Tim Magner, Director of the Office of Educational Technology at the US Department of Education spoke today about the recenlty released vision for ed tech, titled School 2.0. It is a fascinating, detailed map about the direction that schools should take to meet the needs of society in this time of rapid technology change. This was my first exposure to the map – there is a large one in the lobby on the floor to look at and walk around on, and one on display, with post-its available where anyone can provide feedback on its content. Check it out at school2-0.org. I’m wondering how we might incorporate this map into the planning we do in Technology Committee when we review/revise our 5 year technology plan.
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4 responses to “School 2.0”
OK, so a bit strange, but I’m going to post my own first comment (only because I was having a formatting issue when I did this post, and did not want to lose what was there…
I have a concern about one item Tim shared. I don’t know if it was me taking it the wrong way, but in his statistics demonstrating how the US will not be able to compete with China regarding the number of skilled graduates produced, I got the feeling it was an us vs. them scenario. The flat world we live in should be just that – a flat WORLD, and not a flat SERIES OF COUNTIES compteting against eachother. The US has to improve its educational system, but not to compete, but rather complement the global economy.
This is the first time I have heard of School 2.0. Some of my friends have been talking Web 2.0 for some time now, and I am glad to see the idea extended to education.
But something I really like about School 2.0 that I have yet to see in Web 2.0 is the “People Wheel.” It is important to have that reminder of what School 2.0 is really all about. Ed-tech shoudl not just be about both the ed part and the tech part. The People Wheel is a great filter for ideas and innovations because it reminds us that, if a technology does not help one of the players in this wheel, it doesn’t help us at all.
Totally agreed, Keith. It’s not about the technology – its about people and learning. If we lose sight of that, nothing else really matters. One observation about the people wheel is there is a distinct group called Technologists – the ‘translators’ who can help the non-techies and techies communicate. I find it interesting that this group is identified separate from the others.
[…] Tim Magner Keynote: This is the second time I’ve heard him speak, the first being last November at NYSCATE. His focus both times is on the new global workforce and economy, and what educational technology can/should do to help change the direction and focus of education. He spent much less time on the School2.0 project here at ETC, compared to NYSCATE. I found his presentation much more captivating at NYSCATE as well. […]