Friday, March 2 Keynote Address:

 

 

Then What? The Past, Present and Future of Education and Technology

In an age of "No Child Left Behind," what is technology's role?

 

Should we go digital? Or go ditch it all?

 

After gobs of glizty digital gear, endless excruciating software upgrades, computers that teach us math and robots that clean house, Then What?

 

Listen to the story of William Tell, hero of Jason's novel about living and learning in the Digital Age. Then What? is a fun, serious, rollercoaster of a story about a computer savant who tries to find a path with a heart in a plastic and silicon world gone crazy with innovation. It is the story of personal transformation as William goes from geeker, to seeker, to teacher, to innovative designer of new schools for new times. It is a story about how we absolutely must re-think our schools if we are going to prepare our kids for the lives they will live, rather than the lives we are used to.

 

Then What? is also a story about the importance of teachers throughout our lives-- school teachers, parents, friends, mentors at work, and everyone else who has enriched our lives by teaching us something important and new. It is about how life is a constant source of new experiences that will teach us as much as we will allow them to.

 

Above all, it is a story about you and your struggle to understand the rapidly changing times in which you live. It is about how to help you connect to life in the Digital Age with friends, co-workers, community and family. It is about how to become empowered by the technology that is now a part of your every day life, regardless of what you do. It is about how and why we should all use the tools of the Digital Age to tell our stories.

 

Friday, March 2 Spotlight Sessions:

 

 

Telling Your Story

Storytelling: thousands of years old and still going strong. So, what makes storytelling the most powerful communication tool we have ever created?

 

This presentation shows how to create a story that works, regardless of whether it is low tech, no tech or high tech. You will learn how to plan, write and tell stories. You will learn how to develop the aspects of successful stories that are found in books, movies, public presentations and even advertisements: flow, character, meaning, conflict resolution, audience engagement and transformation. You will leave with very practical tools to help yourself, you students and colleagues tell their stories. What you learn can be applied to presentations, personal development projects and literacy and content development with students.

 

The World of Digital Storytelling and the DAOW of Literacy

Kids aren’t just consuming media, they are creating it. Combining the art of storytelling with classroom-based new media production, students are creating digital stories for academic and personal purposes. This presentation explains the basics of digital storytelling, including pedagogy, technology and media production, and features many examples of digital stories. It shows how digital storytelling integrates digital, art, oral and written literacy development to form the DAOW of literacy. And it shows how students are using the media from their own “tecosystem” to speak their own language.

 

Dr. Jason Ohler is a speaker, writer, teacher, researcher and lifelong digital humanist who is well known for the passion, insight and humor he brings to his presentations and writings. He is author of numerous articles, books, and teacher resources and continues to work directly with teachers, administrators and students. Combining twenty-five years of experience in the educational technology field with an eye for the future, Jason connects with people where they are, and helps them see their importance in the future development of living, learning and working in the Digital Age. Although he is called a futurist, he considers himself a nowist, working nationally and internationally to help educators and the public use today's tools to create living environments that we are proud to call home.

 

Jason is first and foremost a storyteller, telling tales of the future that are grounded in the past. He clearly loves what he does, and loves sharing what he knows with others.

 

According to Jason, "The goal is the effective, creative, and wise use of technology...to bring together technology, community and learning in ways that work. And while we are at it, to have fun."