Boneheaded Decision OR Just Another Brick in the Wall

Look at the Top 10 Words Right Now in Twitter (2008-06-19 21:08:22):

ice, mars, best, water, iste, ready, work, google, usa, today. See http://tinyurl.com/2jzqq2

Mars rover has found ice created from water.  Pretty cool (pun intended).

Best, work, today, ready are innocuous.

Google and USA - makes sense that these words would be used frequently everyday to me, based on the people who use Twitter.

But ISTE.  C'mon.  It's an education-related term.  Who truly cares what ISTE is outside of the education technology world.  No one.

And that's the point.
------------------------

The reason for the talk is that ISTE is denying attenders the opportunity to record (audio/video) of any presentation without the presenters approval.  I'm good with that; after all the material they share may be their livelihood, or even better, they may have already made plans to have the session recorded.  [I believe I read that Will was planning to Ustream his session].

But ISTE thinks it is now Major League Baseball and decides to do the "...no recording or rebroadcast of this game, without the express written consent of Major League Baseball, is prohibited..." announcement.  Since the advent of BetaMax, how's that working out for ya MLB?

I first read about this issue from Wes.

Last year, when NECC was in Atlanta, the Blogger Cafe was all the rage.  I followed the conference everyday from the education writers I enjoy reading.  I got a sense of the atmosphere.  I was sorry I wasn't there (only 90 minutes from my house). 

I decided during last year's conference that I wanted to go to San Antonio, but since that decision my niece decided she would was getting married in early July (in Charlotte, NC), and I would rather be at her wedding.  I would like to invoke the digital divide conversation, in that I can't afford to do both in the same week, but I'll refrain.

Besides, methought, I could catch the rerun.  I could actually have the opportunity to LEARN from the world's best and brightest because the technology that will be discussed at NECC is being used by the best and brightest - so I, along with thousands of others, could "attend" and support the work of colleagues. 

Guess not.

Other have written, and will continue to write, about this issue.  You can follow the conversation at Miguel's Diigo page. 

The only way I could possibly be assuaged, is if ISTE recorded all the sessions themselves, then provided each session, free of charge, as a service to educators (service is what a non-profit is all about, right?).  The long tail approach could be to gain membership, even though Gary Stager might oppose that view (read his comments from June 19).

Speaking of Gary, he sent me a tweet with two great comments on this issue.

@rrmurry
How about going to a conference to listen, talk and learn? Why should we all become broadcasters or stenographers? What do we lose?

@rrmurry
I'm equally concerned about liveblogging. I've been savaged for misquotes and comments out-of-context. You can't unring that bell

My response is Gary should WANT TO BE RECORDED is to avoid the misquotes, and the recording is for those of us who are not able to attend, who can rely on nothing more than the misquotes.  We all shouldn't become broadcasters, but perhaps some of the better ones could.

So, ISTE has ticked off a fair amount of Ed Tech people. Not enough to shut down Twitter like an Apple conference, but enough.  It would seem that ISTE might want to reconsider their position.  They'll never rescind this one, that would mean admitting wrong, and God forbid that would occur from anyone not running for President these days.  But perhaps they'll have an answer before 2009, or perhaps a boycott might do the trick in D.C.

Anybody else who presents at NECC have these kind of guts...from Miguel Guhlin.

In fact, I'm so disappointed that I regret that I provided ANY
assistance in helping ISTE advertise the NECC Conference, a part that
involved having bloggers write about NECC 2008 event!

I will NOT present at NECC 2009 or any other ISTE affiliated event
UNLESS this wrong-headed policy is changed. I urge you to do the same.

Then again, maybe all this prohibition is just an advertising campaign to get some buzz for the conference.  Maybe it is ISTE's attempt to prove that "any publicity is good publicity."  Kind of like Coke Classic in '80s.  Wait, that didn't work out that well.

You know what our students do when they are told they can't do something.  I have the image of Seinfeld sneaking into the theater with a Handicam to pirate the presentation, so the movie can be sold on the EdTech underground.  Perhaps another reason why more students should be invited to NECC.  If they did, I could catch that killer panel discussion on YouTube, with the "We Don't Need No Education" song from Pink Floyd as the background music.

In the World of Education, this is just another Brick In The Wall.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Simpsonized Me

I have to admit, I love the Simpsons. They are not as funny as they once were, but they still have their moments. I have the first 8 seasons on DVD, and went to see The Simpson Movie on opening day. The movie is funny for those of us who enjoy parody and satire.

When the Simpsons first arrived on the scene, I was living near Springfield, IL and a friend of mine was working at the new FOX channel there. The Halloween Parade was going to feature the Simpson characters, although the show was not on the air...other than on the Tracy Ullman Show. Anyway, I was going to get to be Homer, and walk through the parade. Unfortunately, the costumes did not show up on time. D'oh.

Gary Stager, over at The Pulse, has Simpsonized himself (as have millions of us by now). As I prepare to head back to school...and after intentionally taking time away from blogging to think, reflect, and determine what was important to me for the coming educational year...I give you my arrival at Springfield Elementary School.

David & Gary - What a conversation

I have been reading blogs for about 5 years. On occasion I will find something that really challenges the current trends of educational thinking...like when Will said his kids may not need college. Great stuff. I have an 18-year-old son who does not need college either (but he is going), and is about to work on an advertising campaign for a major national DIY home improvement chain. This is beside the point.

During my blog reading, I infrequently find anything so earth-shattering that it really makes a difference. Do not misunderstand, I still find things interesting, perhaps innovative, even intriguing. But seldom is anything life-changing. Wikis are cool and offer collaboration and a different way to work in groups. SmartBoards are neat, but it may only provide a hook to gather the attention of the ADD classroom. [I'd be ADD in today's classes too - "powering down" once I got to school.] In the world of "pick your battles" the only thing I have chosen to fight is what I call "modern-day book burning" -- internet filtering. I still don't think many people get it, and opt for the non-thinking, less work, "we must protect our children" diatribe. [BTW - has anyone else ever noticed that when we patronize kids we say "children," as in - "think of the chiiiiillllldren."] So I fight silently, and tell kids to learn things on their own, because schools will not be able to help them much with what they truly want to know. It's a loss of the ideals upon which our country was founded, but there's not much sparkle in that debate.

TODAY though, I went back to revisit David Warlick's comments about the NYT article about "computers don't make a difference in education" post. The comments were up to 25. That means David struck a nerve. David made the comment...

Sadly, we are a generation who was taught how to be taught — not how to teach ourselves. It’s one of the many reasons why the experiences that our children have in the classroom must become much more self-directed, relevant, and rich. They/we need to learn to teach ourselves. Teachers shouldn’t need professional development. They should be saying, hey, I’m going to teach myself how to do that this weekend. It’s about life long learning. Not about a life of being taught.

Brilliant! Correct! Shameful that this is the truth. [Reminder of Ken Robinson]

Then Gary Stager enters the conversation in the comments. I'm not familiar with Mr. Stager's work, but I will look up his contribution to the world. Stager ruffles some feathers in his comments to David. [You can read them for yourself.] But one comment really struck a chord...

Many young teachers figured out that teaching is the only career that doesn’t require electricity. Perhaps we should start recruiting in Amish country.

After I chuckled, I thought about the truth of his statement. Now, while I think "the children are our future, blah, blah, blah" I believe Gary's statement needs further review. I happen to think that it will be 10-15 years (I hope) before education communities will look at today's "struggles" with a hearty ha-ha, and wonder why we had issues with filtering, blogs, wikis, student email accounts, etc. BUT Gary is making an important statement here. If our new generation of teachers are continually being denied the opportunity to use new technologies, one of two things is likely:

a) they will eventually quit trying technology, or anything different that might work (Gary's point, I think) or
b) they will move on to a different career (like they already do before they are up for their first re-certification).

If the new teacher opts to continue teaching, they will develop habits of comfort in their teaching practice. I don't care how many professional developments, mandates from the District Office, or new opportunities come along, once a teacher no longer needs to think on the fly, they will not change just because someone says they have to change. We need a dose of human psychology reality if we think otherwise. Sure, they may "try it for a while," but when they don't see reward for the new effort, the new thing will be devalued. There is a small window of time (under 5 years) to capture teachers and get them to change the way they were taught, and the the way they will teach.

I can hear it now, "But I was teaching for 12 years, and I changed..." You are the exception to the rule, which proves the rule. Be honest, you know teachers are not going to truly change their philosophy after they adopt a philosophy with which they are comfortable.

Using a computer/projector and SmartBoard or computer to TV, to do the same thing I did on a whiteboard with dry erase markers, that others did with an overhead projector, that others did with a blackboard and chalk, that others did with a slateboard, that others did with a stick in the sandbox is not advancement of pedagogy. Different does not mean progress. Sometimes it just means more money.

I can't believe the number of people who are still not aware of the New Bloom's Taxonomy and the role that Creativity can play in student learning and development. But that is another story, for another time.