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That's awesome. I think sometimes, the best conversations and even, presentations come out of spur of the moment opportunities like the one you described. I wish I was there to partake. I tell (skeptical) teachers all the time, about my background, as an elementary teacher who was always too nervous to speak in front of her own faculty. On parent night, my stomach would hurt and I'd avoid talking to the parents by showing a self-playing 30-minute PowerPoint of the kids work instead. It's hard to believe that I would do that, but I've grown to be a trainer, collaborator, presenter, blogger, Twitterer, etc. by making myself take small steps out of my comfort zone. If I can do it, anyone can!!
Thanks for sharing your story. ~Lee
Thanks for sharing this, and keep changing the world.
Now to get down to business:
What are your thoughts on the next OpenPD (topic and time)? I'm starting to lean toward a topic like "Global Collaboration in the Classroom". Really it's about the collaboration, isn't it (and not about the tools)?
Global Collaboration in the Classroom would be a great topic. There are so many different ways to make a collaboration a success. We would all benefit from talking with each other and learning from each other.
Educational technology companies need to be providing a framework for OpenPD to their customers. They need to help teachers make faster progress toward moving the technology to the back seat and teaching/learning to the front seat.
using to accomplish OpenPD are still clunky. The Ustream/Skype/Chat combo
we've used, in spite of being free, can be daunting. Elluminate and
Flashmeeting are still not perfect, either.
I think we'll know we've arrived at an adequate solution when there are as
many online discussions about teaching math, language arts, and science as
there are discussions and classes about how to use the tools.
Just another example of why you just rock. I've been purposely bumping into Alan November over the last few years, for one main reason: he has a way of saying things to teachers and administrators about technology and the future of education that is disarming. He welcomes the "yeah, buts," and diffuses them without souring the crowd on his message. That's no small feat especially when he frequently lets everyone know how far behind we are in the U.S.
Cant' wait to send some teachers your way when OpenPD begins again. Best of luck!
that people like because he's so smooth that you forget he's a geek.
Here's the lesson for me: Continue to showcase people doing the good work. This is how the message sticks.
Nicely done.
Darren Draper "...quit making excuses and change the world."
from Robert F. Kennedy 1966 speech worth reading: 2 quotes
"Our answer is the world's hope; it is to rely on youth. The cruelties and the obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. It cannot be moved by those who cling to a present which is already dying, who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger which comes with even the most peaceful progress. This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease."
"First is the danger of futility; the belief there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills -- against misery, against ignorance, or injustice and violence. Yet many of the world's great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and 32-year-old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal. "Give me a place to stand," said Archimedes, "and I will move the world." These men moved the world, and so can we all."
Day of Affirmation, University of Capetown, South Africa (6.6.1966)
http://www.rfksa.org/speeches/speech.php?id=1
Regards,
Dennis
To be perfectly blunt, I'm not sure why it all hinges on me.
Aren't the teachers that have participated in the OpenPD classes just
as qualified to explain it to others? Shouldn't the technology
specialists that joined us last year be doing the SAME THING with
their teachers that we tried to do with ours?
Maybe for some managing all of it on their own is too much, not that they could not ask for participation. Maybe time is a reason why some don't try, we put a lot of time into our sessions, planning, testing, reflecting. I wish I had an answer, risk is a factor too, you have to be willing to take the risk something won't work
I have had people contact me recently asking if we are doing it again, so there remains interest in attending, the interest in leading is what appears to be less appealing.
What a story! I'm so glad you shared it.To your credit, the opportunity to address 600 people came your way and YOU WERE PREPARED! That says a lot about you. Congratulations!
Coincidentally, I discovered OpenPD quite by accident a few days ago. I emailed Robin Ellis to inquire about the next session. You two are onto something. I'm thrilled for you. Go on...do it...change the world!