MAHETC

Entry #9

What an exciting day!

Today was the first day of the Mid-Altantic Handheld & Emerging Technology Conference held at SU. It began with a fun and informative speech by Tony Vincent. From there I spent the next couple of hours with James & Courtney White learning how to create a movie maker production. Since I had to leave for a dentist appointment :( , my last session today was presented by Todd Fishburn about the newest Web 2.0 tools. I left with so many new and exciting ideas, references, websites, and statistics that I can not possibly share them all here! But I will try to give you my favorites and links along the way so you can do future research.

First, Tony Vincent who opened the conference. What an incrediable speaker, very motivating, entertaining, and engeric. The notes from his presentation can be found here, and I encourage you to explore his site for some time. He has a lot of cool links to really fun Web 2.0 tools most of which can motivate, encourage, and sitmulate the young minds in our classrooms.

During his presentation, he gave the following statistics about today's students:

Millennials: Born 1982-2002

28% of 12-grade high school students believe that schoolwork is meaningful
21% of 12-grade high school students believe that their courses are interesting
39% of 12-grade high school students believe that schoolwork will have any bearing on their success later in life

The saddest part about these statistics, based on the way many of us are teaching today myself included, the kids are right. The work that is being required of them isn't going to be meaningful in the long term, it isn't interesting to kids today, and may have little to no bearing on their later success. We generally, aren't teaching the skills they need for tomorrow's workplace. Don Tapscott, in his book Wikinomics, states that "The ability to use wikis will be a required job skill in five years." I just learned what a wiki was this month, (they have been around for over 10 years!) and I am supposed to help give these kids the job skills they need. Kind of hard to do, when I don't know what those skills are.

One other quote from Tony's speech I want to throw out there is:
"I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand."
So true. In order for our kids to be competive in tomorrow's workforce, as pointed out in both Wikinomics and The World is Flat, they must able to use tomorrow's tools and understand the processes that go into using those tools. The new Web 2.0 tools are collaborative tools, they are interactive tools, they require everyone to participate, no one will be able to sit on the side lines and watch if they want to get ahead.

Another important point must be made. Tomorrow that's not some time in the future, that is literally 24 hours from now. These times are not just a changin', they are evolving into something totally different! The ride we are all on is fast; so pay attention, get involved, and participate in the show.

Second, Movie Maker.
I had seen this technology used by another student in a class last semester, I even had one of my students turn in her final project as a movie made on movie maker last year, but before today, I had never seen how it worked. I not only saw how it works, but I created my first movie. (I was so proud, I called mom and made her watch it. While she didn't appreciate the topic of my movie, my pet snake Sushi, she was impressed with her daughter's newest technology skill.) If only I knew how to share it here... will work on that later. Figured it out, click here and look for Sushi movie. Again, resources for workshop are avaliable online >>>> here.

I love how now everyone is posting their resources online, I don't have to worry about taking as detailed notes, or losing the handouts! It also makes sharing all of this valuable information so easy.

The last session I was able to attend today was presented by Todd Fishburn entitled The Future of the Internet: Web 2.0. I honestly didn't think a person was able to give out so much information as quickly as he did and not confuse a single person. Of course, all information is found online at > well here.

Biggest tip I feel Todd gave was that as teachers, we should try to add 2 more tech tools into our toolbox of supplies to use with our students each year. This year I was already planning on having a blog for my students, but now Todd is challenging me to add another. I'm feeling a wiki, calling. Speaking of wiki's, I just edited on for the first time! Very exciting. Ok, I didn't really have anything to add, but I wanted the experience and that is what the Web 2.0 is all about, experiencing. If your interested, I added a small paragraph on the Todd's wiki > here.

Todd also described was he calls Education 2.0. This new wave, where education must go in order to keep our students engaged and learning, will: have more choices, collect and use data, have the input and participation of many, remove barriers, have people keep experimenting and documenting growth, work will all stakeholders not just a few, and will embrace differentiated instruction. There are already tools available, free tools available online to help teachers create this type of learning atmosphere in their classroom today. It is our job, no it is our responsibility to our students to learn these tools, and use them in our classrooms to bring our content to life. What we do today, will effect them for the rest of their lives.

That was only day 1. Can only imagine what tomorrow will bring...

My thanks goes out to everyone who helped put this conference together and especially to Dr. Royer for requiring me to attend. Without you, I would have missed this important learning opportunity.

Isn't it nice that we have people in our lives that push us to do what's best.

Oh, one more thing. I need help. I researched all about Twitter yesterday. I understand how it works, I checked out other people's twitter, and I even participated in the conference's twitter. But WHY DO PEOPLE REALLY SPEND THEIR TIME DOING THIS? Am I just too old, at 33, to understand this, or what?