Dr. Stephen Waddell
Superintendent of Schools
Birdville ISD
Kelli Montgomery
Coordinator of Instructional Technology
Birdville ISD
"OMG, I CNT BLIEVE WE R REALLY GTTNG 2 TXT WILE WE LRN!"
Schools should be learning organizations, but how can we be learning organizations when we ban the use of the very tool that is creating learning today? (RE: Student cell phone use)
Daniel Pink - Addressed the Texas legislature House and Senate Education Committees in 2009
A Whole New Mind
Left Brain Abilities Powered the Industrial Age
Logical, linear, concrete, sequential
Right brain considered friviolous
But, the Right Brain abilities will be most important in the Conceptual Age (the 21st Century). Left Brain abilities PLUS: Inventiveness, creativity, Empathy, Design...
Three things contributing to change:
ABUNDANCE - More money is spent on trash bags in the US than 90 countries do on everything they purchase. Mini-storage is a multi-billion dollar industry in the US. We spend $14 for designer toilet bowl brushes. People are also looking for purpose, to figure out what hey are here for.
ASIA - Left brain routine work leaving for Asia where it can be done Cheaper. India produces 350,000 engineers a year. 48% of GE's software is developed in India. An American computer chip designer makes $7,000 per month - one in INdia makes $1,000. We cannot keep up with the number of engineers that India and China can produce. How do we compete? We need to produce creators, customizers, designers. Aerospace engineer in America = $6,000/month. Russia = $650/month.
AUTOMATION - John Deere 4930 Series Sprayer - computer controlled cockpit with GIS data beamed which includes humidity and soil data to automate the the process. Robots in warehouses now move the shelves and racks. Tax returns are outsourced to India for completion.
Focus on Design: "I see us being in the art business. Art, entertainment, and mobile sculpture. It just happens to provide transprotation." - Bob Lutz, General Motors CEO
Whole Foods - Their mission is to end world hunger. (Finding Meaning)
21st Century Jobs - We have to ask ourselves:
Can it be done overseast cheaper?
Can a computer do it faster?
Is it in demand in an age of abundance?
We have to develop skills that cannot be outsourced.
Moving from the knowledge age to the conceptual age.
"Software is a forklift for the mind" - Tom Peters
Conceptual Age Medical Schools - a new curriculum focus on empathy - the patient's "story" - for better diagnosis and care
MIT Open Courseware - free matreials and resources for HS teachers and students
iTunes U - more than 250,000 free lectures, videos, films, and other resources from all over the world
WolframAlpha - making all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone
Kahn Academy - a not-for-profit organization with the mission of providing a high qualilty education to anyone, anywhere
242242 - Ask any question you want by text and you'll get the answer back via text message.
Imperative 21st Century Skills
Crtical Thinking
Creativity
Communication
Collaboration
Content Area Knowledge
Disrupting Class - book by Clayton M. Christensen - How disruptive innovation will change the way the world learns - predicts that 50% of all public school customers will be gone by 2025.
"The future belongs to those who can recognize patterns, empathize, with others, be creative, and provide meaning to peoples' lives - Daniel Pink
My Chinese360 - Teachers from Beijing who are certified Texas teachers who teach US students through virutual worlds.
Open Source Education
Open Office
http://www.calculateforfree.com/graph.html - Online graphing calculator comprable to TI
Birdville ISD Vision: Students Succeed In a Future They Create
If we do not learn how to use Web 2.0, we will be obsolete. Web 2.0 is a social revolution we cannot control or sustain.
Birdville unblocked YouTube four years ago. More important to show trust in students and help them learn responsibility.
We cannot mandate engagement. We wil llose customres if we do not utilize social tools.
Factors in Implementation
- Driven by need to transform learning, engage learners
- Cllaborative Professional learning
- Conversations with Community
- Seizing the opportunities in Web 2.0
- Taking Risks
- No Community Fallout - Framing the Question: How do you work? How is technology impacting you?
