It is an honor to be back in Chicago talking about the education revolution. I’ve just noticed that my last public talk was here as well, the Illinois School Boards Association conference. I am especially pleased to be at a Chicago Public School conference that is devoted to conversations about technology. Therefore, I am setting, as one of my goals, to get you off the subject.
Many years ago, I was asked by an editor with Linworth Publishing, to write a book about technology for teachers. I was so flattered that I agreed. However, as I started to plan for the book, research and organize chapters, I came to realize that what I wanted to talk about was information, not technology. What has actually impacted us, in what and how we teach, is less about the tech, and much more about how the tech has changed the very nature of information. It has changed in
- What it looks like,
- What we look at to view it,
- How we find it,
- Where we go to find it,
- What we can do with it, and
- How we communicate it.
Because if these changes in the nature of information, our notions of literacy must change. This is the focus. This is the leverage point for reluctant teachers. Tech isn’t necessary because it helps us teach. It’s necessary because teaching and learning with out it, does little more than preparing our children for the 1950s.
I will also be talking about infographics and data visualization and about personal learning networks. Online handouts can be found at the following links.
