A day with Will Richardson, Part 1

The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

Here is Part 1 of my notes from our day with Will Richardson. You also can see the live chat and/or follow the Twitter conversation and/or participate in EtherPad.

I’m going to make you uncomfortable; you should be uncomfortable

If you’re not uncomfortable right now in education, you’re not paying attention

Conversations are spreading far beyond physical space, in ways that previously were not possible

My learning today looks nothing like the learning that’s occurring my kids’ classrooms

There are no adults right now teaching kids how to LEARN, not just be social, in these networks

Video:

He assumes there’s an audience and that they’ll respond

He’s comfortable asking for help

He views YouTube as a learning tool (Elliott Smith)

This is inquiry- / problem-based learning

After 101 views, he had 10 comments (10% hit rate); all 10 had specific feedback/suggestions for him

This 12-year-old kid can throw out a question to 1.7 billion people

Shirky: We are experiencing a tectonic shift in how we form groups and self-organize

Wesch: This is not simply a technological revolution, this is a cultural revolution.

Outside of school ALL of our learning is inquiry- / passion-based

That’s the way that world looks for anyone with an Internet connection

Finland has legislated nationwide broadband access by 2012

Schools have a lot of tech, but nothing’s really different

Still memorizing a lot of stuff

Curriculum hasn’t changed

Instruction hasn’t changed

This group-forming ability is everywhere

Obama’s use of social media for Presidential election

Flickr tag: iranelection

Raw information is being released rather than it being edited / filtered first

We now can live stream video from our phones; imagine a world in 5 years where everyone’s phone is iPhonish

Justin Bieber became famous by uploading his talent show videos to the Web

Check out surfthechannel.com

Today, instead of writing a letter to the editor / Better Business Bureau / CEO, you make a video

Business is different today because people can form groups,

Allstate (and others) has hired people to monitor the Twittersphere; don’t call; tweet!

Best Buy has 1,200 people monitoring TwelpForce; don’t call, tweet!

Alvin Toffler: if you’re a cop with a speed gun, the car going by at 120 mph is business, the car going at 5 mph is education

This MacArthur Foundation report is a must-read

Kids are using social networks to connect with their friends / peers

They’re also connecting with adults around the world in interest-based networks

Educators need to teach kids how to do this responsibly and powerfully b/c this will be the majority of their online interactions in the future

Adults are uncomfortable with the idea of being hyperconnected and hypertransparent

They’re wary of being open and findable

How are we going to think differently in 3-5 years when every kid comes to school with ubiquitous access (via cell phones) and has the world’s sum of knowledge in their pockets? (see Will’s post on this, along with the 130+ comments)

Research shows that the online predation issue is not nearly as big as we think; the threat is overblown; we’ve been Datelined to death; and that most kids are pretty good at navigating the Web safely

It’s a basic risk-reward equation

Adults are not having these conversations with kids, they’re simply blocking and/or ignoring the issue

Just like we have driver’s ed, we need Internet ed (Dave Keane)

There’s nothing personalized or passion-based about what we’re asking kids to do in school

How can we square this with entrepeneurship, innovation, creativity, 21st century skills, etc.?

The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.