Are teachers keeping students prisoners of their past? Find out today!

For today’s youth life outside of school is a fast-paced, connected environment where students have the freedom to learn in the spaces and with the tools they love. Once inside school walls however, in many cases digital devices are banned, collaborating is viewed as cheating, and students are often prohibited from accessing the very sites that are necessary for real-world success. 

I had the pleasure to moderate a panel of  tech-savvy young people who are devoted to education reform about this topic in a panel called, "Are teachers keeping students prisoners of their pasts? See the highlights from the panel in the Tweets below. See the coverage in the New York Times here.

You have read this article #140edu with the title #140edu. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/08/are-teachers-keeping-students-prisoners.html. Thanks!

Meet the greatest future of ed thought leaders for only $1.40!

Only someone like Jeff Pulver could bring together the most brilliant future of education visionaries in one intimate gathering. Not only does he bring them together, but he is also inviting educators far and wide to come see, hear, question, and even talk with them and it only costs $1.40!!!

This conference provides a unique opportunity for educators to come together in a relatively intimate setting to listen to a day packed with the visionaries that are usually reserved for the stages at conferences internationally that require you to fork over some big bucks.  

At the 140edu you have the chance to listen to numerous speakers give you their best 14.0 minutes of what education can and should be. Speakers leave time for questions and you can catch your favorites before or after their talk in the schmooze room where you can also help yourself to coffee and snacks.

The conference is being hosted by these guys:
Chris Lehmann (@chrislehmann) - Principal of the Science Leadership Academy
Jeff Keni Pulver (@jeffpulver) - founder #140conf
It is the goal of our hosts to take a hard look at the State of Education NOW and provide a platform for educators, parents, students, administrators, school boards, together with anyone and everyone with a vested interest in the state of education a chance to be heard and ideas shared and explored.

Some of the talks you’ll hear:

How to make dropping out of school work for you.
Both times I dropped out of high school, and when I dropped out of college, it was because school was interfering with my learning. I was living in New York City, the home of industry, finance, multiple ethnic groups, dozens of museums, a variety of parks, and millions of interesting people, in short, a huge classroom available to the highly curious me. Now, thanks to the internet, Skype and other technology, the world is now a huge classroom available to anyone with a way to access it. It raises the question of whether school is still necessary and, if so, do students really need 12 years of it?
-Deven Black (@devenkblack) - Middle school teacher-librarian/media specialist in NYC. If you expect simple answers to complicated questions you are in the wrong place.

Are teachers keeping students prisoners of their past?
For today’s youth life outside of school is a fast-paced, connected environment where students have the freedom to learn in the spaces and with the tools they love. Once inside school walls however, digital devices are banned, collaborating is viewed as cheating, and students are often banned from accessing the very sites that are necessary for real-world success. This panel will address how we think outside the ban and partner with students for learning.

Student panel moderated by:
Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) - Speaker. Writer. Educational innovator & agitator. Blogger who writes about learning innovatively & alternative ed. Author
Panelists:
Allison Wu (@allisonswu) - Advocate for #studentvoice in #edreform / youth engagement in policy | @HuffingtonPost blogger | @MingaGroup & @NYAAmerica too
Lucia Grigoli (@LuciaGrigoli) - Student passionate about #politics and #studentvoice in #edreform. Oh, and #WestWing.
Matthew Resnick (@MatthewAResnick) - Junior at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, NYC
Nick Perez (@nickperez) - Software developer, beer geek, advocate for the liberation of students from mind-numbing boredom and condescension in public schools.
Nikhil Goyal (@TalkPolitical) - 17 • Author: All Hands on Deck: Why America Needs a Learning Revolution (Sept 2012)

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future
We teach in an amazing time, and yet the academic setting in which we work is far from perfect. Let's take an honest look at some of the things we do, both right and wrong, and how we can use educational technology to strengthen our schools.
-Adam Bellow (@adambellow) - eduTecher / eduClipper Founder, Educational Technologist, Public Speaker, GCT

How to Make Better Teachers
By emphasizing and embracing a culture of transparency where teachers and leaders share best practices via social spaces, we not only gain from one another but also hold each other accountable for improvement.
-Dean Shareski (@shareski) - Teacher, learner, husband, father, golfer.

If you can get to NYC July 31st and/or August 1st, I hope you’ll attend the 140edu conference.  It takes place at the 92nd Street Y (1395 Lexington Avenue) on the upper east side of Manhattan. You can register here.

You have read this article #140edu with the title #140edu. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/07/meet-greatest-future-of-ed-thought.html. Thanks!

Are teachers keeping students prisoners of their past?

For today’s youth life outside of school is a fast-paced, connected environment where students have the freedom to learn in the spaces and with the tools they love. Once inside school walls however, in many cases digital devices are banned, collaborating is viewed as cheating, and students are often prohibited from accessing the very sites that are necessary for real-world success. 

I will be speaking to the panel of students listed below to address this topic at the upcoming #140edu conference which is only $1.40 for educators! Apply here. These tech-savvy young people are devoted to education reform and they all are aware that technology plays an important role in this.

My question to the innovative educators, parents, and students reading this is what questions should I ask the students to get great answers? I have some ideas, but I'm interested in incorporating your thoughts too. 

Nikhil Goyal | Syosset High School Junior

Nikhil Goyal is a 17-year-old student at Syosset High School in New York, United States. He wrote a book: All Hands on Deck: Why America Needs a Learning Revolution to be published in September 2012 by Alternative Education Resource Organization. Goyal has been featured in the New York Times, Seth Godin’s Blog, NBC, Edutopia, and Huffington Post. He has contributed three Letters to the Editor for the New York Times. In addition, he has spoken at conferences around the world from Qatar, Spain, and the United States. Goyal is starting a Learning Revolution movement to transform the American education system to assure that no child will ever be suppressed by our schools.
Twitter:  @TalkPolitical

Lucia Grigoli | Newton North High School Senior

Lucia is a senior at Newton North High School in Newton, Massachusetts. She serves on her school's Student-Faculty Administration, where she introduced a bill to utilize social media in school for educational purposes.

In addition to her work on the local level, Lucia is a national advocate for student voice. She helps lead a national initiative to give students a voice in their own education, in addition to being a board member at both the I.M.P.A.C.T Academy for Youth and the National Young Women’s Council.
Twitter: @luciagrigoli

Matthew Resnick  | Eleanor Roosevelt High School Junior

Matthew Resnick is a student at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in New York, New York. His interest in education policy and technique began in his own school, where as an appointed member of the School Leadership Team he advocated for the integration of current events in the school curriculum, and as a member of the school’s iPad committee he works with teachers and the principal to implement the use of Apple iPads in the classroom. Matthew continues to collaborate with students, teachers, and administrators in his school to take full advantage of the digital age.

Matthew’s involvement is not limited to his school. He is also a volunteer at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Since he began contributing to The Huffington Post, he has had increased contact with students and educators to share his experience and insight in education policy and technique. He recently founded The Student Lens, an organization created to educate and empower New York City high school students by informing them about important events in education policy and reform, and by enabling students to share their voices. In order to improve the American education system, changes must occur which engage students and encourage them to learn. The emerging platforms and availability of information must be taken advantage of - this is the age we are growing up in, and the education system must keep up in order to give students the best education possible.
Twitter: @MatthewAResnick

Nick Perez | Software developer / High School Drop Out

Nick is a software developer based in Brooklyn, NY. After years of skipping class to learn independently, he dropped out of high-school in 2006. For over five years, he has worked with small businesses and tech startups, utilizing expertise gained almost exclusively through the use of technology. A series of discussions with teachers and school administrators has recently renewed his interest in addressing and attempting to solve the problems that destroyed his faith in schooling.
Twitter: @nickperez

Allison Wu | Newton North High School Senior

Allison Wu is a senior at Newton North High School in Massachusetts. She is passionate about youth social entrepreneurship and advocates for youth voice in policymaking and education. Her focus this summer is the creation of a Presidential Youth Council, to ensure young people are represented in government. She also works to give students a voice in education reform by collaborating with reform leaders, engaging students nationwide in a dialogue to improve education, and enabling them to share their opinions on education at local, state, and national levels.

From leadership roles in student government, Allison has witnessed and propagated a cultural shift within her school as it integrated new technologies into teaching and learning, and she believes that all students deserve the benefits of these advances. In fact, she is currently exploring how technology can narrow the achievement gap in her school district. Viewing technology as a platform by which students are empowered to “learn by doing,” Allison believes that it has endless potential to activate students and be a tool for positive change. As a leader of a youth-run 501(c)3, a member of the Policy Council of the National Youth Association, a member of DoSomething’s Youth Advisory Council, and part of the team creating a national youth engagement strategy for the government, Allison has both led and participated in efforts to unite and mobilize youth nationwide through technology. These experiences have taught her that learning often happens outside the boundaries of the traditional classroom, but when digital technologies are included in schooling, all students will have these opportunities.
Twitter: @allisonswu

You have read this article #140conf / #140edu with the title #140edu. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/06/are-teachers-keeping-students-prisoners.html. Thanks!

Webdoc - Great Tool to Bring Learning to Life Through Multimedia

I discovered Webdoc.com at the 140edu conference.  The company did something really cool.  They made a Webdoc of each presenter like the one they created below that features me and my talk.  You can see the others here. 



What is cool about webdoc is that you can so easily embed or drag and drop all sorts of content / media right onto the page and it is also designed for discussion / conversation that can have media included as well.

Here are some ways I can envision using it in education:

• Students create passion profiles.
• Students create "What's Your Genius" profiles of one another and use the discussion to build upon it.
• Forget textbooks. Create webdocs.
• Each teacher can have Webdoc that outlines who she is.
• Classes can make webdocs to celebrate the completion of a unit of study.
• Schools can use webdocs to organize events. Imagine this webdoc from @jmarkeyAP was a school event.  
• Webdocs as a student learning portfolio.
• Create a Webdoc to provide an overview of your school as Richard Cassella has done in the following video. You can read his whole explanation here.

Webdoc.com also has an education page full of ideas.  Check them out here.

Here is a video that shows how to use webdocs.com.  How might you use this for learning?

webdoc in action from webdoc on Vimeo.

You have read this article #140conf / #140edu / learning innovatively / webdocs with the title #140edu. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2011/08/webdoc-great-tool-to-bring-learning-to.html. Thanks!

My #140EDU Character Conference Presentation

If you saw me present at the #140EDU Character conference and you want to share what I discussed with your community, please feel free.  You can access the presentation where you can also download and modify it here. Thanks so much for taking a listen.  I'd love to keep the conversation going.  Please visit my "About Me" page and reach out in whatever way you prefer.

 


See the #140edu recaps
Visit USC Online here.
Visit SnappSchool here.
Visit Connect with Your Teens Through Pop Culture and Tech here.
Visit Ruckus Media's recap at Education + Social Media = #140Edu

You have read this article #140conf / #140edu with the title #140edu. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2011/08/my-140edu-character-conference.html. Thanks!