TTT#321 Exploring EduCon 2013 with Meenoo Rami, Chad Sansing, Mary Beth Hertz, Paul Oh, Sam Reed, Chris Lehmann 9.31.12
Paul Allison - Sat, 2012-11-24 01:20
Post-Show description:
On this episode of TTT, we learn more about EduCon2013 with our guests:
Meenoo Rami, Chad Sansing, Mary Beth Hertz, Paul Oh, Sam Reed, and Chris Lehmann
What's EduCon? http://educonphilly.org
"Educon is both a conversation and a conference."It is an innovation conference where we can come together, both in person and virtually, to discuss the future of schools. Every session will be an opportunity to discuss and debate ideas - from the very practical to the big dreams.
The Axioms: The guiding principles behind Educon:
1) Our schools must be inquiry-driven, thoughtful and empowering for all members
2) Our schools must be about co-creating - together with our students - the 21st Century Citizen
3) Technology must serve pedagogy, not the other way around
4) Technology must enable students to research, create, communicate and collaborate
5) Learning can - and must - be networkedQuestions? Comments? Email: [email protected]
Register to attend EduCon 2.5 educonphilly.org
Click Read more to see the chat that was happening during this live webcast.
October 31, 2012
20:47Peggy George: Hi Paul and Chad. Looking forward to the conversation tonight! I'm a huge fan of Educon although I've never been able to participate f2f--only virtually.
20:49Meenoo Rami: Hi everyone!
20:49Meenoo Rami: Looking forward to talking to you all, thank you Paul for the invitation!
20:49Meenoo Rami: educonphilly.org
20:52chadsansing: Hello!
20:52Peggy George: Hi Meenoo
20:54Peggy George: I'm amazed that Paul has internet access and electricity in NYC. Such devastating news from the East Coast!
21:00Meenoo Rami: yeah, it's incredible
21:01chadsansing: So glad everyone can be here.
21:01Mary Beth Hertz: Hello!
21:04Peggy George: Hi Mary Beth
21:04Peggy George: great seeing all of you on the camera :-)
21:04unnamed: hey everyone!
21:05Peggy George: Hi unnamed :-) You can change your name up at the top of the chat :-)
21:05Paul: (Unnamed is Paul Oh :)
21:05Peggy George: thanks Paul :-)
21:05Peggy George: great questions from Paul A
21:06Peggy George: I love it when he includes the bar with the names under the cameras :-)
21:08Peggy George: have any of the keynotes or speakers been announced yet?
21:08chadsansing: I think Chris has announced a few of the opening panel speakers so far -
21:08Peggy George: so wonderful to have all of you here from the East coast!
21:09Peggy George: I couldn't find them on the website yet but I thought I had seen some posts in FB from Chris earlier.
21:09chadsansing: Yeah - I've only caught sight of them on Twitter.
21:10Peggy George: I know it's still early :-)
21:10Christina: So many Philly folks in one virtual place. Yay! :)
21:10Peggy George: yes! very impressive!
21:10chadsansing: How many of the Philly folks have had the ice cream from the bike with the crazy web ads?
21:11Peggy George: I love the edcamp format for unconferences! We held one in Phoenix last spring that was a huge success.
21:12Peggy George: the conversation emphasis of Educon is so valuable but it is hard to stream. They always do such an amazing job with this even though sometimes it's hard to hear all of the conversation. I'm just grateful it's streamed!!!
21:12chadsansing: My goal: not to speak at all! Muhahahahahaha!
21:13Peggy George: you can be the liaison between this chat and the hangout Chad. I'm not in the hangout.
21:13chadsansing: Sounds like a plan; I will try :) Chris is there, too, right?
21:13Peggy George: Monika doesn't have her name bar.
21:13Peggy George: so much for your plan Chad
21:14Peggy George: that's a really exciting job Chad!
21:15andrew: We had our first makeymakey wander out of the makerspace and into the library.
21:15andrew: Good stuff.
21:15andrew: hi-five pacman is remarkably popular.
21:15Peggy George: sounds amazing Andrew. I don't know about makeymakey. Is it software?
21:16Paul Oh: Here's a link to Digital Is: digitalis.nwp.org
21:16Peggy George: thanks Paul!
21:16Paul Oh: Sure thing!
21:17andrew: MakeyMakey is a hardware kit that emulates a keyboard.
21:17chadsansing: MaKey MaKey is a custom Arduino board that lets users wire key functions to anything conductive. So you can make a banana piano or a Play Doh interface for a Scratch animation or a paper-based game controller with copper tape contacts, etc.
21:17chadsansing: Go IDEA!
21:17Peggy George: that helps a lot to see the web page. It was hard to visualize.
21:17Peggy George: so cool!
21:18andrew: What's amazing about the makeymakey is that for all the fancy tech, the killer feature is the big aligator clip contacts.
21:18Peggy George: :-)
21:18chadsansing: Some of our MaKey MaKey work:http://coopcatalyst.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/the-failing-not-the-succeeding/
21:19Peggy George: incredible! looks very addicting! I wouldn't want to stop!
21:20Peggy George: that was a great explanation by MaryBeth
21:20chadsansing: Hi, andrew!
21:21Peggy George: who is speaking now?
21:21chadsansing: Sam Reed -
21:21Peggy George: thanks
21:21chadsansing: Surely -
21:21andrew: Hi chad!
21:22chadsansing: Word :)
21:22Peggy George: you have to bring your own organization to an unconference-you are in complete control
21:23Peggy George: sometimes people just gather together and start a conversation--not even on the schedule
21:23chadsansing: Indeed -
21:23Peggy George: probably the hallway/lunch/dinner conversations are the unconference part of Educon :-)
21:24Peggy George: even as virtual participants in Educon we can have those kinds of conversations in the chat
21:25Peggy George: would love to hear from Chris Lehmann too :-)
21:25unnamed: What Link to I click?
21:25andrew: When so many teachers report how powerful they find educon/edcamp type experiences, shouldn't more school reflect that model of learning?
21:25Peggy George:https://plus.google.com/hangouts/_/d4d76e6ed12c8e4593e03177c9183dba7e6550d7?authuser=0&hl=en-US
21:26Peggy George: the link to the hangout is in the window to the left of this chat
21:26Peggy George: that would be wonderful wouldn't it Andrew?
21:26Peggy George: none of you have your halloween costumes on :-)
21:26andrew: chad: I think that point is key. No vendor sessions and very little resume padding.
21:26Peggy George: Welcome to Chris!
21:27Peggy George: his kids were so cute in their costumes! saw them on FB
21:27chadsansing: Yeah - it's a somewhat unique vibe - it's been characterized as a "tribe" in past years.
21:27Peggy George: and a handsome Johnny Cash he was!
21:28Peggy George: NECC 2005 was in Philly I think
21:28Peggy George: when you have a great idea you have a new job :-)
21:29Peggy George: Educon has changed a lot over the years but the principles remain the same and every year it gets better!
21:30andrew: I felt the tribal/clique feelings during my first year.
21:30Peggy George: even as virtual participants we were able to contribute to the brainstorming and conversations via the chat and someone in the room to pass our comments on
21:31Peggy George: I can see why it might feel that way Andrew. Has it changed since the first year? I've never been there in person.
21:31andrew: I've only attended and presented in person in '10.
21:32chadsansing: andrew: it's an ambiguous thing in my mind. One one level, folks who feel a great sense of belonging open up some great conversations. At the same time, it's so important to be mindful of inviting participation at all levels from folks who feel outside the perceived "group."
21:32Peggy George: Diana Laufenberg is from AZ :-) we missed her while she was at SLA
21:32chadsansing: I'm hoping a colleague or my principal will attend this year and help me to recruit parents next year.
21:32Peggy George: that is an excellent description Chad
21:32Peggy George: many people say the same thing about ISTE
21:32chadsansing: Yeah - I've been to the bloggers' cafe :)
21:32Peggy George: exactly
21:33andrew: I always felt welcome and engaged during sessions, but everything outside of those very much felt like a fan-con, where every conversation was 3 years running.
21:33andrew: Which they were!
21:33Peggy George: yes
21:33chadsansing: I hear you, as only a two-time attendee :)
21:33chadsansing: So far :)
21:34Peggy George: sometimes you just have to step out of your comfort zone and insert yourself into the conversation. I found peole very open and welcoming when I did that. But I was a lurker the first couple of years.
21:34andrew: But I managed to bring a 5th grade teacher form my school, and that started our big push for student choice activities in that grade over the last few years.
21:34chadsansing: Nice!
21:34Peggy George: that's a great way to do it!!!
21:35Peggy George: at Educon I love watching the "leaders" as "learners"--very energizing
21:35Peggy George: the student camera crew is always amazing! They will even zoom in on things for us if we ask them :-)
21:36Peggy George: I go back virtually every year because the conversations are so valuable!
21:37Peggy George: great questions Chad!
21:38chadsansing: Yay relationships!
21:38Peggy George: essential to the conversation!
21:38Peggy George: Chris probably doesn't know we are here in this chat room :-)
21:39Peggy George: thanks for passing our conversation on Chad
21:39chadsansing: I think MB had him follow the link from here - but I don't know how many hanger-outers follow at any given time.
21:39andrew: It's the XKCD line - you're one of this year educon's 15,000
21:40chadsansing: Heh.
21:40Peggy George: do they ever come back to educon and talk about what they did to follow up on the previous year's educon?
21:40chadsansing: Great share.
21:41Peggy George: thanks andrew-new to me!
21:41chadsansing: Hey, I know her.
21:41Peggy George: those people he just named are the ones I love to watch learning together with others! very enlightening!
21:42Peggy George: star struck :-)
21:43Peggy George: and they could provide some background scaffolding for the newbies who may not know the inside stories
21:44chadsansing: We need a "make 'famous' educon attendee memes" session!
21:44Andrea Z: Ooh: I like the names underneath the heads! I hadn't seen that feature yet :)
21:44Peggy George: as much as you say that about not being "famous" when you get to personally interact with someone whose blogs and tweets you have followed for years, to you they are "famous"
21:44Peggy George: isn't that a cool feature? think it's called the Thirds
21:44andrew: I call "Condescending Richardson"!
21:45chadsansing: Buzzinga!
21:45Peggy George:https://plus.google.com/hangouts/_/d4d76e6ed12c8e4593e03177c9183dba7e6550d7?authuser=0&hl=en-US
21:45Peggy George: link about Hangout Thirds
21:46Peggy George: that's often the lead-in--I follow you on Twitter, I love your blog. It does get the conversation started if you stay long enough to ask the next question or make the next comment to extend the conversation
21:47andrew: That was my year! Lots of cold podcast walks around an empty city.
21:47Andrea Z: Thanks for that link, @Peggy G :)
21:47Peggy George: you're welcome
21:48chadsansing: My first year was frigid and foggy in my mind; I remember last year more from presenting and knowing the ropes some.
21:48Peggy George: good point Chad. Every year it gets easier once you know how things work
21:48chadsansing: I like that - "What's the worst consequence of your best idea?"
21:48Peggy George: Paul made a good point about the protocol
21:49Paul Oh: I also think that educon should be seen as one point in a continuum of conversations
21:49Peggy George: yes that's a great conversation extender!
21:49Paul Oh: like, it doesn't need to be a be all and end all - that the conversations continue
21:49chadsansing: Conversations between EduCon and the man projected on the wall!
21:49Paul Oh: or you have the ability to continue them after the fact
21:50Peggy George: and you have to take some personal responsibility to continue those conversations and not just expect others to take the lead
21:50Paul Oh: i remember my first year, i felt like i began following a few people who became instrumental in my professional learning network
21:50Paul Oh: yes, peggy, i think you're right - you have to continue to reach out
21:51chadsansing: I will try to say more than, "Hi," to Salome Thomas El, but I may geek out and falter.
21:51Peggy George: I remember my first year or two at Blogger's Cafe. I just sat there looking at my laptop but eavesdropping on all of the conversations. a real-life lurker :-)
21:51Peggy George: funny Chad
21:51Andrea Z: Paul Oh: was that the year we went?
21:51chadsansing: Andrea! I am wearing my NCTE #hackjam neon hoodie!
21:51Peggy George: :-)
21:52Paul Oh: @Andrea - that was my 2nd year
21:52Andrea Z: OMG!!! CHAD: I have to find some NEON.
21:52Paul Oh: but it was the best year :)
21:52Paul Oh: and the coldest
21:52chadsansing: I picked the pink name bar to go jamz on it.
21:52Andrea Z: Ha: Paul Oh: do you remember how we completely acted like 16 yos?
21:52Andrea Z: Not surprisingly, I am immature.
21:52Peggy George: I can't imagine anyone missing any of the conference if they are there. I love the panels
21:52chadsansing: I missed you guys acting like 16 yos? I should have stayed longer at the Disney get together.
21:53Peggy George: I wish we could be a fly on the wall for the dinner conversations.
21:53Paul Oh: yes, you should have, Chad
21:53Paul Oh: @Peggy - i love the panel convos too
21:53Peggy George: especially when there are differing points of view representative
21:53Andrea Z: Um, Chad, you have no idea. I have the sense of humor of a 16 yo boy on a good day, a 13 yo one on a bad day.
21:54chadsansing: The panels are great as the guests open up and get real.
21:54Peggy George: represented...
21:54Peggy George: exctly!
21:54Andrea Z: I just think that bringing passionate people together is the hard work. Just sit back and let them talk: amazing.
21:54Peggy George: Meenoo just made the point I was trying to make :-) very eloquently
21:55Peggy George: so true Andrea--they are all used to being center stage and they are only a piece of the conversation
21:55chadsansing: We need all hands on deck pushing for a reinvention of schooling across society.
21:55Peggy George: absolutely!!!
21:55Andrea Z: @Chad: yes. I'm all about reinvention.
21:55chadsansing: Sam is part of IDEA, too.
21:55chadsansing: I love IDEA.
21:56andrew: ...and that's an educon submission. Thanks for the inspiration!
21:56Peggy George: the museum connections were great!
21:56chadsansing: Cool, andrew :)
21:57Peggy George: last year wasn't the weather an issue? blizzards that grounded flights?
21:57Andrea Z: What I loved most about Educon was the way the kids' work was proudly displayed and what incredible leaders the kids were. Anytime kids are empowered in their own community makes me happy.
21:57Paul Oh: @Andrea - i agree - i love that the most, too
21:58Peggy George: the openness and transparency at SLA is such a great model
21:58Peggy George: yes Andrea! and the kids could articulate that point too--that they felt empowered and valued it
22:00Peggy George: interesting point by Chris!
22:01chadsansing: Public education needs protected incubation spaces that can try things and iterate them rapidly, but also over many years' worth of time. Chasing lag indicators attached to teachers every year will curtail personally meaningful learning for kids.
22:01Peggy George: people always want to talk about whether what SLA does is scalable someplace else
22:01Peggy George: excellent point Chad! That is so true!
22:01chadsansing: The ideas of meeting kids' needs and applying inquiry are available to us all.
22:02chadsansing: Cool, Chris.
22:03Peggy George: it doesn't seem like that would be a hard-sell as a PD day!! it has so much documentation available to show the power of Educon!
22:04Peggy George: hear hear Paul Oh!!!! :-)
22:04Peggy George: standing ovation!
22:04andrew: I think we're closer to not needing ISTE
22:04chadsansing: Ha!
22:04andrew: Although Educon is still light on swag from IWB vendors.
22:04Peggy George: I was thinking the same thing :-) but I think we need them both
22:05chadsansing: I will say that the first #hackjam I co-facilitated with Meenoo was a pre-ISTE event sponsored by SLA & NWP.
22:05Paul Oh: @Peggy Thanks! :)
22:05Peggy George: I always go early to ISTE for the pre-conference events
22:05Paul Oh: @andrew - i hope you're right about ISTE
22:05Peggy George: SocialEdCon is such a great way to start the conference
22:06Peggy George: I wish ISTe would be as transpartent as Educon & SLA!
22:07Peggy George: that's what I was feeling--this community is evolving
22:07Andrea Z: Tomorrow: that's a TON of time ;)
22:08andrew: I got a proposal done DURING the chat.
22:08andrew: 24 hours is plenty
22:08Andrea Z: Good night!
22:08Meenoo Rami: thanks everyone!
22:08andrew: Good night all...
22:08Paul Oh: night everyone!
22:08Peggy George: thanks a lot for this conversation!
22:09Peggy George: can't wait for Educon!
22:09Peggy George: someday I'll get there in person--maybe
22:09chadsansing: Good-night! Catch y'all later -
22:10Peggy George: good night :-)
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