find a way to provide quality education for all people around the world and at this point mobile phones are our best bet.

To support this argument, I have listed below a number of very useful blog posts, presentations, or websites that examine the power of mobile phones in the classroom. At the end of the day, mobile phones will not change what we need to teach but they can improve how our students learn.

Post: Please turn on your cell phone

Presentation: Cell Phones as Classroom Learning Tools

Website: Cell Phones in Learning

Wiki: Cell Phones in Learning

Wiki: K-12 Cell Phone Projects

Delicious: Articles on cell phones in education

Website: MoblieActive

Photo Credit: Quinn.Anya

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What is TEDxNYED?

by Dave on December 5, 2009

This week the TEDxNYED website went live and the application is now open to all educators or those interested in the future of education.

The TEDx event will be hosted in New York City on March 6, 2010. But while you could view the website to learn about the event, I wanted to introduce TEDxNYED and explain what prompted its creation.

In the summer of 2009, I came across a tweet about TEDx. TED is a brand that almost everyone instantly recognizes as a leader in helping to spread innovative and thoughtful ideas around the world. Now with TEDx, individuals could host their own independent TED event. When I perused the list of current TEDx events, I did not see any dedicated to education. It is then when I decided to start this process.

I currently work in New York City at an independent school. I knew an epicenter like New York City would be an ideal location to bring together some amazing minds to discuss education. As an educator who is involved in studying the potential of technology in shaping the future of education, I wanted the event to be centered on how new media and technology is shaping our educational landscape.

I brought together a number of amazing technology leaders, educators, and TEDsters from around New York City to help lead this event. This group has worked hard over the last five months to create an event that will bring the best and brightest minds in education, media, and technology together to reach educators, leaders, and those passionate about education. Our hope is that our speakers will spread ideas and help decision makers and interested parties understand this undercurrent in education and take these ideas back to their schools or organizations and make valuable change to educational instruction, design and access.

While we still have a great deal of planning still to do, we at TEDxNYED are well on our way and look forward to hosting this event on March 6, 2010. We see this a great way for us to spread ideas on the future education while providing an opportunity to network and meet some amazing people who are dedicated to improving education.

Follow TEDxNYED on Twitter and Facebook.

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Blog Workshop

by Dave on September 1, 2009

Theory

Blogs In Plain English

The blog as a writing tool

“Why I blog” by Andrew Sullivan

Practice

How to use a blog

The power of blogging lies in providing a public voice for students.

How could you use one in your classroom?

“Blogs in Education” by Stephen Downes

New Literacies by Clive Thompson

Hands on

What is it?

Discuss the variations of a blog and its potential.

Do it

Based upon our discussion:

What is the focus of your blog?

Access your blog: (http://blogs.dwight.edu/username)

http://blogs.dwight.edu/dbill

Write your first post

Follow Up

There will be a variety of professional development opportunities to learn more about blog and how to effectively use them in and out of your classrooms.

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Disrupting Education

by Dave on May 13, 2009

Lately a lot of people have been talking about disrupting industries. If we want to seriously consider how we can disrupt our current educational model, we need to listen.

We need to listen to the likes of Clay Christensen who wrote a book about it, MIT’s New Media Literacies has developed strategy guides to support it, David Wiley and the State of Utah who are opening up classes that will enable it, Mike Wesch who is using new media to reconsider how we address course content, and Bill Farren who is developing an online course around it.

In my last few posts I have been writing about changes that can be made to alter our educational landscape. At the core of these changes is transitioning to a model based upon participatory learning:

This is an open classroom. An open classroom is based upon the idea of participatory learning; connections between students and experts around the world as well as dynamic content, that is readily available to all, drives student inquiry.

Access

The power of this participation starts in the access to information. With resources like iTunesU, Academic Earth, Courseware, Diigo, Google News, blogs via an RSS Reader, and Wikipedia, our students can find more information and sources on a topic than any teacher can provide in a lecture. This access not only promotes inquiry, as students must find reliable sources and learn digital literacy skills, but it creates the potential to open a class to communities outside the four walls of a classroom.

Connection

We are social beings that want to learn. When students can connect and participate with others while learning, they become intrinsically motivated. If learning happens by students working together to draw conclusions or provide feedback, students interest increases. With technologies like Ning, Skype, Wordpress, Twitter, YouTube, and Wikis, students are able to collaborate with their peers around the world, discuss issues with leading experts in order to develop their own ideas. When learning can reach beyond the four walls of a classroom and there is meaning to the content as well as the personal connection to the outside world, a school can be transformed into a place where students want to learn.

Meaning

Today’s technology creates opportunities to bring the masses together while making an impact. In a world where transformative technologies are at tips of our fingers, it is all the more important to make learning meaningful. When a class can work with a village in Africa to learn how AIDS has been decimating the population, students do not want to simply write an essay about the disease, they want to do something about it. Our students are constantly connected and we can use these technologies to help make a positive impact. It is this potential, the ability to bring meaning into learning, that can truly disrupt our current model of education. When the wold is faced with countless problems, it is the fact that our students can help make a difference that will make learning meaningful.

Getting There

The technology is there, the need is there, what lacks is an understanding from educators. It is our job, as those who get these ideas, to forget about giving presentations on Twitter. Rather, talk about making our classrooms meaningful and why our students should connect to the world. If we want to disrupt education, we must explain why before how. We must open their eyes to a new approach to teaching, helping them to see this transformation. The next time you speak to a peer or present to a group, do not focus on the technology, spend your time talking about an issue important to you and how your students can use technology can make a difference.

Photo Credit: Courosa
Alec Courosa is also on Twitter: @courosa

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Education 3.0

by Dave on May 11, 2009

No matter matter how much money a school throws at technology, it is all for naught if the use and approach is outdated. The folks over at Education Futures have been writing about this very thing in a series called Designing Education 3.0. There they discuss:

These posts hightlight the fact that as technology becomes more ubiquitous in schools, it is imperative that we address how that technology is used. Far too many times I have seen SMARTBoards unused, teachers “using” technology by giving lectures with PowerPoint presentations, or my favorite, simply showing a YouTube clip with no follow up.

This Education 1.0 approach will not work. Teachers complain about having to learn about new technologies and I don’t blame them. Used in a Education 1.0 model, these technologies are just updated chalkboards, overhead projectors, and film clips.

Instead of wasting our time, money, and energy on simply introducing the latest technologies, we need to spend our professional development time helping teachers understand how and why we must move to a Education 3.0 model. If we continue to teach using outdated models, not only will our students lose interest but they will be left behind. The following chart from Education Futures outlines this idea:

As I have written before, time is precious. There is never enough of it. If we can spend that time helping teachers understand this shift and how they can use technology in order to support the idea of Education 3.0, not only will our teaching improve but our students will be more engaged.

Here is some evidence that supports what I have just mentioned. Demetri Orlando published a great Digital 1:1 Laptop Classroom Rubric. Take a look, this would be a useful tool in helping teachers begin to develop a more Education 3.0 classroom.

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