Education 2.0

At the Western RCAC Symposium last week:

Rodd Lucier: Fertilizing the Grass Roots:

My personal suspicions are that most attendees will fail to make effective use of any of the many tools introduced today. Even with everyone recognizing that we have a long way to go: A significant knowing-doing gap will remain!

David Warlick: So Now What Do We Do?:

Then Rodd listed some comments that he overheard during the conference, that support his concern. I'm listing them here and will try to make some suggestions that may be useful. My suggestions are indented just a bit to better distinguish them from the overheard statements.

Doug Pete: How I Saw It:

David Warlick went first with his presentation "Our Students - Our Worlds". Eyes were opened for many as David took us inside the minds and lives of today's youth. His famous tentacles diagram affirmed that students aren't "human" by a traditional view! It does drive home the message that they are indeed connected at levels that we suspect but don't totally know. (at least until the texting bill comes in...) Rather than ask folks to turn off electronic devices, David let me know before the event that he would welcome a back channel through his presentation. Gulp! What to do?

Amber MacArthur: Talking about social media - A year on the road:

But what I've realized over time is that it's critical for me to update my slides based on the audience that will sit in front of me. Sounds like a pretty obvious concept, one that becomes more apparent over time (also, in the web world, trends change too quickly to rely on one deck). Since I've spoken to such varied groups, from teams of probiotic scientists, oil engineers, and all-grades educators, I strive to find specific social media examples that will be relevant to each crowd. This usually means I spend a lot of time researching new Web 2.0 trends, videos, articles, and tips online.

Community, Collaboration & Conversation with Amber MacArthur - listen to the podcast.