How can we ensure that students at all levels have the best opportunities to participate in the global economy?

I just enjoyed a fantastic time with educators and policy makers at the International Society for Technology in Education Annual Conference and the Global Education Competitiveness Summit! The 13,000 educators at the conference brought a buzzing energy and spirit of change to the city, and of course, the connection all of us felt to Obama was strong!

During the earlier part of my week, I joined a group of government representatives and policy makers in a discussion about education reform. I learned that the United States is actually one of the most expensive education systems in the world, yet is lagging when it comes to student performance and achievement.



The above photo is of Dr. Andreas Schleicher from the OECD Indicators and Statistics Division, giving a presentation on the global picture of education and making the case for international benchmarking and transformation of assessment.

The break-out group that I was part of had a critical discussion about whether or not incremental change was effective and we actually coined a new term which is 'Increminimal' - where if the change is minimal and incremental, that is when we are in danger. The following barriers were identified by people in the room as challenges to creating change in the education system:



The most invigorating discussion I had was over a dinner table discussion involving Governor Tim Pawlenty along with other representatives from government, business and civil society. The theme of our conversation was 'How does change happen?'. When I posed the question to Governor Pawlenty, he smiled and said that we should remind ourselves of the wisdom shared by Margaret Mead, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Coming from a Governor, I felt moved by his comments and it flowed into a conversation about the role of students in having a more active voice and presence in shaping and designing their own learning and education.

Here is my photo with Governor Tim Pawlenty:



On the second day of the Global Education Competitiveness Summit, I gave a morning keynote and was tasked to 'inspire' the group. I reflected on my own experiences in teenage years and the influential role that leadership opportunities played in my own development along with my belief in the power that young people have to contribute significantly to solving some of the world's most pressing challenges and issues. I also talked about the six different archetypes of young change makers that I have identified in my work over the years. (1) The Dreamer (2) The Megaphone (3) The Spark Plug (4) The Task Master (5) The Sherpa (6) The Storyteller ** Please check out my blog: http://jenergy.tigblog.org/post/722035 for further background on these six archetypes!



I concluded my presentation with recommendations on how our education system can develop 21st Century Skills among students:
- Enable co-learning environments that cultivate diverse styles of leadership
- Support global project based learning across subject areas
- Integrate technology across the curriculum
- Foster digital citizenship and media literacy skills at an early age
- Provide opportunities for networking and exchanges that develop a sense of global understanding and social responsibility (with a plug for our very own www.tigweb.org)


After my presentation, we had an opportunity to hear from Premier Dalton McGuinty who talked about the changes he has made over the past six years with our education system in Ontario, Canada. Here are some of the highlights:

(1) Reforms need to be an enduring government priority.
(2) Education reform is not important if it's not important on a personal level to people at the top.
(3) You can't get results unless teachers are on side. Public bickering does not do any good. Celebrating success is key.
(4) Turn teachers into learners. This will shift the classroom culture into a collaborative learning environment.
(5) Improve Teaching. Invest in professional development and improving teacher instruction programs.
(6) Once you make progress, you have permission to invest in more progress.
(7) Keep it personal. Making change a personal priority will generate genuine support.

Here is my photo with Premier Dalton McGuinty:




After our plenary sessions concluded, we took a guided learning journey of the National Educational Computing Conference and visited student showcase projects and the exhibit hall featuring innovative applications of technology in the classroom. I had a chance to speak with Senator Carol Weston during our tour and very much enjoyed reflecting on the past few days and how they will have an impact in Maine. We reflected on the advantages and disadvantages of 1:1 laptop programs and how essential it is to ensure that teachers are actively engaged in making the best use of the technology in the classroom.

Here is my photo with Senator Carol Weston:




A major highlight for TakingITGlobal and TIGed.org was our Poster Session that Katherine Walraven (our Education Program Manager) and I hosted. Between the two of us, we talked to over 200 educators within the time span of two hours! It was incredibly motivating for us to be able to share our work with people who were so thirsty for the kind of online global education resource that we offer. The high level of interest that the educators we met have in bringing the world to their students and their students to the world gives me hope in the potential hundreds and thousands of youth we hope to reach through our community.

Here is a snapshot of Katherine Walraven and I at our TakingITGlobal Poster Session:



While the Poster Session was wrapping up, a young girl came up to our booth who was interested in learning more about TakingITGlobal. Kat and I started to explain what we are about and then started to learn about the radio project that she is part of with Arlington Schools. The students were conducting interviews and demonstrating how they develop and produce a morning television program for their school. Watching them in action was remarkable! These kids were so tech-savvy, well organized and well spoken. I love the feeling of being completely amazed by the capability of young kids - and was energized by group!



"Writing makes you immortal" - were the words spoken by our closing keynote for the conference, Erin Gruwell, who shared a story about how she transformed an intensely challenging experience in the classroom into an uplifting and transformative learning experience with her students resulting in the publishing of a book called 'The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them'. The story is also told in the Freedom Writers movie that brought tears to my eyes back when I saw it in 2006 (http://www.freedomwriters.com/) so what was especially exciting for me was having a chance to both hear from Erin and to meet with her face-to-face and express my appreciation for her incredible work. I hope that this will spark future partnership!!

Just for fun, here's a fun photo that I took while at the Generation YES booth in the exhibition hall:



My final hours in Washington DC were spent with members of the ISTE Conference Committee where we talked about highlights from the conference and discussed plans for next year in Denver 2010! One of the most remarkable achievements that was noted from the conference this year is that we had over 13,000 registered participants and broke record registration numbers - despite the financial crisis. This really speaks to the power of the conference, and the desire that educators have to connect to one another and to resources that will make their classrooms a more dynamic, engaging and connected learning environment!