Mar 07 2009
Diving in the Deeper End?
Feeling a little torn between “yay” and “oh dear!” today.
Did we just belly flop in the shallow end or have we launched a 10 metre 3.9 degree of difficulty, with pike? Quality learning style that is.
Sitting here on Saturday and reflecting on the past 48 hours of Quality Teaching and Professional Learning, I have mixed feelings on the experience. It was mostly positive of course, but I also sense the lost opportunities when my employer still delivers 20th century PD almost a decade into the 21st.
The 70:20:10 rule is also still alive and well but I sense our leaders are aware of, if not yet on top of, the dilemna this causes. One of my concerns is articulated by a valuable presenter we had the pleasure to work with. Tony Ryan says;
Many annual conferences are designed predominately as an entertainment and social function. Naturally, this is an important focus for that vital time-out every year.
Unfortunately, the quality of learning that takes place is often much less effective. Delegates regularly leave the venue and remember little of the necessary information that has been shared with them.
Tony Ryan has some thought provoking ideas on future learning when he says;
who we are as educators will be more important than what we teach.”
Energisers, ethicists, entrepreneurs and environmentalists”
You’d think I’d be as happy as a pig in the proverbial having just spent 2 days here, with 500 colleagues from NCR schools, all fabulous teachers I’m sure, doing amazing stuff with students.
The venue, social do, collegial conversations and food were all first class. But I still feel flat, as if I wanted more.
The distinct lack of authentic and meaningful cross delegate connectivity, even in face to face seminars, let alone any back channel amplification of our learning was probably what disappointed me the most.
The cliques of schools and colleagues who siloed without expanding their professional learning horizons was an opportunity lost. The convenors could expedite these connections, even if it is contrived.
The chance to experience and learn from others is what excites me about conferences, not the “hired gun” keynoters or experts dished up the front. As gifted as they may be, their impact is fleeting, my 500 colleagues are here to stay and do their great stuff in regional classrooms from every Monday.
It is these people who will help me become a better teacher, not some handout or website or fantriffic kit or book for sale at key note prices. PLN growth, developing real human connections and expanding our authentic local and global networks should be seen as critical learning at such f2f conferences.
A simple 20 minute formalised meet and greet was needed. Sure it is contrived but to connect face to face with fellow emailers, twitterers,bloggers or users of web2.0 or like minded curriculum collaborators or subject specialists or uses of IWB’s or connected classrooms would have established many diverse future conversations and added to our PLN’s substantially.
If I’d stated my professional interests on the conference enrollment, connection lists could be publically viewed over coffee as a 30 minute ice breaker. I would have immediately made connections with those with similiar educational goals allowing us the time to discuss ideas during the conference. Sure I eventually spoke to others and found some likemindedness, but I’m still thinking I missed more opportunities than I found.
It would be so easy to ensure NOT one possible face to face connection was missed by posting like mindedness on a pre conference wiki. This resembles the back wards planning, one of the QTL dimensions covered.
Face to face like mindedness would be established from the conference start; email, blog, connected classroom or twitter contacts could then be shared and deeper professional networks established for future reference. It would also be less embarrassing than me walking around with a sign saying ‘I Twitter, Do you?” a la the chauffeur airport greeters.
Of course I still inefficiently sought out people I know have regional responsibilities aligned with my interests.
A senior regional director, responding to individual connection requests, acted as maitre d’ at most morning teas, introducing like minded people. It was not a good look as he sprinted from each individual introduction to the next, highly wasteful of his talents and yet it would be so easy to improve and overcome.
Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciated the connection help and received answers to now follow up on, but witnessing senior leaders being used as the proverbial blue arsed fly was not a great use of human capital. This old school networking should by now have changed. A lost opportunity.
My colleagues could also have been introduced to fabulous English, Science and LOTE teachers in our regional schools who have similar professional interests to them. Their PLN would have grown substantially. This would take 15 minutes on day one to do. Another lost opportunity.
Instead we got the traditional sardine tin approach. 500 sit down, listen to lectures compliantly, turn off phones and watch the range of key note performances from engaging, adept and amusing to boring, boastful and almost belligerant.
The excellent fonts at the front, demonstrating their own mastery of QTL, even provided mild break outs for a “2 minute speed chat” or a kinesthetic “stand up sit down” game, if we were lucky. The best of the best gifted presenters who know their stuff are still great, but it’s now NOT enough. I wanted more bang for our DET learning buck and connected learning should be delivering it by now.
Unfortunatley I saw few laptops in use, phones were verboten, switched off and disconnected so twittering was minimal at best and not mentioned, let alone encouraged. The one lonely lady capturing video, I assume to podcast later, looked mighty lost most of the time and was not the example of core powerful learning visuals should be.
The 21st Century reality, when all seminars, all keynoters, all tutorials are captured and live streamed should by now be used at Regional level of NSW DET. They should set and show the connected learning agenda for others to follow.
All participants should be encouraged to connect via the new tools of learning and back channel chat should be encouraged, not forbidden. The quality of the content should be utilised by a far larger audience than the 500 physically present.
21st century learning opportunities, such as this QTL conference, should explicity demonstrate connected learning at Regional level. The 500 teachers present should have been shown our regional priority of connected learning, in action.
This slideshare shows us the power of humans, especially slide 45.
Technology is NOT, or should not be, the principle focus of connected learning futures. In places that deeply understand the changes facing networked learning, technology does not habitate the same pedastal DET NSW elevates it to. To place connected learning under a regional ICT umbrella, does the power of future human networks a grave disservice.
Connected learning should equal integrated mandatory learning. It is not an ICT appendix that learners, leaders and others then chop out if they feel a pain or they do not engage in it themselves. Of course if the current ICT appendix turns septic and explodes in our system due to ignorance, we will all face a far more major problem.
Imagine the ripple effect that would have back in their schools?
Participative use of modern tools should be integrated at all learning levels, starting with lead learning at conferences such as these. Imagine these 500 teachers, wirelessly connected, twittering, and networking in real time with each other and their remote colleagues. Some say disruptive, I say powerful collaboration.
All 500 report back in real time on what they are being shown and taught by their own lead learners on exactly what a 21st Century networked teacher is. Don’t dare say it’s an ICT/technology responsibility for that defeats any understanding of what the future of connected learning holds.
Maybe next year our key Quality Teaching and Learning conference will be substantially different. I hope so for it is always good, it just needs to lead by example. Shanghai08 and BECTA may be two such conferences we can learn from and model on.
Hope to see you at Coffs Harbour for Regional QTL in 2010. These 25 tools might be a common language we share by then.
