The TWAIN blog

Getting Political

March 21, 2011 by techxas

Yesterday, I made it back to Austin to attend the TCEA training on how to advocate for school issues at the Capitol. Jennifer Bergland and the entire TCEA staff made this a really easy task with great organization and understanding. They broke down the issues we would be covering as well as walked us through the process of Texas government.

As someone who has attended several rallies for education and other social issues, this was a really great education for me about the entire political system.

I have to say, I had some hangups about going into the Capitol to talk with my representatives and senators. I was scared! I was uncomfortable. But last night’s discussion and all the notes we had really gave me a better idea of the issues to where I could represent myself as an expert in the issues. I felt comfortable sharing about how these bills would impact my schools and the students in them.

Today, I was scheduled to meet with 2 Representatives and 1 Senator. I ended up talking to all their aides. But I talked to the aides with the respect I would give their bosses. I shared passionately and made sure to connect with them on a level that tied them into our educational system.

I would hesitate a moment each time right before we started talking; but this also happens to me right before any training I lead.

I definitely am better informed. I definitely shared with passion about what the issues were. And I feel I did so without animosity toward political side or past history of the reps. I felt I was teaching today. Sharing what the issues were and how HB6/SB6 would allow us to alter education to be more 21st century learning.

Again, thank you TCEA for this opportunity! It was a great 2-day step to get me to be more motivated and encouraged by our political system when there is so much frustration out there about it. It was also a great time to thank people who also have thankless jobs.

Category Campus Technology | 1 Comment » | Tagged advocacy, campaign, government, HB6, politics, SB6, TCEA, Texas, Texas Computer Education Association

Social Adjustment to SxSWi

March 15, 2011 by techxas

I came to this conference with one idea of what I was expecting and found it to be something completely different. I was expecting to find creative people sharing creative methods for creating print and video media.

But that wasn’t what this conference was about. I did manage to get some good ideas off print media and to see some pop-culture reference media for future ideas. Don’t get me wrong, I did manage to get some things that I was hoping to find. But I found something more engaging in the themes and conversations taking place in all the sessions as well as the hallways. Conversations on Twitter and in blogging areas that I wasn’t expecting.

So what is going on with the conversations at SxSW? What do I hear while I am in this eclectic world of mass creativity, communication, social media and emerging technology?

This conference is having the same philosophical conversation that is taking place now in Journalism and Education! The conversation is that we need to change what we are doing or we won’t be doing what we are doing anymore. The conversation also centers on people wanting recognition for the work they do and the freedom to be creative in their work environments.

I hear conversations between creative types and other creative types. I am hearing conversations between manager and other managers. I am also hearing conversations between venture capitalists who are here trying to recruit creative types to come work in their new companies.

Now those are some interesting conversations!! Recruitment conversations!

The conversations here at SxSW are different in these groups as most of the attendees are in their early twenties propagating themselves as non-corporate artists now working for corporations. They start off bragging about what they do each day but then it turns into how awful it is because of the restrictions in their field! (Sound familiar?!?)

And while emerging technology seems to be a focus here, the technology shared is almost “old”. Google is showcasing Blogger in the exhibit hall along with Sketchup. I went to a session on improving my video skills and was shown UStream and Flip cameras.

Conversations in the various “blogging cafes” reference new media, music, and pop culture references. The various TVs around these areas showcase social media tools reaching out to make social change but there is hardly any connection to the current news media about the events taking place in Japan.

Everywhere you look – on any table, taped to columns, flying on screens, or in the various print media journals available for free to pick up – are hip designs about new companies looking to hire creative talent. They offer flexible hours, work from home, gaming areas in offices, new technology and access to creative software, and often have pictures of disheveled “kids” having fun in their workspaces.

Working in corporate America is fun and flexible! And yes, corporate America wants your creativity and cynicism because their offices breed this type of creativity and cynicism.

But then the sessions are about the changing media and policies. The speakers are trying to change the system. They want freedom to be more creative. They want to work in a system that rewards people for what they create and protects their work. The innovative keynoters philosophize about how they see the future in the next few years and the audience gobbles it up, tweets it and applauds.

The conversation in the hallways and in the backchannels is full of retweets (which I now consider to be this generation’s version of the church “Amen”). And people are talking about the talk that they wish was part of their walk and the walk of the restrictive corporation mentality around them.

The journalism sessions are full of conversations about how media and social networking is changing the way journalism functions. They are in the midst of hearing how if they continue to do things the way they have been doing for decades, they will die. If they do not “geek-up”, they will not connect to their audience and they will not have a future.

I see all of this and I listen to these conversations and I really see no difference between this conference and our educational technology conferences. The underlying philosophy between both is that we need to change what we are doing or we will be dead in the water. We are all fighting for the freedom to be more creative in entities that want stringent policies and standards.

We want to protect what we do and create in our classrooms and we also want recognition for the work we put into learning. We want more flexible schedules and days to be more creative. Because we know that creativity in the classroom is where learning really takes place and not in drill and kill.

While we may not have venture capitalists looking to hire us and offer us the world on a silver platter; we do have quality teachers who leave education to be curriculum writers for the software and textbooks we use because they get tired of the education system and the other system seems a little more promising.

But where i think our ed tech conferences can improve is in providing more spaces for creative conversation. On each level of the conference center, there are multiple areas setup for free access to spaces for conversation. There is even a Lego station where tables are covered in Legos. What a place to draw people into talking?!?

And this conference knows that the converstations take place in the hallways. So they put ALL the registration and information areas in the exhibit halls. They open the hallways up and provide seating areas for people to have conversations. Sponsors are setup in specific blogging areas and press rooms. Their flyers, cards, posters and stickers are everywhere.

The conversations are engaging. People are really interested in learning about what each other does and reaching out on social issues. I am finding that the conversations here are a lot more inspiring and it may be because of the youthfulness of the audience. It may be because of the hope they have in their own ability to make change.

Maybe we need more of this youthful spirit in our ed tech conferences and conversations as well. It is missed!

Category Campus Technology | 2 Comments » | Tagged conversation, cosn, design, edtech, instruction, NECC, outreach, sessions, social issues, speech, sxsw, sxswii, sxsw_edu, TCEA, Twitter

Toss the Projector!

March 14, 2011 by techxas

I attended a session yesterday called “Toss the Projector: Redefining the Presenter/Audience Dynamic” by Christopher Fahey (Behavior Design) and Timothy Meaney (Arc90)

In their presentation, they introduced the audience to “back channeling” where the audience participated in the conversation while the presentation took place. They used a web app called Donahue that they developed to embed the presentation into a side-Twitter conversation window. I will post the weblink later.

The main theme of their presentation was that “conferences are broken”.

“Audiences find hallway more interesting than the sessions. More interesting conversation takes place in hallways.”

Why are speakers and audiences becoming disconnected?

One reason is because “The technology of public speaking has not kept up with the technology of every day life.”

But technology isn’t helping us speak or present better. The presenters noted that there really is no substitute for traditional speaking skills.

Find ways to empower the audience and not shut them down.

Godin – Most presentations are horrible because the person is not saying what they want to say. They aren’t being honest.

Rules for presenters:

First rule is to completely believe what you say.
Second Rule is to connect with the audience and empower them.

Know that all good ideas are really conversations

The past presentations were to broadcast information. Where the speaker was the holder of information.

The speakers noted that even the future of publishing media will not be broadcasting. It will be a two-way conversation.

“Our insatiable desire to communicate, that is the history of technology.”

Michael Dila @michaeldila said “TED is all talk. The importance of text to speech to innovation.”

Paul Ford – The Web is a Customer Service Medium @ftrain

Godin – If your main goal for a talk is to start a meme, then you need to cancel it.

@kissane – Content is expensive. Inspires readability

The standard presentation format will slow down your meme or even kill it.

The presenters then gave a really interesting history of the Bullet Point in presentations:

Bullet points were invented in 1956 by Arnold “Korky” Kaulakis and they were originally called Korky Dots. He had his secretaries put a 0 at each line but Korky would color them in.

Later, he had IBM build a special character on the typewriters because the dots were not a standard font found on the typesets he ordered.

We need new ways to overcome today’s presentation problems.

Are speakers losing a war against distraction?

Speakers are well armed – projector, computer, microphone, speakers, etc.

Audiences need to be better armed, not speakers. Audiences need to be given the power they expect to succeed.

Attention – cognitive process of selectively concentrating

Humans have a roughly ten minute span before a precipitous drop off in attention begins.

It is only considered multitasking if you are doing something totally unrelated.

From the book “The Brain Rules” – author?
1. Emotions get attention.
2. Begin with key ideas and meanings before digging into the details.
3. The brain cannot multitask.
4. The brain needs a break.
5. People need to react to interesting things.

We are becoming cyborgs. We are expecting to be able to reach out and connect to a world beyond our human connection.

Audiences should be able to register questions at any time and the speakers should be able to choose the best questions to answer.

Most conference sessions are not rocket-science. Information is not mission critical. So the concept of “undivided attention” is lost on audiences.

Wonderful possibilities if you thought the person next to you wasn’t a complete dolt but someone to engage in relevant and interesting conversation – Jeff Jarvis

Everything is viral!

There is no audience anymore. Everyone is a participant!

Twitter is not the problem. Twitter is a conversation.

Conferences are a social agreement among a group of people to PAY ATTENTION TOGETHER.

and an agreement to THINK ABOUT IDEAS TOGETHER

and a place to TALK ABOUT IDEAS

Start a Meme
reduces friction between sharing thoughts to the audience;

Your audience is the medium for your meme.

interaction design

Focus on points and ideas, not bullets

Make your points portable and they may just travel.

You all in front of us are only a subset of the audience – potential audience based on the spread of the meme.

Thanks for participating!

#tosstheprojector

Category Campus Technology | No Comments » | Tagged audience, brain rules, interactive sxsw, meme, present, presentations, sxsw, sxswi

Space at SxSW

March 12, 2011 by techxas

I am sitting in the Samsung Blogger’s Cafe at SxSW Interactive in the Austin Convention Center. As an edublogger and someone familiar with educational blogging spaces, this is best described as different.

And I did come here to see how a non-education based conference is designed and run. I planned to watch how rooms were designed and to note the learning and collaborative spaces here during this conference. I am sharing these notes with TCEA and with other space-changing entities.

I am surrounded by the usual groups of laptop users posting their comments and blogs; but that’s the only similarity. I am in a room with a live band singing about the “Wonder f$%ing Drug” with full on expletive every now and then. This is after they played some Beatles music.

There is a popcorn machine, Samsung products around the room including flat panels and a nice Samsung dual freezer. Oh and the cash bar on the side is nice to serve beer and wine to the bloggers here.

Cool place. I don’t know how this atmosphere would work with TCEA but it is nice for me. I like the music in the background and people keep stopping by to comment on my Save Our Schools t-shirt and my iPad cover.

As for the breakout sessions, rooms are designed for creative-types. Furniture is pushed around to the edges of the walls with speakers sitting as part of the audience in groups. Couches and bright furniture in many rooms that have paneling on walls with shelves to make it look like a living space. Mood lighting in all rooms and there is even a Tron cafe that mimics the movie for those who may not like the bright spring weather in Austin this week.

I did sit through a 15-minute panel discussion on Diversity When Planning a Conference. I thought it would be about creative planning strategies and diverse content. Nope. It was about not turning your conference into an oppressive one. Oh, and the part I was interested in was just 15 minutes.

But the thing about these panel areas is they have the room setup for 12 people at the front of the room where the screens are. They setup and then each group of 3 is given 15 minutes to share about their topic. It then rotates to the next 3 and then the next 3 but there is no break except when all 12 have gone and the next 12 come in.

VERY Fast setups and takedowns. Seriously! And no, the topics don’t match each other. They don’t have a similar thread. It is literally a different topic each time. I felt like I sat through a Rubic’s cube solving turn. But it was interesting in how they set that up.

Oh! There’s a Rock Band setup in here too. Gotta run!

Category Campus Technology | No Comments » | Tagged creativity, education, innovation, interactive sxswi, spaces, sxsw, TCEA

Continued SxSWi Planning

March 10, 2011 by techxas

The previous post was only for Saturday and Sunday! I have two more days!!!

Monday – March 14