100% Proficiency on Old Skills?

100% Proficiency on Old Skills? A candid conversation about the demands of NCLB and preparing students for the New Economy Dr. Scott McLeod January 26, 2007 www.scottmcleod.net/CAREI

The Times They Are A-Changin’

Technology is changing us
This is about our way of life. An historical analog would be the Industrial Revolution, but compressed into 15 years - not played out over a century. Hang on - this will be quite a ride.
- Joseph S. Kraemer

Globalization
Economic and cultural
The World is Flat , Thomas Friedman
The Flight of the Creative Class , Richard Florida

The Rise of the Creative Class

Importance of creativity
Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind
Can someone overseas do it cheaper?
Can a computer do it faster?
Is what I’m offering in demand in an age of abundance?
Relationships, collaboration, creativity, innovation, problem-solving, pattern detection, synthesizing, adding value

Are schools focusing on the right things?
No generation in history has ever been so thoroughly prepared for the industrial age.
- David Warlick

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills

The Not-So-Hidden Revolution

Revolution
Web 1.0 v. Web 2.0
Putting the power in the hand of the users
Collaboration
Creativity
Disintermediation
Reach

Web 2.0 A quick tour
Wikis
Blogs – me , the big guys
Podcasts ( audio , video )
YouTube ( online video )
Flickr (online photo)
Delicious (social bookmarking)
Digg
Google Maps mashups
MySpace
MMORPGs
Video game mods

Web 2.0
Interconnected
Collaborative
Personalized
Autonomous
Freewheeling
Empowering

Are schools teaching the right things?
While we teach whatever we teach at school, the kids go home and learn the skills they need to survive and prosper in an interconnected global economy.
- Clarence Fisher

Video games
Brain-rotting waste of time or high-octane learning environments?
Kids who can’t sit still in class for five minutes can be mentally locked in for hours at home playing video games
“ Engage or enrage me” (Prensky)

Jump Start 2nd Grade

Millie’s Math House

Kid Phonics 2

Elder Scrolls: Oblivion

Stranglehold

Star Heritage: Ship of Ages

Digital natives, immigrants, & refugees
http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/10/21/beyond-the-digital-native-immigrant-dichotomy/

Avoiding Irrelevance

14,383 school districts

95,726 public schools
+ 29,273 private schools
=
125,000 schools

Irrelevance, part 1
Our intelligence tends to produce technological and social change at a rate faster than our institutions and emotions can cope with. . . .
- Gwynne Dyer

Irrelevance, part 2
When the rate of change outside exceeds the rate of change inside, the end is in sight.
- Jack Welch

Irrelevance, part 3
They say, “We can’t handle this much change.” I say, “Your [relevance is] in jeopardy. What choice do you have?”
They say I’m extreme. I say I’m a realist.
- Seth Godin

We need to somehow change faster
No one jumps a 20 foot chasm in two
10 foot jumps. – Miguel Guhlin

What schools can’t do

What we need
leadership
v.
management

What we need
anticipatory
v.
reactionary

What we need
future-oriented
v.
compliance-oriented

Change is hard
What does it mean when something changes how it’s always been?
- Liz Phair

Thank you!
Dr. Scott McLeod
Director, CASTLE
University of Minnesota
www.schooltechleadership.org
www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org
www.scottmcleod.net/contact
www.scottmcleod.net/CAREI

100% Proficiency on Old Skills?

by mcleod on Jan 26, 2007

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100% Proficiency on Old Skills? — Presentation Transcript