#mobilesapiens
#daretoshare
I gave this “lightning” talk as part of the the Ed Tech Women panel at SXSWedu in March 2014. The focus is radical transparency in education, or as I like to say “”transparency is the new black”. I believe students should be contributing to knowledge and sharing their work openly with authentic global audiences, and that teachers need to help them learn about leveraging social media to promote their work. I think the teacher’s role has shifted to become curator, co-learner, and amplifier. This presentation emphasizes that the more we share the better our work becomes and the more fulfilling our career becomes. As always, I hand-draw metaphorical icons in a signature colour palette for my slides with an app called Paper by 53. My images represent key concepts such as the “spirit of open”, leveraging social media for legacy, and the power of networked knowledge, “peeragogy”, tagging for amplification and the #showyourwork movement. Major influences are the works of Howard Rheingold, David Weinberger, Clive Thompson of Wired, and writer/artist Austin Kleon.
This talk is a condensed version of a recent keynote I presented opposite Adam Bellow in Hawaii. It explores ways in which mobile technology in particular “makes us more human”, or at least, brings out our human-ness in terms of creation, connection, and reflection. The first part looks at how ubiquitous mobile tech is, our historical attempts to achieve what we have now, how it is really the near future in education, and how, as a consequence we should embrace it and its sister, social media, in the classroom. It then breaks into three sections: the creative, connective, and reflective and discusses both general concept and specific projects and apps that illustrate the use of mobile tech in these respects. Finally, the presentation offers a glimpse into the future with a look at what we should be expecting and incorporating into our curriculum as far as the future of personal tech. As always, I hand-draw metaphorical icons in a signature colour palette for my slides with an app called Paper by 53. My images represent concepts such as asynchronous and synchronous interaction, mobile technology breaking the shackles of time and space, ubiquitous connection, and self-reflection. Major influences are the works of Howard Rheingold, David Weinberger, Henry Jenkins, and media theorist Marshall McLuhan.
(the best book about education that’s not about education): When Austin Kleon, self-professed “writer who draws” released his new book, “Show Your Work” in March 2014, I was amazed to see how much it related to education - and what we should be doing. This Ignite talk would highlight some of his points, with a focus on the reflective practice of overtly discussing one’s creative reasoning and process, the stress on process over product, and the need for transparency and amplification of one’s creative work. Austin also addresses “digital citizenship” things like attribution when appropriating, sharing wisely and effectively (the “so what” and the “gut”), balance, etiquette, resilience, and honouring one’s influences. It has been said that Google is the new CV, but Austin reminds us what you make trumps any resume. It’s about knowing how to manage the “making” and how to share it in the best way possible so that you not only contribute to society but reap return benefits. This is crucial for students and “teacherpreneurs” as we strive to lead fulfilling creative lives, co-construct knowledge, and leave a personal legacy. As always, I hand-draw metaphorical icons in a signature colour palette for my slides with an app called Paper by 53, and these reflect the various concepts, such as resilience in the face of criticism when taking the risk to share work.
This talk stems from a blog post I wrote for a MOOC called “E-Learning and Digital Cultures” in response to the ongoing debate about Prensky’s concept of “digital natives vs. digital immigrants”. The post was very well received and a sketchnote artist in Finland actually translated my ideas into a synthesized visual representation, which makes me think this would be a great Ignite talk. I am apprehensive about labelling and thinking in dichotomies, so my main point is that our relationship with digital technology is not generational, but rather attitudinal. My analogy, then is that of the Viking mindset. After we throw away some misconceptions society has developed about Vikings, we can see that they possess characteristics that we need or should have when approaching technology: “Go in the know or just go with the flow” (ie. have a mission, or just have fun exploring); “Hoist the Sail-Embrace the Fail” (ie.be fearless, experimental, and unafraid of messing up); “Don’t Pout, Work it Out” (ie. be flexible and willing to troubleshoot); “Berserker or Worker?” (ie. cultivate an identity in multiple digital spaces); “Pathetic or Aesthetic?” (ie. like Vikings who crafted art out of mundane objects, understand we leave a legacy online so take time to make beautiful things). As always, I hand-draw metaphorical icons in a signature colour palette for my slides with an app called Paper by 53, and these reflect the various characteristics.
#showyourwork
#digitalvikings
Ignite Talks : "Enlighten Us, But Make it Quick!" 5 minutes, 20 slides, 15 seconds each.
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