Last month I was interviewed by NPR (that R no longer stands for radio) about the India’s purported plans for a “$35 laptop” for education.
I was able to get in a few whacks against the visionless plan. Read my interview here
It now appears that “mine’s bigger” has been replaced with “mine’s cheaper.” The Indian announcement, like many of the “responses” to One Laptop per Child, appears to be more about a referendum on Nicholas Negroponte than improving the lives of children.
Like Negroponte or not, the entire high-tech industry swore that low-cost laptops were impossible until a handful of MIT visionaries and their friends proved them wrong.
The current line of attack seems to be, “Well that jerk wants to change the world with a $100 laptop, we will make it even cheaper.”
Nicholas Negroponte of One Laptop Per Child posted similar views here.
Incidentally, I recently celebrated my 20th anniversary of working in schools around the world where every child has a personal laptop computer.
Cross-posted from the Constructing Modern Knowledge site. Web2.0pians should pay special attention to his mention of “personal learning communities.”
Educators fortunate enough to attend Constructing Modern Knowledge 2010 got to withness an amazing conversation between two of America’s most provocative and accomplished educators, Alfie Kohn and Deborah Meier (watch this site for video in the near future). Mark your calendars for a mind-blowing Constructing Modern Knowledge 2011, to be held July 11-14, 2011. Registration details will be posted here in early September.
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Alfie began his CMK 2010 remarks by reading the draft of a stunning editorial he was preparing for publication in Education Week. The article, Turning Children Into Data: A Skeptic’s Guide to Assessment Programs, is a must read for any educator, parent or policy-maker who cares about children. Ken Bernstein also blogged about this article in The Daily Kos.
Kohn’s article begins with:
Programs with generic-sounding names that offer techniques for measuring (and raising) student achievement have been sprouting like fungi in a rainforest: “Learning-Focused Schools,” “Curriculum-Based Measurements,” “Professional Learning Communities,” and many others whose names include “data,” “progress,” or “RTI.” Perhaps you’ve seen their ads in periodicals like this one. Perhaps you’ve pondered the fact that they can afford these ads, presumably because of how much money they’ve already collected from struggling school districts
and then continues to list six questions that need to be asked…
- What is its basic conception of assessment?
- What is its goal?
- Does it reduce everything to numbers?
- Is it about “doing to” or “working with”?
- Is its priority to support kids’ interest?
- Does it avoid excessive assessment?
As always, Alfie supports his arguments with research-based evidence and common sense. Given the load of horse manure recently published by John Merrow and echoed by Grant Wiggins in a shocking display of contempt for teachers, Alfie Kohn’s column could not have come at a better time. Please share it widely.
Perhaps you’d like to leave a few copies around at Back-to-School Night along with his small book, The Case Against Standardized Testing: Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools.
Share your comments below!
Alfie Kohn & Deborah Meier at CMK 2010
I realise that this is late notice, but I will be leading a seminar, The Best Educational Ideas in the World: Adventures on the Frontiers of Learning, 13 September 2010 in the Lecture Theatre at The University of Melbourne’s Trinity College. The seminar will be from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM and costs just $50 (US) ($58 AU). Regrettably, my registration system won’t handle Australian currency.
The seminar is intended for all P-12 teachers, tech directors, computing teachers, university students, parents and administrators.
You may register online here. Please pass this information along to colleagues & friends!!
A poster may be downloaded here.
Maps and location information may be found here.
The Best Educational Ideas in the World: Adventures on the Frontiers of Learning
Contemporary discussions of school improvement focus on the creation of obedience schools for poor children or utopian governance schemes. Neither approach does much to amplify the natural curiosity, expertise, creativity, passion, competence or capacity for intensity found in each child. A leading educator serves as your tour guide for a global exploration of powerful ideas and exemplary teaching practices.
The artificial boundaries between art and science are blurred as children engage in authentic activities with real materials, create sophisticated artifacts of personal and aesthetic value and become connected to ideas larger than themselves. Collegiality, purpose, apprenticeship, complexity, serendipity and “sharaeability” are a few of the common values. Each approach either requires digital technology or may be dramatically enhanced by it. Lessons learned en-route our tour create productive contexts for learning in which students construct the knowledge required for a rewarding life. An ample Q&A session will follow the presentation.
Stops along our tour may include:
- Personal fabrication
- Reggio Emilia
- Constructionism
- El Sistema
- 826 Valencia
- Generation YES
- One Laptop Per Child
- and even reality television!
About Gary S. Stager, Ph.D.
Since 1982, Gary Stager, an internationally recognized educator, speaker and consultant, has helped learners of all ages on six continents embrace the power of computers as intellectual laboratories and vehicles for self-expression. He led professional development in the world’s first laptop schools (1990), has designed online graduate school programs since the mid-90s, is a collaborator in the MIT Media Lab’s Future of Learning Group and a member of the One Laptop Per Child Foundation’s Learning Team. Mr. Stager’s doctoral research involved the creation a high-tech alternative learning environment for incarcerated at-risk teens. Recent work includes teaching and mentoring some of Australia’s “most troubled” public schools. Gary was Senior Editor of District Administration Magazine and Founding Editor of The Pulse: Education’s Place for Debate. He is currently Visiting Professor at Pepperdine University, an Associate of the Thornburg Center for Professional Development and the Executive Director of The Constructivist Consortium. In 1999, Converge Magazine named Gary a “shaper of our future and inventor of our destiny.” The National School Boards Association recognized Dr. Stager with the distinction of “20 Leaders to Watch” in 2007. The June 2010 issue of Tech & Learning Magazine named Gary Stager as “one of today’s leaders who are changing the landscape of edtech through innovation and leadership.”Dr. Stager was a keynote speaker at the 2009 National Educational Computing Conference before an audience of more than 4,000 educators. He was also a Visiting Scholar at The University of Melbourne’s Trinity College during the summer of 2009.
Recently, Gary was the new media producer for The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project - Simpatíco, 2007 Grammy Award Winner for Best Latin Jazz Album of the Year. Dr. Stager is also a contributor to The Huffington Post.
Wow! What a week. I’ve taught in Tampa, Seoul and after 25,000 miles, I am now in Paris to be a plenary speaker at the Constructionism 2010 Conference.
It is such an honor to be invited to speak at a conference featuring some of the smartest people in the world and pioneers in thinking about thinking and learning with computers. Two of Logo’s three inventors, Cynthia Solomon and Wally Feurzig, are here. Seymour Papert’s influence is ubiquitous and in many ways, the conference is a celebration of Papert’s ideas, work, friendship and leadership.
There is a lot of talk these days about personal learning networks and learning communities, but this is a true learning community featuring experts who have been evolving ideas for as long as 40+ years and newbiews. There is serious expertise here! The conference attendees range from 20ish to 80+ years old. In the spirit of Papert’s Samba School metaphor, we get to spend the next five days “dancing together.”
My paper, A Constructionist Approach to Teaching with Robotics, sounds overly dry and specific, but I hope some of you will take a few minutes to read it since robotics is a metaphor for rethinking the nature of teaching and learning. I even briefly explored the severe weakness of what Apple is now promoting as Challenge-based Learning.
I hope to upload some of the slides I’ve created to supplement the presentation at a later time.
Please vote for my session, The Best Educational Ideas in the World, to be included in the South-by-Southwest Conference! I need LOTS of votes!
Well, it’s 2:11 AM and I’m here in Denver for a week of ISTE (or are we supposed to call it the ISTE Conference?) Believe it or not, I am one of the signatories to the original ISTE Charter from back in ‘ye olden days when “computer” was removed from the titles of organizations and magazines! I still can’t help, but think that changing NECC to ISTE is akin to New Coke.
That said, I look forward to catching-up with friends, leading the Constructivist Celebration and making two new presentations at the 23rd or 24th NECC/ISTE I’ve spoken at since 1987.
This year marks my 20th anniversary working in 1:1 environments since I led the first professional development at the world’s first two “laptop schools” and it’s my 28th year working with children, teachers and computers.
Here are the program links to the sessions I’ll be presenting at ISTE 2010
Creativity 2.0: The Quest for Meaning, Beauty, and Excellence CCC Four Seasons Ballroom 2/3
Gary Stager, Pepperdine University
Digital-Age Teaching & Learning : Project, Challenge, & Problem-Based Curricula
20 Lessons from 20 Years of 1-to-1 Teaching CCC 205/207
Gary Stager, Pepperdine University
School Improvement : One-to-One Initiatives
I’ve also been invited to yuck it up with my old (geologically old) friends on Tuesday at one of ISTE’s most popular sessions!
LOL @ ISTE: Bring Popcorn and an Open Mind CCC 505/506
Saul Rockman, Rockman Et Al Inc with Michael Jay, Heidi Rogers, Ferdi Serim, Gary Stager and Elliot Soloway
Professional Learning : Student, Teacher, and/or Administrator Leader Preparation
Plans are shaping up brilliantly for Constructing Modern Knowledge 2010. I wish every single educator on earth could spend four days with us building, creating, collaborating, messing-about and discussing matters of learning, teaching and school reform with some of the leading educational thinkers of our time. I’ve been speaking with Deborah Meier, Alfie Kohn and James Loewen this week and can assure you that CMK 2010 will be historic!
One of the best pieces of news I received this week was that Chris Lehmann, Principal of Science Leadership Academy is coming to CMK as a participant. It takes a mighty great educational leader to dedicate four days to learning in public!
There are still spots available and time to register. Don’t miss out!
Now, it’s 2:50 AM!
You know it’s a good day when UPS delivers a new book by legendary school leader, reformer and Constructing Modern Knowledge guest speaker, Deborah Meier!
Yesterday, I received a copy of Playing for Keeps: Life and Learning on a Public School Playground, co-authored by Deborah Meier, Brenda S. Engel and Beth Taylor. In the spirit of Vivian Paley and Jonathan Kozol (both of whom blurbed the book), Meier and co. give voice to the spontaneous voice and learning of children in their care.
Two particular passages jumped out at me:
In the process of turning schools into competitive institutions, “racing to the top,” we end up threatening the spirit of childhood. Because of our own limited histories and the generally accepted language around schooling - “grade level,” “ahead or behind,” “competent or deficient,” “differentiated learning,” - we begin to lose sight of what education means. These become the only words for describing children in school - children like those we observe playing in this book. “Knowing children well” becomes a matter of looking at test data. (page 107)
Leaving no time or space in education for children’s “playful” efforts to make sense of the world risks the future of only of poetry and science, but also our political liberties. The habits of playfulness in early life are the essential foundations upon which we can build a K-12 education that would foster, nourish and sustain the apparent “absurdity” of democracy. (page 68)
Check out all of Debroah Meier’s stunning books on teaching, learning and school reform here at the Constructivist Consortium Bookstore. If you haven’t already read the classics, In Schools We Trust or The Power of Their Ideas, put them at the top of your summer reading pile.
While we’re on the subject of summer, there is still time to register for Constructing Modern Knowledge, July 12-15, 2010 in picturesque Manchester, NH. There you can actually work, play and learn with Deborah Meier, Aflie Kohn, James Loewen, Peter Reynolds and a bunch of educational computing pioneers!
For Immediate Release
EDUCATOR KEYNOTES FOUR NATIONAL CONFERENCES ON THREE CONTINENTS IN NINE MONTHS
- Dr. Gary Stager was keynote speaker at major national conferences in the USA, New Zealand, Qatar and Australia –
Torrance, CA, June 1, 2010 – Veteran educator, speaker, journalist and consultant Gary Stager has enjoyed a remarkable year of speaking at several of the world’s leading educational technology conferences. Recently, Dr. Stager was the keynote speaker at national conferences in Qatar and Australia. This spring’s “around-the-world” trip was quickly followed by a presentation at the National School Boards Association national conference and a keynote address delivered at the Villanova University annual Tech Expo. The June 2010 issue of Tech & Learning Magazine named Gary Stager as “one of today’s leaders who are changing the landscape of edtech through innovation and leadership.”
Dr. Stager was the keynote speaker at the following national conferences since June 2009:
- The National Educational Computing Conference, Washington D.C., June 2009. Stager participated in a keynote debate moderated by Robert Siegel of National Public Radio before 4,500 educators at one of the world’s leading educational technology conferences.
- uLearn 2009, Wellington, New Zealand, October 2009. Dr. Stager delivered the keynote address, Ten Things to Do with a Laptop: Learning and Powerful Ideas.
- ICT Qatar 3rd Annual ICT in Education Conference, Doha, Qatar, March 2010. Dr. Stager delivered the keynote address, The Best Educational Ideas in the World before an audience of Qatari educators and Heir Apparent - Minister of Education, Chairman of the Supreme Education Council Crown Prince Sheikh Tamin Bin Halmad Al Thank. This was Dr. Stager’s third working trip to Qatar in the past two years.
- The Australian Computers In Education Conference, Melbourne, Australia, April 2010. Dr. Stager delivered the keynote address, You Say You Want a Revolution, at this biennial national conference.
The Australian (ACEC) conference was of special significance to Dr. Stager since it marks the 20th anniversary of his work across Australia, including leading professional development at many of the world’s first “laptop schools.” “ACEC is very special to me because it was the first conference I ever keynoted, back in 1992, and provides an opportunity for to reflect upon my twenty years of work in such a wonderful country. I remain moved by the innovative nature and hospitality of Australian educators,” Stager said.
For more, visit www.stager.org or e-mail gary@stager.org. Follow Gary Stager on Twitter at @garystager or join the Constructivist Consortium at constructivistconsortium.org
About Gary S. Stager, Ph.D.
Since 1982, Gary Stager, an internationally recognized educator, speaker, journalist and consultant, has helped learners of all ages on six continents embrace the power of computers as intellectual laboratories and vehicles for self-expression. He led professional development in the world’s first laptop schools (1990), has designed online graduate school programs since the mid-90s, is a collaborator in the MIT Media Lab’s Future of Learning Group and a member of the One Laptop Per Child Foundation’s Learning Team.
Dr. Stager’s doctoral research involved the creation a high-tech alternative learning environment for incarcerated at-risk teens with his colleague MIT Professor Seymour Papert. Recent work has included teaching at-risk students in the United States and Australia. Gary was Senior Editor of District Administration Magazine and Founding Editor of The Pulse: Education’s Place for Debate. He is currently Visiting Professor at Pepperdine University, an Associate of the Thornburg Center for Professional Development and the Executive Director of The Constructivist Consortium
In 1999, Converge Magazine named Gary a “shaper of our future and inventor of our destiny.” The National School Boards Association recognized Dr. Stager with the distinction of “20 Leaders to Watch” in 2007. He is featured in the recent documentary, imagine it!² The Power of Imagination. In commemoration of its 30th anniversary, Tech & Learning Magazine named Gary Stager as “one of today’s leaders who are changing the landscape of edtech through innovation and leadership.” The list of thirty honorees announced in June 2010 included, US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan; Segway inventor, Dean Kamen; MIT Professor Mitchel Resnick; Harvard Professor Chris Dede; Stanford Professor, Linda Darling-Hammond and financier/philanthropist Michael Milken.
Gary was the new media producer for The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project - Simpatíco, 2007 Grammy Award Winner for Best Latin Jazz Album of the Year. Dr. Stager is also a regular contributor to The Huffington Post. He leads his own annual professional learning institute, Constructing Modern Knowledge, in the United States.
About The Constructivist Consortium
The Constructivist Consortium represents unprecedented collaboration between six publishing companies committed to children, creativity and constructivist learning.
Veteran educator Dr. Gary Stager serves as the executive director of the Constructivist Consortium. “Working together, the six companies can increase their visibility in a chaotic marketplace,” said Stager. “These companies recognize that computers are important instruments in the lives of kids and all support an unprecedented variety of learning experiences expressed through personally meaningful projects. Computers don’t need to be used in passive ways or to reinforce outdated classroom practice.” This common mission unites the six Founding Member companies.
The Constructivist Consortium’s collaborative marketing and advocacy efforts are intended to celebrate classroom innovation. The Constructivist Consortium’s companies see it as part of their corporate and civic missions to give voice to creative educators and create venues in which they may be refreshed, inspired and feel less isolated.
The Constructivist Consortium sponsors the popular Constructivist Celebrations and annual Constructing Modern Knowledge summer institute.
Member companies produce products designed to inspire classroom creativity and place children at the center of the learning process. Those companies are Tech4Learning, Schoolkit, LCSI, Inspiration Software, Generation YES & FableVision.
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Some of the best minds and accomplished innovators in education are gathering at Constructing Modern Knowledge 2010, July 12-15, 2010 in Manchester, NH. Popular author, researcher and fearless provocateur Alfie Kohn, was a guest speaker at the inaugural event in 2008 and will be with us again.
To help spread the word, we have posted several compelling clips from Alfie’s last conversation at Constructing Modern Knowledge.
- Alfie Kohn on Constructivism
- Alfie Kohn on Teacher as Facilitator
- Alfie Kohn on Learning from the Inside Out
- Alfie Kohn on Assessment
- Alfie Kohn on Motivating Students
There is still plenty of time to register for the best professional learning event of the year. Where else can you engage in conversations with the likes of Alfie Kohn, Deborah Meier, James Loewen or Peter Reynolds and design exciting creative high-tech projects with support from Sylvia Martinez, Brian Silverman, Gary Stager and John Stetson? Exciting social events are planned as well!
Don’t miss out!
In March I had the great honor of being the keynote speaker at the 3rd ICTQatar ICT in Education national conference in Doha, Qatar. That was my 3rd trip to Qatar over the past couple of years.
Following my keynote, a nice young gentleman asked if he could interview me. I was happy to oblige and we found a vacant lounge area on the college campus where the conference was being held. That’s when the hijinx began.
First of all, the interviewer didn’t have a tripod. I convinced him that going handheld was a bad idea and helped him prop the camera on top of a camera bag. Then midway through the interview, one of his colleagues inexplicably walked into the lounge, headed to the light switches and cut our lights. After we objected, the guy spent a few minutes trying to turn the lights back on. After failing to do so, he shrugged and said, “Go somewhere else.” Eventually, the lights were turned on and a tripod emerged.
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Despite these technical difficulties, I believe that the interview came out quite nicely and I was able to explore some issues in-depth. You might think of it as my “UnTED Talk.”
If you have 42 spare minutes, you might wish to watch this video. Pleae not be put-off my the incredibly unattractive poster image displayed in the static video player below.
Many thanks to ICTQatar for the terrific job of putting the video on YouTube.
Watch Stager Webinar Now!
A few nights ago, I led a webinar for old friends in the State of Victoria (Australia) as part of an online course/seminar/learning community focused on issues surrounding effective 1:1 computing. The course is called 1 to 1 Next Steps. My webinar was entitled, “Creative Computing and the Case for Project-based Learning.”
You may now watch and listen to a recording of that webinar here.
The digital handout I created to accompany the webinar and stimulate further discussion may be found here. It is hardly exhaustive. I wanted to provide educators with just enough information to inspire their imaginations and generate discussion.
For those of you who have heard me speak before, there are indeed some familiar themes in this webinar. However, there are some new ideas expressed as well. Many of these ideas frame my work as a teacher educator, speaker, teacher and consultant.
As always, your comments are always welcome.
Enjoy!
