The buzz I’m getting from my friends on the Twittersphere is that perhaps we are congratulating ourselves too much, too early. Steve Dembo, took some time last night to read through some of the volumes of NECC bloggings, and came away saying..
After reading a ton of blog posts from NECC and EduBloggerCon, I’m starting to wonder if We (Edubloggers) are getting a little egotistical.
It’s easy to attend and participate in something like the EduBloggerCon and to sit and teach and learn through casual and potent conversations and pat ourselves on the back and say, “look at me! I get it!” There was so much energy in that experience, we can’t help it.
At the same time, it’s just as easy to return to our home offices, read through our spiked blogs, and wonder, “What kind of tower were we on?”
It’s OK! I think that both responses are valid — and even essential. I think that it is in those two extremes that we find the language for pinning down the middle ground — where learning, literacy, and the world experiences we’re teaching and learning about, become one in the same.
It’s talking about that place that we need to be finding the words for.
Image Citation
Paccio, Kurt. “Kurt Paccio-NECC 2007 – 12.” Kpaccio’s Photostream. 24 June 2007. 2 Jul 2007 <http://flickr.com/photos/kpaccio/617516035/>.
Interesting points, David. I was also beginning to worry about the potential for EdubloggerconHubris as I read our posts.
But some stuff worked that had little to do with our possible hubris, or any lofty towers. In some ways the magic was merely logistical.
We were a small group and were able to actually talk because our numbers were so manageable.
The crowds and lines were not yet present in the building. That was sweet. That was peaceful.
We kinda knew each other. Ideas flow a little better with some slightly true assumptions and a basic knowledge base of interests and talents.
The shared passion eliminated much of the “yeah, but . .” energy and the need to define stuff.
We had no slides.
You knon! That is true. All day, and not a single powerpoint. How did we manage that 😉
I did not attend NECC, but I did follow the blogs and podcasts closely. I think we often work mired in districts that do not get it. Where we fight an up hill battle one teacher or administrator at a time. I sometimes feel like Don Quixote alone against the world. We read and write blogs for affirmation and insight. We learn new skills from each other. We tackle questions and issues faced in the changing technology landscape. When we can get together face to face we are empowered, encouraged and emboldened. Then we go back to our districts invigorated and inspired to fight the good fight. We become reconnected with our purpose. It is a good thing.
It’s a drum I’m getting known for banging, but there is always the danger of forgetting about the voices that don’t have the means to access such events. Pushing the leading edge further and further forward when the majority of the world’s teachers have no way of even aspiring towards the things we’re trying to move beyond… well it’s just further polarising the world of education. I genuinely believe that we need to be making an effort to hear from the so-called third world – not to tell them how it should be done – they’ve had that in spades for decades – but to learn from them how they face challenges unknown to us. To provide opportunities for mutual inspiration.
I have not yet had time to read Steve Dembo’s blog, I shall do so right away……….
but what I walked away from Edublogger Con and NECC is the fact that I DO NOT get it……..and that is why I hang with you guys so much.
Though I use a lot of Web 2.0, and I enjoy blogging — what I do know is so limited — and to assume that I know it all — well we all know what “Assume” means!!
I do know that I perhaps isolated myself this NECC from getting to know new voices — and I am a bit saddened with that — but I also know that I was able to sit at the feet of some giants at EduBloggerCon and The Bloggers’ Cafe — and came back stronger and ready for a new school year.
Egotistical — hmm, don’t think so………….proud to be a blogger — YEP!!
Jennifer
David – and Steve, and Will (in several posts), and Mark Wagner – http://edtechlife.com/?p=1802 …. I’m hearing this attitude of “ohmygosh, we’re just a little bunch of folk”, and it bothers me.
Please do not turn down the volume. Many of those at edubloggercon are of the age and ethical value set that says it’s not very proper to toot your horn very loudly. I understand, I was raised that way, too.
But great changes were not accomplished by nice guys (or gals) who did incredible things and then sat back and waited for people to discover their deeds because it wasn’t polite to brag or show off. I would imagine Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Martin Luther King were considered “a little egotistical” too.
The passion is there, the knowledge and expertise is there – and the right ideas are in your heads. Please, for the sake of our kids, do not shy away from beating the drum loudly just because it’s uncomfortable to be center stage.
Thanks for all you do! – Mark
Betty had a great comment, “When we can get together face to face we are empowered, encouraged and emboldened.” She may have been talking about teachers, but I think it can be broadened to all of us. This is perhaps what attendees experienced at NECC.
Karyn’s point about “Pushing the leading edge further and further forward when the majority of the world’s teachers [learners] have no way of even aspiring towards the things we’re trying to move beyond… well it’s just further polarising the world of education” is unfortunately our reality.
So what’s the point? It has everything to do with connecting on many levels: Firming up our infrasture…advancing the use of technology in our schools…involving parents as well as teachers, students and administrators…and mobilizing the community at large to ensure educational progress (which is extremely dynamic)
Wow, that’s a tall order! 🙂
PS I think that most, if not all, of our truly great leaders had an ability to look beyond themselves in order to achieve society’s common goals.
David, Unfortunately I was not able to be at the conference. But from other conferences that I’ve been at I can definitely understand the hype. But perhaps one question that needs to be asked, that is similar to a question that you ask all the time, is how can we provide the atmosphere that we felt at the conference to people who were not able to make it to the conference?
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. by Margaret Mead
I did not attend either. Though it has been good to get that persective through the blog entries. I lead with the quote above, and have it sitting on my blog because, though I don’t feel ‘I get it’ when reading and blogging and discussing in our edublogosphere I do appear to be one in my school and cluster that appears to ‘get it’ more than most. Frighening when I think about how little I ‘get’.
Maybe that’s part of the whole purpose. Unity through the edublogsphere, supporting one another as we seek to make our impact in the school, cluster, district or sphere that we move in.
Maybe….
Working toward a balance evolves from consideration of both sides, but won’t it be great when the fulcrum moves more toward “our” goals and aspirations (i.e., those reflected in the many conversations at NECC). I hope all edubloggers continue to gather strength in creating like connections and build the momentum – after all, change won’t happen if we keep it to ourselves!
Hello David,
Thank you for your post and your continued support of teachers through the tools you provide such as Blogmeister. Karyn made an excellent point when she said, “Pushing the leading edge further and further forward when the majority of the world’s teachers have no way of even aspiring towards the things we’re trying to move beyond… well it’s just further polarising the world of education.”
I worry the digital divide is expanding between tech leaders who “get it” and classroom teachers like me who struggle to stay abreast of the latest changes. This further complicates the growing digital divide that separates students and teachers.
I left NECC excited because I had friends with me, we worked together to sift through all of the new tools and information available to us. NECC would have been a lonely place for me had they not been there. I did approach one of my favorite bloggers to thank them for sharing their work so frequently, I mentioned it had inspried me to take risks and push myself. This icon of blogging responded by pulling out a business card and giving me their autograph. This happened early on, perhaps it reined me in for the days that followed, preventing me from joining some of those potent conversations that were going on all around me.
So, your last line about finding the middle ground struck a chord. That is what I am taking away from the conference, the need to connect with my peers where ever they are (somewhere between 1.0 and 2.0) and help them take small steps to move forward.
One of the things I am most concerned about after following the conversations at EdubloggerCon and NECC via twitter and those that blogged incessantly, was of that divide that Karyn spoke of. I posted about it this morning, for those that are interested.
I agree with most of those above that we need to transcend concern for ego here and continue to push on the limitations of traditional education; however, for those of us that have spent the last few months or years working within buildings where change is viewed with heavy skepticism, our strategy needs to incorporate the needs of all of our stakeholders, not just our students. Teachers, too, need to be designing the future of education. Where do we start? I like the idea of curriculum design where teachers are writing curriculum side by side with tech coordinators/integration specialists. Let’s marry pedagogy with technology where applicable.
I am not sure if it is our egos growing but there was a definite shift at the NECC. Maybe for the first time we are all realizing the “power” of blogging. I blog on occassion and this conference helped me realize that I need to do it more often. My district blocks 98% of all blogs. I am on a committee that is slowly getting the gatekeepers to open blogs. I have a tendency be to tired to blog at night when I get home but I know realize just how much we share and can learn from one another.
In my district, We want our teachers to use blogs BUT we as instructional technology leaders in the district don’t blog so what are we saying to the teachers? … I need to lead by doing and after NECC I am more willing and invigorated to continue the ‘discussions’ with the district gate keepers.
No, NECC 07 and EduBloggerCon were not hype, nor did they stretch the digital divide.
Rather, they were visceral demonstrations of the potential of Web/School 2.0, and most of us who were there left convinced that this is what education will look like shortly. We were also excited by the learning that we stepped into, not just for our students, but for ourselves. If we ever manage to infuse some of this excitement into our students, then we will have done something really revolutionary.
I don’t want to dampen the genuine enthusiasm that I saw in those around me. That enthusiasm has already changed what I will be doing with my college students this fall, and it has already infected some of the teachers I support in K12. This is good. Really.