Live from MacWorld--Day 2

I arrived at Moscone Center almost two hours early this morning to make sure I secured front row seats for the opening's keynote with Steve Wozniak (A.K.A. "iWoz"), the original founder of Apple with Steve Jobs. They are expecting a full house this morning so myself and all the other diehards (including two nuns!) are bright-eyed and bushy tailed waiting to be dazzled and inspired.

In addition to conferences, workshops and trainings, there are two exhibit halls filled with vendors hawking everything from iPod "skins" to laptop carry bags to highly sophisticated (and expensive) servers to manage an organization's back-end. There's even a MacWorld store where I hope to purchase a "Mac Chick" t-shirt by day's end. I need at least one souvenir from the experience.

Yesterday's speakers all had something interesting to contribute. Granted the longer the day dragged on, the less able I felt to fully focus, but I did want to share some tidbits. 

Exciting things are happening in classrooms all across America. Rich and poor districts alike are harnessing the power of their Macs (and the bundled iLife software suite) to create video diaries, movies, blogs, and podcast--not only to communicate learning outcomes, but to struggle with important social and ethical issues. The Mabry Middle School in Marietta, Georgia, is doing just this. With the goal to create 2-minute films exploring issues of their choice, students developed powerful films questioning human embryonic stem cell research, the commercialization of pure drinking water, poverty in China, child slavery on Africa's Ivory Coast, etc.  I encourage all of you to click on this link to watch the videos they've made---and nothing is graded! The children are so motivated that a teacher's mark becomes irrelevant. Once you access the website, scroll to the bottom of the page to watch all the videos. Truly remarkable!

Mabry's Principal, Dr. Tim Tyson, comes across as a real visionary who loves to push the envelope and push convention. He's an enthusiastic subscriber to John's Dewey's philosophy that "learning is an active process." He's pushing for the "School 2.0" model where learners are authentically engaged and self-directed, instruction is project-driven and powered by technological innovation, and collaborative learning communities value students as both learners and teachers. In his opinion, the way we work, communicate, travel, build and maintain relationships, entertain ourselves, etc. has been utterly transformed by digital technology--"but school stays pretty much the same!" All important points to consider. I believe a fine balance exists between traditional aspects of a curriculum that are worth preserving (especially the human component) and the exciting potential of embracing technology to expand one's intellectual universe.