Wish List for 2008
Here’s my wish list for what I’d like to see this year in Jewish learning…
Change our community’s learning narrative. It’s not about technology. It’s about what it means to be learners and educators in today’s world. It’s about skills that we need as 21st century learners and professionals in the field. It’s about the creative resources that are available to us. It’s about opportunities for collaborating and creating. It’s about learning.
Acknowledging our capacity for capacities. Adults use technology. This is not so much an issue of digital natives and digital immigrants. That’s one way to think about it, but most of the people that I know who are blogging or using wikis or podcasting or twittering or playing with Wii or Second Life or World of Warcraft are, well, adults. Dare I say “middle aged” - whatever that means these days? I know it goes against the popular sentiment that new technologies are for kids and college upstarts who make millions from their dorm rooms. And it’s possible my world view is skewed based on the people I hang out with. But we need to acknowledge and respect that there are many accomplished people of all ages who are experimenting, integrating new media into their lives, and doing wonderful things, and that some of the resources and tools available to the younger generations are built on their work. We do ourselves a disservice by falling into the trap of popular myth (which taps into our insecurities and provides an easy out) rather than embracing the larger context of learning and challenges of change.
Beth Kanter summarizes an interesting discussion that redirects the so-called generational chasm over technology as exemplified by Marc Prensky’s thesis of digital natives and digital immigrants. In short, George Siemens frames the issues in another way:
- Technology use is determined by context, not age
- Our peer-group influences the manner in which we use technology for socialization
Read Beth’s posting and the links she refers to, especially George Siemens and Jamie McKenzie. And the work by Sue Bennet, Karl Maton, and Lisa Kervin which challenges some assumptions about learners (hat tip to Bronwyn Stuckey for the reference).
And by the way, web 2.0 culture facilitates interactions among participants of all ages. So we need to rethink our ideas about community. And we may need to rethink how we pigeon hole demographics all the way around. Pigeon holing being different than targeting. Just saying.
Open source Jewish learning. Where is it? Think MIT OpenCourseWare. Think Yale. Think MERLOT. Think iTunes U. Think “web stars.” Think of the possibilities!
Adults, children, homeschooled families, communities of learners. Design your own learning program. Access great minds. Expand your horizons. Share your expertise. You get the picture.
A virtual conference on the Jewish future. On the Future of Jewish Learning. On the Jewish Future is Now. On Jewish Learning. On anything along these lines that brings us together and moves us forward about how we interact and create our future.
For example:
Read more about it - here’s the info from the 2007 conference:
“The K-12 Online Conference invites participation from educators around the world interested in innovative ways Web 2.0 tools and technologies can be used to improve learning. This FREE conference is run by volunteers and open to everyone. The 2007 conference theme is “Playing with Boundaries”. This year’s conference begins with a pre-conference keynote the week of October 8, 2007. The following two weeks, October 15-19 and October 22-26, forty presentations will be posted online to the conference blog (this website) for participants to download and view. Live Events in the form of three “Fireside Chats” and a culminating “When Night Falls” event will be announced. Everyone is encouraged to participate in both live events during the conference as well as asynchronous conversations. More information about podcast channels and conference web feeds is available!”
Free. Volunteers. Keynotes. Live Events. Podcasts. Recordings. Archives. Continuing Conversation. Amazing Talent. Incredible Participants. Global.
Need I say more?
Why, yes. I’m on a roll.
Future of Education Online Conference 2007
Read on:
“Tumultuous change is creating new opportunities for schools, colleges, universities, and corporations to rethink their approaches to teaching and learning. Many buzzwords are used to describe the change: globalization, web 2.0, the world is flat, the wisdom of crowds, and the long tail. What exists beyond the hype? What is happening to education? What will be the shape of education in the future? Answering these questions is no easy task – the change drivers have not yet settled sufficiently to reveal a clear path forward. For academics, researchers, and leaders, it is important to begin exploring the trends emerging and potential implications and directions forward. The Future of Education is a free online conference exploring trends impacting education - K-12, higher education, and corporation training.
An international group of leading thinkers and visionaries will present on topics such as knowledge and authority, technology and art, self-organized learning systems, and complexity science. Daily live discussions (which will be recorded) will be held June 4 – 8. In addition to daily keynote presentations, a series of 20 minute presentations will address how various experts perceive tomorrow’s education system and processes.
To extend the live presentations, ongoing discussions will be held in Moodle – allowing conference attendees to participate actively in the conference, regardless of schedule or time zone differences.”
Free. Volunteers. Keynotes. Live Events. Podcasts. Recordings. Archives. Continuing Conversation. Amazing Talent. Incredible Participants. Global.
You get the idea.
Establishing presence on the community agenda. It’s been a decade since the world wide event, Jewish Web Week (see also here), was held in February 1998. Yes, 1998. It was an incredible effort, and many of the people who created and supported it are still very much involved in Jewish life online and off. Two other Jewish Web Weeks were held in 1999 and 2000. What should we be doing in 2008 that celebrates the richness and diversity of Jewish culture and learning, showcases our community’s talent and resources, and sparks the communal imagination? Maybe Jewish Web Week isn’t the venue. But let’s think of one. (Yes, it’s called “the Internet.” I get it. But you know what I mean).
Think systemic change. Think professional skills for the 21st century / 58th century professional. Ditto for our constituents. Ditto for us all as learners.
Need a conversation starter? Try this: White Paper: Jewish Learning in the Digital Age.
Social media in support of communities of practice, education, non-profits, learning. Things to consider:
Noontime Web Video Revitalizes Lunch at Desk, by Brian Stelter, New York Times, January 5, 2008
Online communities of practice for educators:
EdTechTalk hosts regular podcasts by teachers for teachers
The Edublogger community for educational bloggers
Social networks: Facebook, Ning
Other social media: YouTube, JewTube, TeacherTube
elearning: mobile learning, Howard Rheingold and SmartMobs, webinars
Judaism 2.0 by Gail Hyman, a report from the Jewish Funders Network in partnership with the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies (a tip of the kipah to Jon Woocher for the sharing this resource).
Virtual = Real. Social networking in multi-user virtual environments is real (Second Life, Active Worlds, etc.). Learning is real. Professional development is real. “Do it yourself” Jewish is real. It’s another venue, a platform, an entry point, a palette. The 3D web is here. Be here now.
Experimenting with new meeting, conference, and idea formats. Yes, even face to face. Unconferences. Meet-ups. “Ask Later” a la Ignite Seattle. TED-type events. And while we’re at it, how about making face to face events available online. For example, the recent Educon 2.0 conference in Philadelphia also happened on Ustream TV in real time. Sessions were archived for viewing by anyone, anywhere with a good Internet connection, at their convenience.
Get ideas out there. Build on the strength of weak ties. Learn from the web 2.0, open source communities. This is what it’s about. Converse! Collaborate! Create! Let’s learn more from each other, with each other!
Newly articulated forms of learning. Consider the following and what it means for Jewish learning.
2008 Horizon Report by the The New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative.
Jay Cross. Informal Learning: Rediscovering the Natural Pathways that Inspire Innovation and Practice
Henry Jenkins. “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century.”
Daniel Pink
Insert favorite here. Discussion anyone?
Tachlis and vision. Develop strategies for systemic change. Provide multiple means for educators and learners to integrate these resources into their work. Redefine teaching and learning. Raise the level of discourse in the community. Support initiatives. Share information and ideas. Work together on projects. Read together. Learn together. Have Serious Fun.
Change our community’s narrative, part 2. What’s your vision? Here’s to an exciting new year together!
February 6th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Thank you for a thoughtful piece of stream of consciousness writing. I’m especially gratified that you have acknowledged that some of us embrace technology and middle age simultaneously.