Driven to Distraction?

Today's Class

I am teaching a unit on "The Impact of New Media". This week our guiding question is "has the evolution of new media been a detriment?"

We watched "Distracted by Everything" a section from Digital Nation, a PBS documentary on how technology is impacting our lives.



My Questions

After watching the video, I asked my students:

"Would you be able to give up Facebook, gChat or BBM if you KNEW it would make you at least 2 times more productive with your work?"

100% of my students declined and said they would not give up their technologies even if they knew they could produce higher quality work in less time.

I then followed with:

"If the work was more engaging, would you give up your distractions?"

This time I got a resounding "Yes!"

This made me think.

My Reaction

The technologies that are available enrich our lives. This will only become increasingly more apparent.

That being said, in my mind, our challenge lies in the fact that the technologies that are currently distracting our students are doing so because our teaching has not evolved with our students.

I do not believe that the content we teach is necessarily wrong or that we should change to keep up with a technology but if our students are willing to be distracted, should we not reconsider how we teach that content?

My goal is to find that happy medium. Create curriculum that meets the benchmarks of a particular school while investigating the use of technology and differentiated learning to engage our students and ensure that they don't feel inclined to be distracted.

I have a challenge for everyone reading:

As we near the end of the year and begin planning your curriculum for next year.  Create learning opportunities that are more individualized, more authentic and that support student involvement and inquiry.

If we can do that, I think we'll be well on our way to pushing aside these distractions.

Posted via web from Dave Bill's Posterous

NUMMI and School Change

I was listening to This American Life last night. It was the show from two weeks ago. The episode focuses on a collaboration between GM and Toyota that began in 1984.

Decades leading up to the collaboration, a GM plant in Fremont, CA had been overrun by labor unions. Quantity took precedence over quality and there was no incentive for good work.  Employees at the plant did not like their job nor did they work hard.

The show focused on how NUMMI, the new collaborative plant in Fremont, CA, implemented a new culture and how its new employees struggled to spread the ideas started at the plant throughout the rest of GM.

The Start of NUMMI

To begin with, all employees were fired when the plant changed. Employees who wanted to be apart of the new plant, were sent to Japan and introduced to the Toyota Production System.  That system was based upon teamwork and quality over quantity.

While it took some time, the unions bought into the system and in turn NUMMI became the most successful plant in GM.

Despite the fact that NUMMI had been successful, the production model that Toyota had introduced had not been embraced by the rest of GM. This problem plagued GM up until early this decade but by then it was too late. GM was on the road to bankruptcy.

NUMMI and Education

I tell this story because I believe our schools are very similar to this story.  There are great school models out there. Many of them are moving away from that "industrial" model of teaching and implementing approaches that put the students at the center of the learning. Using models like the ones I refer to in my previous post, these schools have changed the culture and have created their own NUMMI.  The problem we face is very similar to that of GM.

The models are out there. There are "commandos" on the ground, ready to see schools change. Our challenge is to ensure these model are implemented more widely.

What can we do to ensure we do not become GM? I sure hope so.

Listen to the podcast, which is linked below and let me know what you think.

The Podcast

Episode 403 - NUMMI

Posted via email from Dave Bill's Posterous

Learners - In all shapes and sizes

Learners come in all shapes and sizes and there are opportunities for every student to access a learning style that suits his or her individual needs.  Whether it's restructuring curriculum , redesigning classrooms or utilizing online learning there are options that can help reach all learners.  It should be our goal to build models that provide options.  Schools now have the ability to create flexible learning spaces based upon the needs of its students.

Providing opportunities for each student is our goal.  Schools must recognize that to reach that goal we must look beyond our current model.  We must evaluate space, time, location, and approach when examining potential learning.  There are viable options right now that schools can incorporate into their culture.

Models

To obtain this goal of learning that suits the needs of all students there are options that can be implemented.

Kahn Academy

Online learning is nothing new but creating an option where students can learn on their own pace is something that can be easily incorporated into a school.  Allowing students to learn a subject, like Math, through a program like Kahn Academy has long term benefits for kids who "don't get it".  There needs to be face to face time to support that learning but online individualized learning has a big upside.

Generation Schools

Sometimes the model of the school can be improved to suit the needs of the community.  Generation Schools in New York, NY take an approach that challenges the traditional schedule and structure of the curriculum.

Classroom Design

Redesigning how and where we work is as important to the content itself.  Flexible learning spaces are essential to ensuring that learning is not confined to desks in row but rather a little bit of chaos.

Design Thinking

Speaking of chaos.  One of the ideas that has the most potential to provide opportunities for all learners is to follow the idea of Design Thinking.  A process made famous by IDEO and that focuses on groups working together, has a great deal of potential to solve problems and make learning authentic.  The book Change by Design has helped a great deal in shaping my thinking on this topic.  Here is an article by GOOD magazine on the importance of failure.  This whole idea will be a post for another day.

These models all have potential to help improve our schools we we move further into this new century.  And it will be classes like "Open Course in Education Futures", being taught by George Siemens and Dave Cormier, that can help schools understand these shifts.  Classes like that and reports that examine the "Impact of the Internet on Institutions of the Future" will help us move towards schools shifting and addressing the needs of all learners.

Technology is no longer the focus, it is the learning.  So forget about teaching blogging, let's focus on new models of teaching.

Posted via email from Dave Bill's Posterous

Drive: The Two Questions That Can Change Your Life

In full disclosure, I have yet to read "Drive" by Dan Pink. I know, I know.  It's on my to read list.  That being said, @antonioviva made me aware of this video.  The two questions are:

1. What one sentence would define you?

2. Was I better today than I was yesterday?

These two questions can help us to simplify and define our calling while motivating us to stay on target.  Whether it is personal goals or for our students, these two questions are powerful ones that we all should embrace and incorporate into our work.

Posted via email from Dave Bill's Posterous

Chaos and TEDxNYED

TEDxNYED, which was last weekend, has created a great deal of engagement.  Our Twitter hashtag is still being used, there have been a number of blog posts about what happened on Saturday and there is still a strong interest in repeating an event like TEDxNYED.

This engagement has also made me think about a few things (ok, a lot of things but i'll list three here):

1. The critiques of the format (See examples: one and two)

2.  Follow up - a want to continue the conversation

3. How this model can assist us through the chaos

The format

The TED format works on a number of levels.  It introduces ideas, inspires and drives conversation that can lead us to new understandings and directions. I am a big believer in what TED does offer: access to ideas.  For many those ideas can only be accessed online, there is access nonetheless and those ideas can start something bigger.

TEDxNYED did a number of things well as we attempted to follow the TED format.  We brought together a number of great minds and provided as much access to their ideas as possible.

That being said, we were limited to 275 seats and could have approached the attendee process differently but either way we would have disappoint many people.  Yes, interacting online is not the same but we attempted to provide forums for discussion by using our Facebook Fan page discussion boards and will work to develop the online community even more in the future.

While we were limited  by the number of physical attendees, our biggest problem was that TEDxNYED was designed for educators and focused primarily on education reform.  This is only a problem because when dealing with teachers who want reform, they NEED more of a take away than simply presenting ideas.  So, as we move forward we plan on addressing a few things.

What to fix

Conversation: Based upon arvind grover's idea, once the talks are up, we plan on hosting online discussions based upon the talks and inviting the speaker and any interested parties to come together and talk about what can be done to address the speaker's particular thesis.  That is just the start.

Action: Because ideas and brief conversations alone will not sustain teachers and administrators who are interested in educational reform, future versions of TEDxNYED and other TEDxED events will have a model that allows deep interaction and planning.  Based upon Dan Cohen's idea of using the THATCamp idea, we are envisioning a format that is potentially half a day of talks and half a day of a physical and virtual unconference.  The unconference would be the opportunity to unpack the ideas presented and envision what can be done to help implement those ideas.

Elitism: To ensure that we are not "elitist", I think creating more awareness through a number of mediums well before the event and then have a first come first serve sign up a few weeks before the event might equalize who can physically attend.  Again, the entire event would continue to be streamed live for those who can not attend.

Diversity: As for the problem of diversity, we must reach out to all communities that can improve education as well as have an open application process for speakers.  If you have other ideas, I am all ears.

Finding our way through the chaos

The goal of TEDxNYED was and will be to help educators learn about and implement ideas that will improve our schools.  Clay Shirky talks about how immediately after the introduction of the printing press there was 50 years of chaos as the masses adjusted to a new medium.  There were extremes. A number of people adopted the powerful printing press immediately and then there were the scribes who held on to their now outdated positions of power with all they could.  Stuck in the middle were the rest of the population trying to find their way.

In the world of education, we stand in a very similar situation.  TEDxNYED was started to help educators "in the middle" be introduced to ideas on how technology can improve the way we teach and learn.  While the ideas are at the core of what will help, it will be the action that will create the results and lead us out of chaos.  As we move forward we will improve this model so that we can address what needs to be fixed in order to improve teaching and learning.

If you think I am overlooking anything, like what i have to say, or think am just plain wrong please feel free to add your comments below.  I want to see TEDxNYED and the idea of TEDxED improve and hopefully meet the needs of ALL educators looking to improve their schools.

Expanding the model

As I mention in my previous post, my goal is to extend the TEDxED model to other cities.  To help shorten this period of chaos my hope is to have a number of events dedicated to using the TEDx model and incorporating a more action oriented approach.  I will be writing more about this in the coming weeks as we begin to plan the next steps for future TEDxED events.  Let me know if you are interested in contributing to the future of TEDxED.

Photo Credit: SpecialKRB

TEDxNYED - a look back

After months of planning, TEDxNYED finally happened on Saturday, March 6th.  We were filled to capacity with teachers, administrators and those passionate about the future of education.

Not only did we have a packed house but through a partnership with Livestream, we were able to stream the entire event and had over 20,000 views. Our hashtag had 2,871 tweets from over 1,100 tweeters and we were trending on Twitter for most of the day.  We accomplished our goal of reaching as many people as possible as we attempted to promote "Ideas (about education) Worth Spreading".  There seemed to be many people energized by TEDxNYED.  While there was a lot of energy about yesterday, I want to discuss and clarify a few things.

What TEDxNYED was

TEDxNYED was a conversation starter.  The talks were meant to be an opportunity for people to come together, listen to leaders in the worlds of media, technology and education and create a call to action.  They were meant to be the start of a process that will help move our schools forward. It was the ideas presented by the likes of Lawrence Lessig, whose talk on openness is here and Chris Lehmann, who spoke about inquiry and community, that were meant to generate discussions that will help change our schools.

What TEDxNYED Was Not

TEDxNYED was not silver bullet for the future of education.  Rather, it was intended to be a starting point. The talks were a means to spread ideas that can start conversations where there may not have been one. From its inception, we wanted TEDxNYED to be about introducing ideas to educators and letting them determine how those ideas would best fit best their schools and communities. TEDxNYED was not a final answer.

It was an opportunity for people from around the globe to come together to think, connect, discuss and plan. A great example of this was a YouTube video created yesterday that explained how to use a Etherpad that was created by viewers to document the ideas at TEDxNYED.  Dan Meyer mentioned that textbooks are right in the wrong way, they provide the answers.  We at TEDxNYED did not want to provide the answers, we wanted to provide you with the platform to find your OWN answers.

Talks at TEDxNYED were not lectures.  They were not meant to teach. Rather, they were meant to be an introduction or affirmation that could lead to further investigation.

TEDxNYED was not perfect.  I started this whole roller coaster and I'll be the first to admit it.   A number of people have mentioned the lack of diversity among our speakers.  While we had an amazing group of speakers and I am truly grateful to all of them, there was a gender and racial imbalance.  This discussion about the lack of diversity is a very valid one and as I move forward with the TEDx program it will be something I will take VERY seriously.

The Next Step

This is just the beginning.  No doubt, there is room for improvement but TEDxNYED has started something.  TEDxNYED was an introduction to what is possible with the TEDx platform.  I envisioned this as a first step in using the TED brand as a way to spread ideas on improving education.  The platform may not have been perfect but as I said earlier, it was a starting point.  My dream is to improve the model and have events like TEDxNYED (TEDx events focusing on teaching and learning) in cities around the world.

The talks were meant to introduce ideas that can change education while providing a platform for attendees and viewers to connect and dream about how those ideas can be spread. We, the organizers, offered you the opportunity and the ideas.  Now it's your turn.  What are you going to do with it?  What would you do with a TEDx program to help improve education?  The potential is there.  Let's do something with it.

Thank You

This has been a life changing process for me. I am forever indebted to SO many people but I want to thank those who helped make TEDxNYED actually happen and made this such an amazing experience.  Without them, it would still just be an idea.

It was Lara Stein, the organizer of the TEDx program, who put me in touch with Chel O'Reilly, who was instrumental in helping get this ball rolling.  Once the ball was rolling, it has been the hard work and dedication of Alex Ragone, arvind grover, Karen Blumberg, Erin Mumford (I didn't forget this time), Basil Kolani, Eric Sanders, Adam Kenner, Jeff Wetiz and Lisa Chun of Elizabeth Events that not only made this experience possible but one I will never forget.  For that, I am eternally grateful.

A special thanks to Brady from the Collegiate School.  Brady was our the master of light and sound at TEDxNYED and he made everything run smoothly and run on time.  Finally, I'd like to thank all the students and teachers from Rough Cut Productions who did a phenomenal job of recording all the talks.

Finally

If you are interested in the TEDx program and want to start your own, contact tedx [at] ted [dot] com or visit their website to learn more about how to start your own "independently organized TEDx event".  If you have any questions about how this was organized or how can get involved, feel free to email me at david [at] tedxnyed [dot] com and I will be happy to get back to you.

Photo Credit: arvindgrover

Creative Commons Salon NYC

I will speaking on a panel with a couple of my of K-12 educator peers at a Creative Commons Salon NYC event focusing on Opening Education on March 3rd.

We will be a part of a night that will also include the founder of Flat World Knowledge and co-founder of Peer 2 Peer University.  The event will last from 7pm to 10pm.  Registration information can be found here.