Version 2.0 of the presentation (6-22-07)
Update 3-28-07
Quick Links:
PowerPoint File and Music (mp3) File (link removed by request 3-20-07) - download to the same folder for the music to play.
Windows Media Player version
Did You Know Sources (Word, PDF)
Did You Know Text (Word, PDF)
Follow-Up Post about Did You Know?/Shift Happens (3-28-07)
Scott McLeod's version (removes my school-specific slides)
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My administration asked me if I wanted to speak at one of our beginning of the year faculty meetings. I often provide updates on what's new and different with technology in our building and what teachers need to know to get the year started. But this year I'm really focused on staff development and the "vision" of where we should be headed, so I wanted to do something different. I don't know for sure how it is in your schools, but I imagine they are like mine - a faculty meeting is a horrible place to have the conversations we need to have. In addition, since 49 of my teachers are involved in the staff development described elsewhere on this blog, I felt it would be a waste of time - and possibly counterproductive - to try to discuss anything of substance in the faculty meeting.
So, instead, I decided to take David Warlick up on his idea of telling the new story. I put together a PowerPoint presentation with some (hopefully) thought-provoking ideas. I was hoping by telling some of these "stories" to our faculty, I could get them thinking about - and discussing with each other - the world our students are entering. To get them to really think about what our students are going to need to be successful in the 21st century, and then how that might impact what they do in their classrooms. It would also help the faculty that are not currently participating in my staff development join the conversation.
So I basically said most of the above to the faculty, and then told them that even though I would usually argue that just showing something and not discussing it afterward was a bad idea, that this time - since a meaningful conversation at the end of a long faculty meeting was unlikely - that's what I was going to do. But that I wanted them to hopefully think about this for their own classrooms, and then hold the conversation with each other over the next few days (and hopefully weeks and months and . . .).
I remixed content from David Warlick, Thomas Friedman, Ian Jukes, Ray Kurzweil and others, added some music, and came up with the following presentation. If you want the music, you'll have to download both files (and make sure you put the mp3 file in the same folder as the PowerPoint file so that it can find the music). On a PC, right-click on each and choose Save Target As, on a Mac with a one-button mouse control-click.
PowerPoint File
Music (mp3) File (music removed by request 3-20-07) (download to the same folder as the PowerPoint for the music to play)
I was very nervous about showing this and how it would go over, but it seemed to have its intended effect (at least initially - we'll see if it really helps generate the on-going conversations we need to have). I would be interested in feedback from anybody who decides to download it.
Update 8-17-06
I wanted to add to this post to address some of the questions I've received via comments and email. Keep those comments comin'!
- "AHS" in the first 8 slides refers to the high school I work at - Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado.
- "First Grader Abby" in slide 72 is indeed my daughter. That gives me even more of a buy-in to address these issues as an educator.
- Since this was originally intended just for my staff meeting - and as the beginning of the slide show indicates I had quite a few things to keep me busy - I didn't write up the sources for the info. I will try to do that this weekend and add it to this post.
- I haven't taken the time yet to figure out the different levels of creative commons licensing, but let's just assign the most permissive one. As far as I'm concerned, as many people as possible should be thinking about and discussing these ideas. You all have permission to use, modify, reuse, etc. anything you'd like. (Although if you find good stuff to add to or replace what's in there, I'd love it if you'd send it my way so that I can add it to mine.) Since I basically stole (ummm, "remixed") all of the ideas from other folks I really don't see what claim I have to all this. As far as giving me "credit," you're welcome to - I assume that will help pay for my daughter's college tuition somehow, right? :-)
- I cringed myself when I uploaded a PowerPoint and a separate music file. Time has been at a premium and PowerPoint was the quickest way to get the text done (and I wasn't thinking about posting it on the web at that point). I did try briefly to capture it to Flash using Wink (free, open-source screen capture software). It captured the slides fine, but I can't figure out a way to add the audio (it just records off of the microphone). I do have Camtasia (not free and open source) at school and I know there are more options, but I didn't have time to explore. I didn't think about exporting the PowerPoint slides as images and then bringing them into Movie Maker. That worked fairly well (although it would've been much simpler if all my slides had been the same length!). So Miguel, here's the Windows Media Player version. Tell your team to thank me.
- As far as "How'd it go?" - I think it did get a lot of my staff thinking about this, but I'm not sure how much of that will survive the beginning of the year craziness. Everyone is so busy getting back into the swing of things that it's easy to settle back into the same old routine and push it to the backs of our minds. I'm hoping that doesn't happen and I at least take some comfort that many of you think it will help you get some conversations started. My principal did say he wanted to show it at Back to School Night to the parents and several teachers are planning on showing it to their students. (Sorry, Molly, you may get to see it again.)
I've now uploaded my sources for the information (Word Format or PDF). Please note that I've changed the following slides because I couldn't confirm some of the information from independent sources. (If you download the PowerPoint or the Windows Media version now, they will include the updated slides.)
- Slide 24 and 25 - My original source indicated 10-14 careers, and I did find that another place on the web. But while both claimed the U.S. Department of Labor as their source, neither linked it to anything. All of my searches there indicate 10-14 jobs by the age of 38, not careers - so I changed the slides to indicate that.
- Slides 27 and 28 - My original source indicated 1 out of 2 workers had been with their employer less than one year, 2 out of 3 less than five years. Again my original source did not link back to the U.S. Department of Labor, and the only other place I found it on the web was from a presentation to the State of Texas by the author of my original source. The searching I did at the Department of Labor indicated 1 out of 4 less than a year, and then 1 out of 2 less than five years, so I changed the slides to reflect that.
- Slide 47 - Changed from 2.4 to 2.7 billion searches a month based an updated statistics on the web.
- Slide 67 - My original source did not provide any source for this claim, and I couldn't find anything definite on the web. So I removed the year from the slide and left it at "Predictions are that ePaper will be cheaper than real paper."
Update 2-20-07
I've received quite a few requests for just the text of this presentation. So here you go:
Also, you can find Scott McLeod's version (removes my school-specific slides) at this post.
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