[Yr7-10it] Re buzz words from 22/11....

[Bill Kerr]

hi phil,

I refrained from pursuing this further on the list because I do respect the
hard work done by VITTA - and overall I do think the conference was great,
meaning for me, the workshops.

I accept there was no conscious linking b/w the "revolution" theme emanating
from VITTA and the ALP. I never thought there was.

However, I do see a problem with keynotes both in general and with Stephen
Heppell's keynote in particular. I did blog about it instead here:
http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/11/some-thoughts-about-prof-stephen.html

I don't mind a theme of revolution - but its hard to deliver on it. IMV
web2.0 has become a new received wisdom. Before the conference it was said
that VELS was a revolution and Adrian in his response linked the theme to
Michael Wesch's videos (which can also be critically analysed - see the
above blog)

What to do instead? I was asked this by Graham Wegner on my blog and I
replied as follows:

I would have preferred a debate between a web2.0 position and a conflicting
position. Any real discussion - something challenging - would have been
preferable to Stephen's nice guy avuncular message. Surprise me! Some talks
have an underlying tension, a coming together of disparate views or an
unresolved tension at the end. Stephen's talk was far too smooth, no untidy
loose ends, no internal struggle. If web2.0 was radical (it's no longer new)
then wouldn't you expect this? So much of the web2.0 material is just bland
goodness. It has become the new received wisdom. This sort of approach would
have also been more congruent with the theme of the conference
("revolution).

Part of the issue with the way Stephen's keynote worked out in practice was
this:

1) an important international expert arrives from overseas to tell us that
local knowledge is the most important thing
2) We sit in lecture mode hearing that the lecture is no longer important
3) the limitations of web2.0 apps are not mentioned. There was no context
either historical (computer science) or historical, about all the knowledge
discovered before computers were invented


With the ALP about to embark on an "education revolution" I think that we
need to keep our skeptical antennae tuned. See also

Revolution of the Mind
<http://bluyonder.wordpress.com/2007/11/29/revolution-of-the-mind/>

Greg Whitby is also skeptical about Labour's education revolution, pointing
out that it's teachers not computer hardware that will be the decisive
factor in change

http://bluyonder.wordpress.com/2007/11/29/revolution-of-the-mind/

cheers,
- Bill
-- 
Bill Kerr
http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/



On Nov 29, 2007 5:00 PM, Phil Callil <P.Callil at xavier.vic.edu.au> wrote:

> "I agree; the keynote on the day I attended was 99% "bum fluff" as I  like
> to call it."
>
> My, if that isn't an unnecessarily provocative and uninformed comment, I'm
> not sure what is.....
>
> First, reading Bill's analytical and thoughtful comments about buzz words
> in political policies and the like certainly caused me to think about how
> such words and cliches are thrown about by both sides of the political
> spectrum. Regardless, the investment made by the federal government in
> education has caused us to fall behind when compared with many OECD
> countries. I think that's clear.  Similarly, the government's policies on
> broadband have done the same, especially when compared with South Korea,
> Japan and many European and Scandinavian countries.
>
> They are buzz words when used by politicians who are perhaps looking for
> their 10 second grab to the masses.
>
> But to suggest that the keynotes (or even one of them) on Monday and
> Tuesday were of a similar ilk is an unnecessary and fairly insulting swipe
> at two people who have established international and national  reputations
> (respectively) for their experience and knowledge.  Heppell's delivery I
> thought was appealing, accessible, eye opening and informative.  It
> represented a lot of ideas we need to consider when it comes to what we want
> our schools to look like over the next 50 years - ideas we need to consider
> if we are to fashion our own Australian response to the educational needs of
> our children
>
> Moyle's comments I felt were not necessarily eye opening stuff but were
> based on solid analysis of field research of schools, industry and teachers.
> For IT practitioners at the coalface in schools, maybe they were not
> necessarily eye opening but it was good to hear such views being expressed
> by an academic who can influence national policy in IT in education.  Her
> ideas on programming and where it sits in the curriculum and the importance
> of cross platform open source apps were very appealing - at least to me
> anyway.
>
> To suggest that the keynote on (whatever) the day  "99% 'bum fluff' " is
> unfair, unnecessary and offensive.   VITTA work hard to cater for both the
> IT specialists who form the bulk of the membership and teachers who are
> cross curriculum.  From a subjective and objective point of view, I think
> this was done successfully.
>
> So, whatever you do, rather than making comments like this, be a little
> bit more proactive and join in the decision making process at VITTA.  Come
> and join the committee and have a say in the keynote speaker selection.
>
> Best wishes
>
>
> Phil Callil
> Faculty Head IT
> Xavier College
>
> Vice President VITTA
>
>
>
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