Telling the New Story

If I had to choose only one session to attend here at NECC, this is the one that I would choose. David Warlick presents the case for Telling the New Story so well that I don't tire of hearing it. Part of the fun of David's sessions is listening to the music he has created, or music that his son plays. The only way education will change is if we can Tell a New Story about education. We have been in the industrial age education system for so long David is not optimistic that it can change. However he has seen pockets. Examples of what can happen when teachers and student are given technology that they can use to bridge gaps. The handouts for the session can be found at David's Site. David's civics teacher predicted in 1967 that everyone would have a computer by the year 2000. Leadership - 3 types - There is the leader that is the master. There is the leader that is the creator, inventor. The leader that can tell a compelling new story. The current education system was designed to prepare people to work in straight rows, working on repetitive tasks, for their entire career. Uses The World is Flat to talk about what we need to prepare our students for today. Also talks about Richard Florida's work. Picture of David's son in "cockpit." We see technology, he experiences information. The kids today are super human. They have invisible tentacles that reach through walls and around the world. They take them to where they need to go. Then they come into the classroom and we cut off the tentacles, and they don't like it. A story from a Techie Children believe that "...everything is clickable, even their parents." -Vinod Khosla "There is no longer a need to teach kids the facts..." In the classroom today we need to create learners who are specialized and/or adaptable.
The Long Tail effect.
When we have new questions, where do the new answers come from? One of the answers will be something that somebody said yesterday on a blog or wiki.
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