Reflecting on a non-Ed Tech Conference
I have talked about the power of networking and sharing remote events synchronously around my house a lot. So much so that, while I was back in D.C. my husband “booked” me to set up live blogging for an event his workplace was helping to sponsor. This meant I had the unique experience of going from NECC, to a conference that was not about education technology. It was illuminating.
Background: My husband works for a community organization called WalkSacramento on making streets safer for walking an bicycling, and to encourage public transit. This is part of a larger movement of folks around a concept called “complete streets,” which are streets that work for everybody, and not just cars. It was a small conference, a symposium, but had a much better turnout (+250) than they were anticipating. At the same time, furloughs for state workers, budget cuts at cities and counties, made it difficult for many stakeholders from the government part of this unable to come. Terry (my husband) talked them into having me set up a live blog and video feed of the event so folks could watch at home or the office, and it would be archived for later viewing. I used some simple tools, CoverItLive, and Ustream, and worked with a team of folks from a local regional agency to do the blog (they are more knowledgeable about the policy and terms, so it made sense to have them blog while I did the video feed).
Complete Streets; Context Sensitive Streets; Walkability Bikability | Education Technology |
We all agree that the traditional way that roads are built and are used does not work for everyone.
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We all agree that traditional education is not working
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We need to put aside assumptions, and realize…
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We need to put aside assumptions, and realize…
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You’ll notice only one acronym up there on the left, LOS, or Level of Service. This is their bête noire. Level of service is how many cars a road handles in it’s busiest time, and is viewed the same way progressive educators look at NCLB, as the wrong metric for the wrong reasons.
The difference between the two movements how they address the “change” part of this equation.
What’s the goal in a few sentences?
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What’s the goal in a few sentences?
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Who are the founders, and leaders of the movement?
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Who are the leaders of this movement?
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Who is “not on board” or gets in the way of this movement?
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Who is “not on board” or gets in the way with this movement?
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You can begin to see the differences right away between the two “movements” I would say the the you can’t even call the push for education technology a full movement yet. There are too many inherently contradictory goals within the “supporters” to gain much traction, and look at that “enemies” list! It makes Nixon’s look like a Larry Lessig PowerPoint slide.
How did the Complete Streets movement jell? They agree on common principles, what’s going on is not working, and they have some solutions and a common goal. We do not have a common goal. Look at those goals and supporters up there under education technology. Some of them clearly conflict with each other. Some of the “enemies” can be friends of education technology, depending on the context of the tech integration (educators weary of fads, those who want to prepare students for citizenship, not just work). Some of the “friends” can be enemies of progressive education, a solid pro-ed tech constituency.
Until we have a common goal, it’s not a movement. In fact if we are working on a progressive vision, and others are working towards another version of of technology in education (like tech for test prep), then they are “muddying” our message, further complicating our goals. How do we get on the same page?
If you’re interested in learning more about Complete Streets, here are links to the event:
If you are interested in getting grant money for your school to improve walkability and bikability, I strongly urge you to look into Safe Routes to School. This is for ALL schools, not just K-12 and not just public. If you have questions, drop a comment, and I’ll try to hook you up with my husband or people working on this in your area.