This past Wednesday and Thursday was the annual MassCUE conference in Sturbridge, MA. I have been attending this event for the past several years, and I think this one, by far, was the best.
The conference began with a keynote address by Alan November. I have seen him speak before, and have read several of his publications. He adds new insight and inspiration to the world of technology in education. He uses the term “inside the box” quite a bit during his speeches. The fact that students are getting exposed to technology constantly in their daily life is being hampered by schools banning much of it in the classroom. Ipods, if used correctly, can be very powerful education tools. He showed examples of students creating podcasts using microphones, cameras, computers, and-IPODS. The fact that they can create a podcast, put it on their ipod, bring it home and show Mom and Dad what they did on that Ipod is very powerful. He spoke about teaching children how to utilize the technology they already know how to use. Text messaging, cell phones, digital photography, and more! His other focus was on the “global” society, which many schools mention in their mission statements. He demonstrated how the use of search engines can be one-sided, depending on how the syntax is presented. If a students uses Google and types in “Revolutionary War” they will get a “one sided” point of view about the war. Top results come from Time, CNN, MSNBC-all US information. If you use another search engine and use syntax to search sites only in the UK, students will be presented with a very different interpretation of the war, from the English perspective. Preparing students for a global society involves understanding how to obtain and process information outside of the Google world. I love Google, but I find the results are very proprietary.
We also had the opportunity as an audience to participate in a voting/survey tool from Promethean. He asked several questions and we had to enter our results using a device that looked like an egg timer. This concept asks “what is the benefit of real-time feedback” Ask a question, have the students press a button on the transponder, and the class can see what the results were-instantly. From this, debate on a topic can be initiated.
Overall, his focus is to get teachers and administrators to embrace technology, utilize technology that kids already use, and get beyond teaching them how to use a computer, and getting them to think for themselves and use technology to foster free and independent thinking. One of his final words was “what if we banned paper when it first came out? Where would education be then?”
The rest of the day I spent speaking with vendors about new technology, hardware, software, and other services. I also attended several sessions. Adobe Creative Suite, Podcasting and Video Podcasting, and Technology Curriculum development. This is a great conference, and showcases what teachers are doing on the cutting edge of technology.
