ISTE12 and the idea of a flipped conference

I first mentioned it at the karaoke party on the rooftop of the Andaz hotel.  "I just feel like the whole passive-audience format is a bit dated, especially with all this talk of flipped instruction".  I should have known better than to approach the subject when everyone was more engaged with the person singing Aerosmith's "Dream On".  But I would argue (and bet money) that the majority of attendees probably felt something a bit different than ISTE conferences of past: that there was much more learning, exposure, networking, experiencing in most every space of ISTE but one - the sessions.  That's not to say that the presenters of these sessions were not qualified nor did they fail to bring pertinent information.  But when you are in a room (classroom?) of two hundred, just how much information can you walk away with?  The presenters for the most part, zipped through their myriad of apps, sites, etc. while most rushed to download the app (discouraged, btw) on their iPad and check it out.  You see, this format of delivering ninety-nine apps in sixty minutes worked when all we had was a yellow ledger (or handout) and pen to jot them down (ok, laptops, but we weren't trying to download software during the sessions).  The attendee would make quick notes like, "Yes! Use this " or "Not for me/my class".  But now, it's all about experiencing it right there and then.  We want to play with it, evaluate it, critique it, share it, tweet about it, and determine its worth all the while surrounded by our peers who may have valuable input.  Perhaps this is where someone can insert the idea of a flipped conference.  I haven't ventured far enough into the world of flipped classrooms to form an opinion, but it's an idea, anyway.
Conferences like ISTE should re-evaluate the format in which the information is disseminated to the 21st century (I'm going to stop using this term very soon) educator.  Much like our learners in our classrooms, we have moved away from being a passive receiver of information.  If you witnessed the poster sessions  run by children, the various playgrounds, live theaters, and various other "lounges", this is where the action was taking place.  I'm not suggesting tossing out the baby with the bathwater, but the way we obtain information is now dependent on the type of material we are gathering.  Conferences will always be essential to PD, however, they must evolve in order to keep us engaged.

From the halls of ISTE12 - By Tina Barseghian: Beyond Technology, How to Spark Kids’ Passions

(The author of this post is Tina Barseghian.)

Amidst a sea of tech devices, and at a gathering of more than 18,000 educators interested in technology, a surprisingly human message rose above the noise at this week’s International Society for Technology in Education.

Kicking off the big event, where crowds overflowed from one packed room to another, Sir Ken Robinson, renowned author and international education adviser, proposed the idea that technology is not the only driver for learning.

“The problem now is resisting the notion that technology is the answer to everything — it’s clearly not,” Robinson said. “But what part of the equation does technology best speak to?”

Robinson, who’s been outspoken about the need to change the education paradigm, emphasized that educators shouldn’t be pushing (or be pushed toward) the gratuitous use of technology. He posed thought-provoking questions that got to the heart of what every stakeholder in education wants: what does it take to engage students — not just within a standardized curriculum, but in their own learning? What are the roles of technology in doing this? And what are the implications when it comes to implementing practices and policies?

“We should get rid of the words ‘curriculum delivery.’ It’s an artform to teach.”

In the hunt to find the next Holy Grail in education technology, Robinson said we may be losing sight of what teachers are best at.

“We should get rid of the words ‘curriculum delivery,’” he said, referring to the multitudes of tech platforms. “It’s an art form to teach, the judgement of what might work today may not work tomorrow.”

Teachers are the connective tissue in helping kids find not just subjects at which they test well, but what they’re passionate about, he said. “You often don’t know what you’re passionate about because you haven’t been introduced to it in the right way,” he said. “Teachers provide that stewardship we need,” he said.

For teachers, helping kids find their passion outside the confines of standardized curriculum and testing can be a messy endeavor, but worth the challenge. Marc Prensky, author of the bookBRAIN GAIN: Technology and the Quest for Digital Wisdom, added that, rather than finding different ways for everyone to do the same curriculum, we need to find a way to allow individual students to create their own pathways to learning.

Though technology could help in this realm, the value that great teachers bring to the equation is immeasurable against what software can do, Prensky said: providing empathy and helping students find their passion by providing a wider place to look.

“Helping students find their passion will lead them to achievement,” he said.

Ever the pithy presenter, Prensky proposed to the audience four ways teachers can do this.

1. LISTEN. It’s impossible to encourage students when we don’t know what their passions are, so above all, teachers must listen to their students. “Or else what we get is ‘cellophane kids,’ when a teacher looks right through them to the curriculum and test scores and kids become invisible,” he said.
2. RESPECT. Adults and kids don’t respect each other as much as they should, Prensky said. “The war between digital natives and immigrants is over, and the natives have won! So let’s move forward to mutual respect and wisdom,” he said. We need both technology and strong pedagogy, but we need to include kids’ voices in how we make decisions about learning. “All education decisions come top down right now,” he said. “The next century is about changing that.”
3. OVER-EXPECT FROM STUDENTS. Today’s kids have far greater capabilities than ever been before, not less. “What’s making them better is connecting their brains to technology wisely,” he said. Let’s step up our expectations of them in that regard.
4. DO WHAT YOU KNOW IS RIGHT. “Teachers know what kids need, but someone has convinced them to just cover the curriculum,” he said. A teacher’s job is to help equip kids  with skills to function and thrive in the digital future, and though that could be challenging because of conflicting policies in place, that’s the definition of courage.http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/06/beyond-technology-how-to-spark-kids-passions/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+kqed/nHAK+(MindShift)