EdNet Monday AM

Breakfast intros were asked to be under 30 seconds and were given in alphabetical order - So, by the time we got around to the "s" folks I looked out at the audience and saw rows of "deer in the headlights". My opening statement had to get their attention right? So, I introduced myself and said "I am here to talk about SEX". It worked. I then went on to explain in hyperspeed about the work Ramapo Central is doing in Second Life and that I was here to share my experience and my vision. 28.562 seconds.

OPening Keynote was wonderful -
Keynote Address
Charles “Chuck” House, Executive Director, Media X at Stanford University
Media X is an innovation program at Stanford University that builds bridges among the best faculty and student scholars at Stanford and thought leaders from influential companies to address questions of real importance within both academia and industry. Media X is focused on innovation and using research to fuel ideas and new paradigms. Mr. House will discuss what global broadband will mean for US competitiveness; why 21st century skills will matter to schools; virtual worlds, telepresence and the learning environments coming down the pike; and much more in this exciting start to EdNET 2007. Chuck was funny, brilliant The best part of his talk centered upon looking at the state of 21st century literacies and the obstacles educators face in understanding how to reah the digital native and how to transfer the existing curriculum in an authetic manner to virtual environments that will engage our students without alienating our teachers, parents and administrators....or without creating a new generation of ADHD youth (I really wanted to address that but it was not my venue and not my arena--Note to self: Include a reference to Enraged or Engaged.
r. Terry N. Bishop, Superintendent of Schools, Colorado Springs (CO) School District 11
Dr. Annette T. Griffin, Superintendent, Carrollton-Farmers Branch (TX) Independent School District
John Q. Porter, Superintendent, Oklahoma City (OK) Public Schools
Paul G. Vallas, Superintendent, New Orleans Recovery School District
James Wilson, Superintendent, Fulton County (GA) Schools
Join the members of the EdNET Education Advisory Board as they discuss their perspectives on current issues and how their districts are handling today’s demands and tomorrow’s promise. This is an exciting opportunity for attendees to gain insight into the realities in the market and issues that these influential superintendents are wrestling with.

Right now I am listening to a panel discussing different (quite critical ) situations in districts throughout the country. NCLB and other issues are being examined in the light of the dichotomy they create - ESL , Special Ed - How are these teachers able to gain the "highly qualified" status - get certified in everything?

Schools trying to take new (rather unorthodox, YAY) approaches to dealing with critical school challenges are outlining approaches they are trying but I am still hearing much too much about standardized testing, remediation, and supplemental programs. They are treating the symptoms and ignoring the disease. EXCEPT for the gentleman on the panel who advocated early interventions and a new model of pedagogy beginning with pre-schoolers ---

FUNDING FOR NCLB is being touted as a major issue as is funding for intervention programs in general.

These schools are dealing with sever numbers of at risk students as well as poverty violence and the transient population.



LUNCH - Good.

Panel discussion: ransitions in Schools: Schools at the Tipping Point
Terry Crane, Ed.D., Senior Education Advisor, Infotech Strategies (moderator)
C. Jackson Grayson, Jr., Chairman and CEO, American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC)
Melendy Lovett, President, Education Technology, Texas Instruments, Incorporated
Tom Vander Ark, President, X PRIZE Foundation

Join us as this panel of specialists share their expertise regarding world class standards, benchmarking and performance improvement, and what the U.S. needs to do to ensure continued competitiveness in the future. Panelists will provide insight into the models that will help guide our schools, teachers and students to success.

The panelists are pretty heavy players - lots of experince here - ---resume's that would knock your socks off - Harvard, Stanford, Gates Foundation, blah blah blah

Grayson: APQC - non profit in Houston 12 million $ budget to help business improve. Just added K-12.
What's going to happen in the tipping point?

6 blockages to Tipping Up:

1. No process management
2. No system focus
3. Little systemic sharing
4.Very little empowerment

EdNet 2007 - Back to Chicago LOL

"If you want to play in this market, you can't be internal. You have to get out and hear what is going on. You must learn about the market, and EdNET is really the most efficient at getting the right information to you."
~Dr. Terry Crane, Senior Education Advisor, Infotech Strategies

SO - this is good an invitation to present my work on Ramapo Islands and this time, not to teachers and administrators but to industry leaders. It is also good that I am included on a panel of well embedded experts. It is good that I am being compensated for my time and it is good that Ramapo Central has hired an additional Media Specialist so that I am not stressing over what may or my not be happening back at school during my 2 day absence (overblown sense of self-importance!)

It is NOT good though, that I have been asked to keep my portion of the panel to about seven (yes that’s right) seven minutes. The thrust of the panel work will be for Q&A so I am to be brief and to the point.
Does anyone know how to take the most amazing, illuminating and awe-inspiring event of my career and whittle it down to a succinct 7 minutes? I had a hard time keeping the NEXX presentation to an hour! Seven minutes to explain how the kids looked when thye first say Ramapo Islands - Seven minutes to explain the deep level of engagement and investment my students experiences. Seven minutes to describe the process of transferring the standard curriculum into a meaningful and authentic virtual world experience. Seven minutes to share how my teachers stepped up to the plate and then were amazed at where the experiment took them . Seven minutes to outline the projects and the manner in which the students became the information provider - the student differentiated their tasks and the students instilled greater rigor into their work thn had initially been designed. And, best of all, how the students started to develop the curriculum..logging in from home, on weekends, after school, before school---

I’d better speak quickly eh?

Introduction...

Welcome to MetaVersEd Ltd! My name is Peggy Sheehy and I hope to serve the education community with consulting services in the proposal, design, creation, and implementation of meaningful K-12 curriculum in MUVEs; specifically Teen Second Life.
I will strive to address all issues pertaining to our work with digital natives, 21st century literacy and pedagogical reform to prepare our students for the "flat" world. Where my knowledge base is lacking I will provide direction to experts and will engage in healthy, productive controversial debate.
The overarching theme of this blog is embodied in the sentiment s expressed in the following quotations:

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be

those who cannot read and write, but those who

cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."

-- Alvin Toffler

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"Come to the edge, he said.

They said: We are afraid.

Come to the edge, he said.

They came.

He pushed them,

and they flew."

--Guillaume Apollinaire

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"The argument is simple-
to prepare people for life in an information society,
they need to be taught with the technology of an information society."

--Tilfen

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For more information about the consulting services I can offer your school or organization, please visit the website:

www.metaversedltd.com
or

email- metaversed@mac.com