Innovation

I enjoyed Tony's presentation and I found myself making several notes in a traditional format on paper and pencil.  At one point, I stopped and thought, "I could be typing this on my iPad."  But, the scrap paper and pen were there and handy.  My point in mentioning this is about balance.  I take from Tony's information that we all need to find the balance in our life with ever changing aspects of our world.  Change will be something we can predict vs. the next new piece of information or technology for example.  We will never be faster than innovation if we continue to pursue an innovated culture...but, we will have the skills for conceptualizing how to handle each new situation and opportunity.  Innovation sparks more innovation!  Teachers can support students will the necessary balance.  This is part of the work we need to do to help students work their muscles of concentration.  Learning is different.  Time is available to do these things if we are supporting creation.  There will never be enough time to continually add more information  to a lecture or handout to memorize.  Students will need to discover and grapple with gaining knowledge to support important content AND then DO something REAL with it.  It really is that simple...time is not a barrier here...traditional thinking can be a barrier.

The digital divide is another topic I found interesting.  I think Tony didn't have a response other than it will take time to close this gap...and smaller mobile device will help this.  I think this is true.  But, what to do in the meantime?  In my district, conversations have been taking under serious consideration to form connections within the whole school community.  How to ensure learning and technology extends beyond the school walls.  Some thoughts involve one-to-one devices that students take home and can share and use with their families to have this access.  I think Google Tools will highlight these opportunities for students!  We have to have a plan for this, but I also see that it will continue to take time.  This will not be a quick fix just yet.

There were so many things I jotted down...I also found myself thinking about how I will apply this information in my classroom.  Specifically, I started thinking about how I will work with my colleagues to reframe my course outline and the expectations I have for myself and students.  I even have a great idea for one of the first things I will ask students to do at the start of the year.  Essentially, I will borrow some of the questions Tony mentioned about exploration, curiosity and passion.  It is important to get to know students in order to form connections and develop relationships.  I will use these question stems to take video clips of students to share with the school community.  I think this would  be a great thing to do as a school-wide opportunity.
Something I would like to explore would be...
I am curious about...
I have a passion for...
I think students could share their clips as part of our Teacher Advisory groups.  What a nice way to get to know the group...oh, and students get to use technology too!  It is great when it is embedded and seamless.

I found this to be a longer clip, but a lot of great info was shared.  It was worth watching and I certainly refreshed my thinking about how I plan to start my year and learn with students.   It is exciting to think about teaching a generation as Tony said who want more than money but rather know they changed the world and made a difference.