[ISTELive 2024 starts this week so I am resurrecting three blog posts from previous years. Below is Blast From the Past (BFTP) #1 from 2015!]
Not including the more informal networking events, there generally are 3 kinds of ISTE sessions:
Tools, tools, tools! These sessions focus on software, apps, extensions, productivity and efficiency, how-to tips, etc. Little emphasis on learning, heavy emphasis on how to use the tools.
Technology for school replication. These sessions focus on the use of digital technologies to replicate and perpetuate schools’ historical emphases on factual recall and procedural regurgitation, control and compliance, students as passive learners, etc. Behavior modification apps, teacher content transmission tools, flashcard and multiple choice software, student usage monitoring programs, and the like.
Technology for school transformation. These sessions focus on deeper learning, greater student agency, and perhaps real-world, authentic work. Learning technologies tend to be divergent rather than convergent, foster cognitive complexity, and facilitate active, creative student-driven learning.
I’m catching up on old photos but wanted to be sure I honored the hard work of these three fine educators. Congratulations, Drs. Saeed, Anderson, and Adams!
For the past week or so, I’ve been sharing some of the many things that ISTE Community Leaders do. From our new podcast to expert webinars, from helping others within ISTE Connect to meetups and conference events, we are busy but also are having a blast. If all of this sounds fun to you too, applications for the 2024-2025 ISTE Community Leaders cohort are now open. Hope some of you are interested and apply!
In my last post I mentioned that the ISTE Community Leaders are doing amazing things. I have been particularly impressed with the frequency and variety of the meetups and conference events led by the Community Leaders. As an example, in recent months the Community Leaders have hosted meetups related to “meeting students where they are,” strategies for educational technology coaching, and a makerspace-themed digital escape room.
Keep asking the question, technology for the purpose of what? How you answer that question depends on your learning model. If your learning model is about teachers transmitting low-level knowledge with students regurgitating back factual recall, then your technology adoption and decision-making will revolve around that learning model.
AND
I think there’s a huge difference between viewing the student computer as a curriculum and content delivery device versus a student empowerment device. That shapes how we think about not only technologies but also professional development for teachers.
And I think what we see is that we spend most of that time focusing on the old traditional model of learning and teaching instead of how we do what we really need to do for the kids of today and beyond, and we seem to be fighting really hard to use today’s technology to replicate 1970s education.
I am looking forward to engaging with our Colorado educators and community members around leadership, deeper learning, technology, and innovation. Hope to see some of you at one of these fun learning events!
John Mikton and Dan Taylor were kind enough to invite me on the International Schools Podcast. John and Dan do a fantastic job of highlighting interesting things that are happening in the international schools space and they always have awesome guests on the podcast. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you’re missing out!
I was incredibly honored to be on the show for Episode 89. We talked about deeper learning, technology integration, leadership, and lots of other fun stuff…
I finally got my act together and updated my email subscriptions. Hopefully you get this post… (now from Jetpack, not Feedburner!)
As always, if you get tired of my nonsense, you should be able to unsubscribe at any time from any email that you receive from Dangerously Irrelevant. Thanks for being a loyal reader!
![[BFTP] 3 kinds of ISTE sessions](http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/iste.jpg)
![ChatGPT in education [WEBINAR]](http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/EdTechTeacher-ChatGPT-webinar-1080x675.jpeg)
