Read this blog entry from NBPL Teen Book Blog

As I was reading Nancy Farmer’s “The Sea of Trolls,”–which reminds me a lot of Ursula LeGuin‘s Wizard of Earthsea, a book published the same year I was born–I ran across a passage that reminded me of many of the fascinating concepts shared during yesterday’s Day of Discovery, organized and sponsored by Discovery Education, KLRN (PBS) Connect, the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) Area 20, and Alamo Heights ISD in San Antonio, Tx. My thanks to Discovery Education staff Justin Karkow, Steve Dembo, Mike Bryant as well as Malinda McCormick (KLRN) and Jennifer Faulkner (TCEA Area 20) for organizing the event! And, to my wife (shown right) for attending the day with me.

Listen to Day of Discovery podcasts (all audio is in OGG format)

1. Steve Dembo’s Keynote – Slightly edited to remove the bulk of the Discovery video at the beginning.
2. Mike Bryant’s Digital Storytelling Presentation
3. Steve Dembo’s Presentation on A Day of in the Life of a Discovery Educator
4. Access the materials and slideshows for the presentation via this link (added 12/6/2009)

I would have recorded Justin’s presentation, but had to step out for a moment for a phone call and I completely forgot…sigh.

As we work to transform teaching, learning and leading practices in schools it’s quite easy to slip back into constrained behavior rather than learn to explore the possibilities available to us. Finding trusty comrades to do so is even more difficult…the passage from Nancy Farmer’s book is as follows:

“You see, lad, most people live like birds inside a cage. It makes them feel safe. The world’s a frightening place, full of glory and wonder and danger. It’s better–so most people think–to pretend it isn’t there.”

This passage rung true and brought to mind the learning opportunities shared during Day of Discovery. Below is a blurry image of Steve sharing a presentation I took with my lowly camera phone. The slideshow represents Darren Kuropatwa as one of the teaching wizards who have taken advantage of enabling students to publish more, and as a result, become more engaged because they want the recognition that comes with sharing more with others…as Jean Rosseau says, When a man dies he clutches in his hands only that which he has given away during his lifetime. 


It’s built into who we are as human beings, isn’t it, this desire to share?

Steve Dembo (teach42.com) gave the keynote address. One of the examples was Judson Collier demonstrating their passion via the Web…how can educators prepare students for that kind of world?

…Judson Collier, a 16 year old high school student from Jacksonville, Florida. You read that right – 16 years old. I originally found Judson via Twitter, and he started participating as a creative on crowdSPRING. He wanted in on the Community Manager action, and in order to get our attention, he created this super impressive video:

Stop-Motion App-uh-lu-cat-ion from Judson on Vimeo.

Stop-Motion App-uh-lu-cat-ion from Judson on Vimeo.

…and that, my friends, is the power of creativity combined with the internet and social media.
Source: CrowdSpring Blog

I found Steve’s presentation particularly fascinating since a set of his slides included Introducing the Book and the follow up video where 3 students are trying to double-click images and words in their own video. These are the same videos I used myself with museum directors earlier this week, so they were fresh in my mind. However, where I chose to focus on student examples, Steve approached it by introducing teachers who were doing awesome things in a globally, connected world. It was a great way to show teachers how others are using technology to engage their students.

Here’s Steve Dembo posing with Kim Caise…I was surprised to find out about the wealth of video online featuring Steve (smile) which highlights my need to read his blog more…sigh.

My focus in my presentations is on how students are 21st Century learners taking advantage of technology to do things in spite of roadblocks school administrations throw up. It taps into that desire to overcome the frustrating obstacles we encounter as classroom educators. As such, Steve’s presentation helped me move in a different direction.

This image shared below by Doug Peterson (along with some wonderful reflections) designed by Sylvia Tolisano (Langwitches) captured my eye:

Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/langwitches/4160561881/

As learners with access to 21st Century tools that enable our learning to be more than lonely endeavours, it’s easy to fall into the “caged bird” approach Farmer describes through her Bard character in The Sea of Trolls. Silvia Tolisano (Langwitches) describes it in this way more directly and to the point:

Most teachers who have embraced 21st century teaching and learning are indeed alone or part of a small minority in their school or district. It sure can feel that one is walking a lonely hallway with no one around or even running away as they see you approach.

But, of course, the truth is that transparency is there and available…we may feel ourselves in a closed bubble, but the truth is, we are in a transparent bubble. It is reminiscent of Kim Cofino’s words in K12OnlineConference.org presentation:

“Connect yourself to connect your students!”

This aloneness is something we’ve endured for so long that it’s become normal…phrases like “behind the classroom door,” “through the keyhole,” remind us that teaching and learning in today’s schools is a lonely endeavor, a do-it-alone exercise for which we will be held accountable. Read 10 Places for Teachers To Collaborate and Communicate Online. 

New technologies offer us access to a wealth of media and resources…yet it continues to be allowable for educators to ignore them. Safety concerns are one of the reasons why this happens, but it may be simply that old habits are holding us back.
(Image Citation: Apple’s Game Changer: Downloading Now, New York Times, Available 12/06/2009)

I also had the good fortune listen to Steve later in an afternoon session–after a heavy lunch from Fresh Horizons Creative Catering, which was just sumptuous–but one of the presentations that emphasized this idea of global connectedness was Justin’s presentation on GoogleEarth. While I am not a heavy-user of GoogleEarth, I do recognize it’s incredible potential. It was while sitting there in Justin’s presentation that it occurred to me that while, Yes, I was familiar with these technologies myself, it was a wonderful experience to watch how teachers new to the idea of GoogleEarth responded. The technology aspect of the presentation was not overwhelming, yet one of the teachers asked in an aside to a colleague, “Is there Google Earth for Dummies?”  (check the link to see it at Amazon).

Each presentation served to underscore a point that Justin was quick to emphasize in the final session–whether you use Discovery Education resources or not, there are a wealth of digital media that can be used to transform how you approach teaching and learning…all free and ready for you to use.

Finally, what a delight it was to be on hand to celebrate Steve’s birthday later that evening. While there is much that could be said about the event, I find this image below to say it all…

Steve Dembo, Vaquero

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure