Three weeks ago, I was in New York for the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). AERA is the largest gathering of academics in the field of education. Many members of foundations and other nonprofits attend as well.

My primary reason in attending was to connect with organizations and individuals interested in two main interests of the Foundation: social media’s applications to teaching and learning, and student voice / student empowerment.

Since my conversion to twitter a few months ago, I’ve tried to do my part by posting real-time updates of events and meetings to other people using it. It’s also an interactive way to take notes because people can respond! So I’ve included a few posts from my “twitterstream” for you.

Session 28.024. Learning, Meaning, and Civic Engagement in the Digital Age: The MacArthur Digital Media Initiative
Tuesday, March 25th, 12:25pm to 1:55pm

Chair:

• Constance Yowell, JD and CT MacArthur Foundation

Participants:

• Henry Jenkins, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Howard E Gardner, Harvard University
• James Paul Gee, Arizona State University
• Nichole D Pinkard, University of Chicago

This was MacArthur’s first sponsored panel. It was star-studded, and many notables were in the audience. Henry Jenkins and Howard Gardner got into a few friendly debates over issues of access and equity, which all agreed were amplified by technology (or lack of technology). One memorable moment came when Nichole Pinkard showed an example of a student-created rap video; many of the academics in the audience looked truly mystified.

tweets:

#aera topic of discussion: the concept of the nation-state is breaking down; our digital natives are crossing borders regularly 09:34 AM March 25, 2008 from Snitter

#aera nichole pinkard is playing homemade hiphop from the iremix project to a room of academics. visible confusion. 09:50 AM March 25, 2008 from Snitter

#aera henry jenkins: we don’t need adults looking over students’ shoulders, we need them watching their backs. zing. 10:05 AM March 25, 2008 from Snitter

#aera jim gee wants to use serious games to teach complex systems. this will motivate civic participation. 10:15 AM March 25, 2008 from Snitter

#aera howard gardner reminds us that howard dean was made and broken by new media 10:53 AM March 25, 2008 from Snitter

Session 33.012. The Future of Learning: New Paradigms for the 21st Century (Presidential Session)
Tuesday, March 25th, 4:05pm to 5:35pm

Chair:

• Constance Yowell, JD and CT MacArthur Foundation

Participants:

• Mizuko (Mimi) Ito
• Marshall S Smith, WF Hewlett Foundation
• Diana Rhoten, NSF (replacing Daniel Atkins, NSF)

Discussant:

• John Seely Brown, Xerox PARC

This was the second session sponsored by MacArthur. It was in the largest room and was packed; audience members were jammed into the doorway, probably to see Mimi Ito and John Seely Brown.

tweets:

#aera mimi: 2 big things right now: new tools that youth have already adopted into ecology, and public sharing 01:14 PM March 25, 2008 from Snitter

#aera mimi polls audience: who knows what an rpg is? very few hands. i think we’re in trouble here. 01:20 PM March 25, 2008 from web

#aera next up, marshall smith of hewlett foundation on open educational resources 01:25 PM March 25, 2008 from web

#aera diana rhoten up next on virtual environments 01:42 PM March 25, 2008 from web

#aera diana: with early adoption comes a mix of hysteria and hope 01:46 PM March 25, 2008 from web

#aera lots of hype, lots of hope, lots of doubt about efficacy of virtual worlds for impact on learning 01:50 PM March 25, 2008 from web

#aera virtual environments are no exception 01:46 PM March 25, 2008 from web

#aera jsb closes with herb simon quote: it’s not what you know, it’s how you know it 02:10 PM March 25, 2008 from web

Session 39.022. Digital Literacies and the Future of Schools
Wednesday, March 26th, 10:35am to 12:05pm

Chair:

• Richard R Halverson, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Participants:

• Erica Halverson, University of Wisconsin - Madison
• Allan M Collins, Northwestern University
• Katie Salen, Parsons School of Design
• Lauren B Resnick, University of Pittsburgh
• Louis M Gomez, Northwestern University
• Anthony S Bryk, Stanford University

Discussant:

• Richard R Halverson, University of Wisconsin - Madison

All of the speakers for this session were interesting, but the most exciting was Katie Salen, who is launching a new gaming for learning program at Parsons The New School of Design. Many of the consequences for education hinted at by our Map – disconnect between school and students, lack of integration of technology, bored students, aging model – were discussed. The projects presented all attempt to educate students in basic digital literacy and then scaffold on top of that knowledge.

tweets:

#aera halverson opens by holding up an iphone, praising it, and saying that it’s banned from most schools 07:39 AM March 26, 2008 from Snitter

#aera school is becoming less important as venue for learning; industrial rev led to universal schooling, knowledge rev leads to lifelong 07:46 AM March 26, 2008 from web

#aera seeds of new system: home schooling, workplace, distance, adult, tv/video, virtual environments, tech certifications, internet cafes 07:48 AM March 26, 2008 from web

#aera halverson names three imperatives: customization, interaction, learner control. calls for new horace mann to step up and be visionary 07:54 AM March 26, 2008 from web

#aera giving henry jenkins’ def of particip cultures. low barriers to entry, support built in, informal mentorship, valued contributions 07:57 AM March 26, 2008 from web

#aera now showing a screenshot of gamestar mechanic. it’s come a long way since i last played with it. 08:21 AM March 26, 2008 from web

#aera next up: someone who does not introduce herself and does not show slides. 08:42 AM March 26, 2008 from web

#aera that must mean she knows what she’s talking about 08:42 AM March 26, 2008 from web

#aera wish you all were here. resnick is pretty funny. but nothing i can really repeat here. habermas, dewey, democracy… 08:54 AM March 26, 2008 from web

Session 53.014. Girls and Information Technology: Innovative Approaches to Narrowing the Gender Gap
Thursday, March 27th, 10:35am to 12:05pm

Chair:

• Jill Denner, Education, Training, and Research Associates

Participants:

• Deborah Muscella, Simmons College
• Zakiyyah Kareem and Audrey Warren, Girlstart
• Melissa J Koch, William R Penuel, Torie Gorges, SRI International
• Karen A Peterson and Karen J Manuel, Puget Sound Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology
• Steven Bean and Jacob Martinez, ETR Associates

Discussant:

• Cornelia Brunner, Education Development Center / Center for Children and Technology

I attended this session with KWF VP of Education Strategy Monica Martinez. It was a good source of some interesting student / gaming organizations: BuildIT (which marries IT fluency with STEM,) GirlStart (a computer club for girls,) TechReach (an alignment of school, community, local business, and mentors for at-risk girls,) and the Girl Game Company (a gaming company managed by high school girls that build games for girls). The somewhat weak conclusion was that these projects work because they are interesting to girls.

tweets:

#aera girls often feel that they are consumers of tech but not empowered to create it 07:53 AM March 27, 2008 from twhirl

#aera BuildIT marries IT fluency with STEM education. 08:08 AM March 27, 2008 from twhirl

#aera girls participating in Girl Game Company are employees with roles and get paid in virtual currency called clams. 08:37 AM March 27, 2008 from twhirl

#aera key seems to be in designing learning experiences that actually interest girls. that’s a bit obvious. 08:49 AM March 27, 2008 from twhirl

Session 55.047. From Practice to Practice: What Novice Teachers and Teacher Educators Can Learn From One Another.
Thursday, March 27th, 12:25pm to 1:55pm

Chair:

• Thomas C Hatch, Teachers College

Participants:

• Pamela L Grossman, Stanford University
• Christa M Compton, Stanford University
• Emily Venson, School of the Future
• Travis Bristol, Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice

Discussant:

• Magdalene Lampert, University of Michigan

This was a very interesting session. A group of teacher educators at various schools of education all tried to emulate the work of one star teacher, Yvonne Divans Hutchinson in Los Angeles, as a means of training new teachers. Hutchinson teaches literature and literary theory to primarily African-American and Latino students, using techniques that engage learners in the context of their own lives. The teacher educators discovered that Hutchinson is very difficult to emulate, but her work is great material for potential teachers to discuss and study.

tweets:

#aera persistent theme: all tried to teach hutchinson’s methods; her high school kids outperfomed teachers in training at stanford, tc. 10:01 AM March 27, 2008 from twhirl

#aera interesting point from audience member: teacher prof dev in schools is usually not connected with teacher education in higher ed 10:41 AM March 27, 2008 from twhirl

#aera why does every question from audience come with a lengthy personal background? oh yeah, because i’m at an academic conference. 10:47 AM March 27, 2008 from twhirl

Session 64.012. Contexts of Power: The Role of Youth-Led Action, Research, Evaluation, and Planning in Generating Social Change in Schools
Friday, March 28th, 8:15am to 9:45am

Chair:

• Jennifer M Gong, Youth in Focus

Participants:

• Jann Murrary-Garcia, University of California - Davis
• Dana Wright, Harvard University
• Jesus Sanchez and Lucia Kimble, Youth in Focus
• Patrick Lee, Stupski Foundation

Discussant:

• Pedro A Noguera

[note: presenters also included a whole bunch of students from Oakland Unified School District and Davis High School]

This was the most interesting session I attended; it was entirely focused on student-led efforts to gain power and voice in the (local) education system. And most of the presenting was done by the students themselves. There were two projects represented: a district-wide effort at the Oakland Unified School District called All City Council (ACC,) and a school-wide effort at Davis High School.

tweets:

#aera we just did the hokey pokey. good idea for a wakeup. let the students lead the way. 05:31 AM March 28, 2008 from twhirl

#aera new student presenting on qualitative results: students perceived that administrators expected diff performance out of diff races 05:50 AM March 28, 2008 from twhirl

#aera and students gradually come to meet those expectations 05:50 AM March 28, 2008 from twhirl

#aera now up: students from oakland unified school district, starting with tony robinson. he’s opening in with a poem he wrote. 06:00 AM March 28, 2008 from twhirl

#aera spoken word called “reflection”. “now i can see. the reflection in my eyes is a reflection of me” 06:01 AM March 28, 2008 from twhirl

#aera ousd has now institutionalized youth voice into planning cycle, incl research funds 06:14 AM March 28, 2008 from twhirl

#aera student research closed with funny story about hopping the school fence to avoid truancy officer to get *inside* 06:31 AM March 28, 2008 from twhirl

#aera robert from surdna foundation just used the term “adultist” to describe most funders and the general public. 06:52 AM March 28, 2008 from twhirl

Technorati Tags: knowledgeworks, future, education, aera, aera2008

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 at 7:33 pm and is filed under Event. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.