Looking for a TED contact

Does anyone know anyone who has attended a TED conference? It would be even better if this person currently lives in the Madison area. If you know someone, would you be willing to arrange an introduction?

A Graphic Ken Robinson

Do you get it?

I continue to be amazed when I read comments to stories like the one in Saturday's New York Times.  While many comments thoughtfully considered the Singapore math program and how it might work in the United States, a number of comments lamented for the good old days--just go back to the 30s and 40s and all will be well.

Lately I have been more explicit when I talk about the structure of public education.  The system we have today is still largely based on the mass production model of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  There is no naturally occurring laws that governed the creation of that educational system.  People interested in education at that time simply made it up based on the what they saw in the world--mostly industrialization, immigration, and urbanization.  Today, immigration is still a big issue, but we are way beyond the post-industrial age.  Today, people expect mass personalization.  The example I like to use:  cell phones.  We all got 'em.  They're all different.  In fact, you can't even use someone else's phone because you need the contacts in YOUR phone.  Today, we need to reinvent public education to meet today's needs.  Harkening back tot he 30s and 40s just won't do it.

Things are starting to change.

Howland and Levin write

The school of the future is better than the school of the past not because its students are digitally savvy or outfitted for the modern economy or Google-facile, but because it prompts, supports, and sustains student learning in traditional (as well as new) disciplines in more varied, intelligent, and effective ways. In this way, it builds upon, expresses, and improves so much of what has been true and rich about education for centuries. 

Here and Now in the School of the Future talks about using technology--not for technology's sake, but to enhance learning.  We are learning to use tech tools in ways that do this.  Today it is less about going to the computer lab to learn how to use the computer.  Instead, students are using these tools to explore math concepts, do history, and discuss literature.

We need to do everything we can to encourage innovation.  In this TED talk, Steve Johnson talks about the role of networking in innovation.  We need to provide time for teachers to talk with each other and encourage them to use social networking tools to create rich networks that will allow innovation to occur.

So what do you make of this?

Most Americans want wealth distribution similar to Sweden

Boy, you'd never guess!  With the Tea Party as the media darlings pushing both Republicans and Democrats toward the right, the results of this study do not seem possible.
If policy was implemented that actually ensured that wealth was distributed more evenly, what would that mean for public education?  How does the idea of wealth distribution connect to the interview Matt Lauer did wit Obama?
Obama interview with Matt Lauer


How do you connect these stories?

"Chance favors the connected mind."

In this TED talk, Steven Johnson talks about where great ideas come from. It is not as we think, that people have "Eureka" moments. Instead, they arise from networks. Hence, the quote in the title. If we want to innovate in public education, we have to encourage networks like professional learning communities. We need to connect with the public in engaging dialogue. We need to overcome the social capital-depleting practices we tend to engage in where we square off against each other, debating and defending our positions.

This TED talks is fun to watch if, for no other reason, you learn how a neo-natal incubator is made from parts originally designed for an everyday machine (I will not spoil the surprise).

Another view of assessment

This New York Times editorial, outlines methods of assessing students that evaluate actual learning.  The challenge of these methods is that they are more time consuming and harder to standardize.  The testing industry has become institutionalized and it will be nearly impossible to move off of the bubble tests used in every state to measure learning (thought we may computerize the tests; relegating the Number 2 pencil to history).  They may not be good measures of student learning, but they are cheap (relative to other methods) and the public has come to accept them as legitimate.

How can we move to more affective measures of learning if current standardized testing methods are no longer challenged as legitimate? 

Creativity: Can it be nurtured in public school?

In this TED Talk, Ken Robinson explains how public education kills creativity in students.  And, given the increased focus on standards and testing as the means for determining educational success, it seems unlikely that creativity will be nurtured in public schools any time soon.

Yet, with the incredibly complex problems we face today, it is imperative that we encourage innovation and creativity in our schools.

One way schools might encourage creativity and innovation is by providing students opportunities to engage in collaboration.  In Slate, Joshua Wolf Shenk, writes about the role collaboration plays in creativity.  According to Shenk, the idea of the lone genius is overblown, that in reality, creative RELATIONSHIPS are the source of new ideas.  The first part of this series looks at collaboration and creative pairs.  Part Two examines a famous creative pair, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.  Throughout the series, he will examine how creative partnerships work.

How can this series help us think about creativity and innovation?  How can public schools encourage creativity at a time when standards and accountability continue to focus on individual students?