Mark David Milliron at CAIS 2010: Elaborations & Reflections; Live Tweeting a Presentation

At the 2010 "Heads & Trustees" meeting of the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) meeting,the opening keynote address was Mark David Milliron's presentation “Ten Emerging Insights on Learning and the Road Ahead”.  Unlike my previous practice at a presentation, I didn't keep close notes on the "ten insights" as he promised to provide a download of the slides later.

Rather than making pen & paper notes,I experimented with live-tweeting the presentation.  This was a first for me.  I'm a one-digit iPhone keyboard typist, which means my tweets were a bit cryptic.  Also, I didn't fall upon the #cais hashtag until later in the day (so no one following) or the #privateschool or #educhat.  Nevermind -- I couldn't have kept up with the conversation, anyway, as I shut off my full Twitter feed from my cell phone last year as too distracting.

About the audience: I don't have hard data.  I suspect birth cohorts from 1945 - 1955 were dominant, with ever-smaller numbers from 1956-1965 followed by 1966-1975 and  1976- 1985.   Milliron used a different metric: "Boomers" (1940-1960) GenX (1961-1981) and GenY or Millenials (1982-2002) .  The year dividing line varies; I've used the most common.

He asked a couple of questions to be answered by raising of hands: (1) those who had high-speed or broad-band internet connections at home (I'd say <70% responded with yes) and those who owned a internet-capable ("smart") phone (this time, <50% by my estimation).

Here are my tweets, in some cases expanded for understanding (I'm not providing links as linkrot is inevitable) and some elaboration of what I was making notes to myself about.

Setup: the first couple of passages in the presentation was comparing and contrasting physical and technological conditions of 1910 with 2010.  Milliron used story very effectively throughout.

One of the starting points was polling how many in the audience

1. Had high-speed or broadband internet connections at home.  My assessment -- less than half.  Not surprising as the people represented urban, suburban and rural schools.  HS/BB coverage in California is surprisingly spotty.  However, if you are still relying on slow connections at home as a head or as a trustee, you really don't have a visceral understanding of the value of internet connectivity in education.
2. Owned or used a "smart phone" and used it for accessing the internet (Blackberry, iPhone, or similar) again, less than half. On the other hand, the audience was >900 people-- hard to gauge. Disclosure: I don't access my emails or 90% of my tweet stream on my phone.
3. Assessment in 21st century open book on steroids  -- Back in the olden days before search engines, open book tests may have been a good assessment options.  But wait!  Considering the power and ease of search engines, and if your assessment of mastery is based on students being able to choose the correct factual answer among a set of multiple choices, how do you craft authentic assessment of students' mastery?
4. 21st century  educators must master blend of online & face-to-face education The point is, there are so many on-line resources that students access anyway, educators MUST step to the front.
5. Mobility in computing & education how to leverage not prevent use Many schools and districts policies on mobile computing (smart phones) are negative and forbidding. That's short-sighted.  Visionary educators should be experimenting with ways to use devices students already own to make education or learning more efficient and more rigorous.
   
6. Intergenerational social impact of gaming grandparents This was a note to remind me about a story Milliron told about a grandparent who regularly played Wii basketball with his several-states distant grandsons, increasing the family connection.  And then elaborated with --they are playing a German team.  Grandsons are researching German expressions -- so they can trashtalk in German.
   
7. Rigor doesn't mean "real hard" it means deeply engaging This was part of a longer conversation -- one of my tweet friends elaborated with "Rigor= complex, ambiguous, provocative, and emotionally challenging. The CAPE idea. "  Milliron went on to expose audience to the idea that some online games are deeply rigorous.
   
8. PLN students already have them edu challenge 2 help students make the most of them PLN = Personal Learning Network.  Students already have them (friends, family, internet social networking etc.) the educational challenge is to make clear to students that they have PLNs, and to make them more academically and socially intense.
   
9. open education commons amazing resource  He was referring to http://www.oercommons.org/
   
10. build buy share for curricular resources Maybe the age of the textbook is dead.  Schools and teachers should be thinking about how they can share the curricula they've developed that's excellent, and breaking out of the box.  Some resources Not Textbooks I & Not Textbooks II.  The curriculum wiki, curriki  there's lots more
    
11. taking whiteboards to the next level - teacher sees what students are surfing This note covered a whole episode, in which Milliron showed a a very wired college classroom.  The professor can see what sites the student is using and so can affect students' on-task behavior.  I think he also demonstrated Wolfram Alpha here  about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfram_Alpha  site: www.wolframalpha.com/
    
12. have to be carefully toughminded & sharp on tech use -- analytics This note summarizes the general idea that it isn't enough to "add technology" to the classroom.  Organizations (schools) must measure where and how technology can increase learning and engagement. 
    
13. competing on analytics & how the mighty fall a brief introduction to the concept of analytics in the business world
    
14. Purdue signalling analytics of success Purdue is using analytics (which is an area of research strength for them) to very closely track students' performance beginning with matriculation.  They have found that there are early precursors signalling a student is getting into academic trouble. See link in comments, below.
    
15. datA use blocked by culture of blame move to culture of inquiry This sentence summarizes the idea that previously, data were used to determine who was at fault in the event of failure.  The future of analytics requires a change in mindset to: how can we use data to increase student and school achievement.
16. critical & creative learning will be two of the most impt elements 4 future growth This and the next three tweets summarize the presentation. 
    
17. importance of social skills
18. courageous learning willing. 2b a beginner again and again
    
19. can't afford insanity -doing the same thing expect different results

I would encourage readers to explore the resources at the links above, and to visit both Catalize Learning International  and Milliron's blog, Catalytic Conversations 

Some of Milliron's posts I've found particularly intriguing

• Catalyzing Positive Change in Education
• The Courage to Learn
• Rookie Courage
• The Change We Need In Education

Reporting from the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) 2010 Heads & Trustees Conference

• Overview & "What Is A Private School?  What Is An Independent School"
• Keynote: Mark David Milliron at CAIS 2010:  “Ten Emerging Insights on Learning and the Road Ahead” --Elaborations & Reflections; Live Tweeting a Presentation
• Equity Pedagogy and the Diversity Journey -- Lessons Learned by Lick Wilmerding
• Data-Informed Decision Making Lessons from Crane School
• Charter Schools and the Shifting Educational Landscape
• Closing Keynote from NAIS President Patrick Bassett  The "New Normal" -- A Game-Changing Model for Financially Sustainable Schools

Comments

[Liz Ditz]

Signals Tell Students How They Are Doing

This fall Purdue University has launched a first-of-its-kind computerized system that will track student academic progress and warn students in real-time if they need work in certain areas.

More than 11,000 students enrolled in 500-plus introductory "gateway" course sections will know by as early as the second week of classes whether their effort is putting them on a path to success or not. All they need to do is glance at the traffic signal-like red, yellow and green lights they'll see when they log into the course Web site on their computer or, later this year, on their cell phone.

Those signals - for which the system is named - are followed by messages from their instructor giving suggestions on how they can change their academic behavior to improve their grades by taking steps such as attending help sessions or reading additional materials.

Tim Delworth, a continuing lecturer in mathematics, says Signals had a successful pilot in his classes.

Purdue University's Signals student success program lets beginning Boilermakers know how they are doing in certain classes, even on a cell phone. Students also receive e-mail or text messages from their instructors with tips on improving their grades in the classes. (Purdue News Service image/Alex Kingman)

"I give Signals an 'A,'" he says. "The student response has been very strong. Before, no one would e-mail me and say, 'I'm at 58 percent and I want to get to 72 percent, what do I need to do?' But the students who get a red light almost all contact me immediately to ask how to raise their grades.

"The information was there before, but it wasn't in front of them and it wasn't in a form that was as clear to them as a red or yellow warning signal."