It’s hard to believe the chatter about #beyondlaptops continues. For those of you involved in the conversations, you know how intense and hopefully fruitful it has all been. I hope that, like me, you have been challenged and pushed and forced to think, defend and articulate your ideas. More importantly, however, I hope we can agree it is time to move on. Time to look at the now what. Or like Adrienne said,
Sitting and talking and planning and sharing is great, but what comes next?
I have been hoping to clarify some of my ideas all week, and so here I am to do it. Before I begin, I have three disclaimers:
- This post and the ideas it is proposing is not meant to be a debate about the merits of said idea. If you feel that what I am about to propose would not be useful for your school, then please simply ignore it. I see no need to re-hash this conversation. If however, you would like to get involved and help shape what it can become, then by all means please push, pull, criticize and help make it what we all want/need it to be.
- I am moving to a new school and my role as educational technologist and decision maker will be greatly diminished. I am not even sure that I will be able to implement any of the ideas I am about to propose. I have yet to speak to my new team. (New team: if you are reading this, please don’t feel the need to comment now, just use this idea as a starting point for conversations next year.) I have a very faint idea of what is on the ground at my new school. I could show up and realize that nothing I am about to say is relevant or even possible. Having said that, I’ve never found relevancy or possibility important enough obstacles to impede the dreaming and brainstorming stage.
- Most of what I am proposing is for international schools in Asia, I hope that others will benefit from our conversations, but in order for it to work, we really need to have a small group of schools from similar backgrounds and working with the same sort of students. Perhaps this idea will be useful in a framework that mirrors your own and you can follow the process.
Okay, enough stalling. Let’s get to it.
I am proposing an Alliance–an agreement or friendship between two or more parties, made in order to advance common goals and to secure common interests. I am hoping we can create a confederation of international schools in Asia to share ideas, create shared resources and develop a broad understanding of what it means to use technology in existing 1:1 environments. These ideas, resources and understandings will be co-created and shared under an umbrella for all members to use, adapt or modify for their own individual schools.
Nuts and Bolts:
What can this look like? Where would it happen? Kim has suggest that we make the Beyond Laptops blog collaborative. I think this is a great idea and fine starting point, but I was thinking a bit more in terms of wider use of tools under the “Brand” of whatever we call this thing. (Thanks to Kim for offering the blog, but because of the sensitive nature of previous conversations, I am not presuming to use the #beyondlaptops tag) I would love to keep going with #beyondlaptops or #waybeyondlaptops, which has risen to the top of the dialogue, but the name is unimportant right now, what is important that there is a name to our alliance and our work is tagged and curated accordingly.
Perhaps we have:
- A shared Google collection where a variety of (group created) documents, that are in progress, can be shared and stored.
- A Google site or Wiki to keep track of completed documents, presentations, and other useful resources
- A blog, like Kim suggested, for reflection on the process and discussion
Let’s stop for an example:
Many of the people I regularly speak to are blogging at their schools. Some are using blogs as ePortflios, some are using them to help build community, others to create authentic audiences for their young writers. Different schools use blogs for different reasons, but there is a core understanding that blogs– should do something. We have a shared understanding of what a “good” blog should include. I am suggesting that rather than individually create these understandings, scope and sequences and rubrics of an effective blog, we create them under the banner of this alliance.
We have causally done this sort of collaboration, in the past, with disparate Google Docs, (remember the Blog Alliance) but why not have a K-12 blogging scope and sequence, complete with permission slips, rubrics, expectations etc… in a shared collection, on a wiki or a site for all of us to use. We create it together. Set up action plans and timelines. Delegate responsibilities and timelines and build it. These resources need not be one-size-fits-all. If an adjustment needs to be made for an individual school, then so be it.
The blog is just one example. I am sure we can brainstorm several other common goals and interests, that would be fertile ground for collaboration. We share many common goals and interests, and by sharing what they are, we can help each other create something, someplace, useful. Some other ideas:
- Digital Citizenship materials*
- Professional Development materials
- Community building and Cultural materials
* materials can include: documentation, posters, scope and sequence, standards, criteria, letters, rubrics, media, presentations etc…
As I mentioned earlier, I am not even sure if I can be involved with something like this at my new school. I need to get on the ground and get a lay for the land, but I have had too many casual conversations about something just like this at every conference I have ever attend. I think there are a core group of schools that could benefit from an alliance.
If you are interested, please leave a comment on this post or email me directly. I will compile a list of people who are interested and get back to you next year. Perhaps Learning 2.012 will be a good time and place to sit and layout a framework. We can consider Brady’s model or work out a different one. Maybe this is still too vague for you and you will wait till something more substantial is in place. Fair enough. Just, think about it over the summer, and let’s regroup next fall. Maybe you simply feel this is not for you or your school. Fair enough. This is my pitch, if you are interested, please get in touch.
Fantastic concept. This reminds me of what the e-toolbelt is in place to do: connect and reflect for better education. E-count me in.
PS what about #thiscomesnext ?
I’m sure I can speak for everyone in Ed Tech at KIS when I say we are in on this concept. It is time to stop working in isolation; a classroom can be isolated, but an entire school can be, too. Time to move in the direction of sharing and growing together — the regional level is a great way to start that movement.
Cheer,
Tim
We are in (speaking for the UWCSEA team). I think you’ll be happy here with the things you can do and the weight your ideas will carry, but everything must begin and end with student learning.
I like the idea of an alliance.
Yes, and…
Another option to consider:
We have something exciting and well-aligned with your proposal planned for Learning 2.012. We intend to articulate and create an “ingredients list” for the emerging ed-tech ideas in our region. I imagine topics like mobile learning, personalized learning, digital citizenship and others will materialize from the conversations.
(I’m not sure that we will be looking for the same kinds of topics or not… how far ahead of the pack are we running? is an important question to consider here.)
Participants in Learning 2 will be encouraged to take one or more of these ideas back with them and begin action research projects in their own schools. The progress and outcome of these projects will be shared back and we’ll use social media tools comment, vote on, and shape these projects as they happen.
In the end, we should have a variety of action research projects from all types of schools, implemented in various grade levels and contexts.
We could publish “the best” examples each year as a kind of report.
Does this sound interesting?
Register for http://www.learning2.asia
So glad to hear it. Maybe we can start talking a bit in May when I come up.
You can count Singapore American School in as well. Most of our Ed Tech team here is new within the last two years. We have been wondering why (and how!) our schools have worked in isolation for so long. It’s time for that to change.
Attending #beyondlaptops reaffirmed that we are privileged here in Asia to have such a concentration of rock stars in our field. Building “The Alliance” can not only serve our own individual and collective interests, it will also be a model to our colleagues on the power of connection and collaboration.
Since many of us attend the same conferences, workshops and tweetups these can be our opportunities to check back in and connect in analog mode as well. Learning2 can be an extension of the momentum that has been building up since Yokohama. Is the perfect storm brewing?
I agree with Tim: it’s time to stop working in isolation. And in truth, none of us are really working in isolation; we just feel isolated at times because we are lacking a unified direction.
I love the idea that Learning 2.0 could act as one of the ways to showcase many of these ideas. This concept seems to fit right in with the underlying theme of the conference: learning, changing, leading.
I’m in.
We are in at the American Embassy School, New Delhi (AES). We can’t do this alone. Half the time I feel as if I am re-inventing a wheel that someone else has already created. This is exactly what I have been looking for; let’s start sharing and create things that are tangible and sustainable within our schools. I personally like the title #beyondlaptops because it is open ended. It moves the conversation well beyond the tools to the real integration and seamlessness we are looking for to improve student learning.
Will you take us from the western edge of Asia? I am new to this sphere and having people willing to share their experience and listen to our new ideas / perspectives is a conversation I want to be a part of.
We’ve been making some very substantial changes in regards to tech at International School Manila (ISM), and would be excited to take part in some form of an alliance to continue such momentum while learning and sharing as a coalition.
As Jay noted, “Building “The Alliance” can not only serve our own individual and collective interests, it will also be a model to our colleagues on the power of connection and collaboration.”
This is key – we’re always striving to develop such at our various schools, but to actually model it across Asia would be a fantastic thing and bodes well for authentic implementation.
I’ve been quietly observing (stalking?) the conversations taking shape within the past week here; interesting dialogues and what seems to be a resulting positive fusion of thoughts and beliefs. If this passion for change and collaboration can stem newfound working relationships and ultimately the enhancement of student learning we’re all for it!
Hey Jabiz,
Definitely! Count me in also with Brandon. I like the movement this’ll be great. A collaboratorium if you will 🙂
Cheers
David
Since no other SWA-ites have commented i’m going to speak for everyone and say count us in
Together we are strong. I would like to be strong, count me in.
Wow. Great response. Okay, now my work is done. I am the ideas man. Someone make this happen!
I am joking of course (unless you want to take me seriously) because now begins the hard work of making this idea a reality.
The tricky part, which is already apparent, is how we will find a balance between our love and need of openness and inclusivity with developing a small tight group of teachers that can “get things done.”
A few people have already commented that they would like to observe or be involved. I think that we will make everything public and CC, but I suggest that the working parties remain open only to schools in Asia for reasons mentioned in the post.
We already have a pretty nice sized group of schools:
KIS
UWCSEA
SAS
UNIS
AES
ISM
SWA
and I know that NIST is very keen
We will wait to hear from YIS, but I think we are ready to go with what we have so far. Maybe a few more schools will show interest once we have something more tangible, but for now, we are at the starting gates and ready to go.
I suggest we take the summer to think about what we hope to gain and contribute with this Alliance. I will start by creating a mailing list, a few precursory documents etc…and hopefully we can begin early next school year, with a plan to meet in Beijing at Learning 2.012.
Any suggestion you have are more than welcome. You have seen the list of schools and commentators from above. We all know each other. We all talk all the time, so let’s the exisiting community to create something special.
Thanks guys. I am excited about this as I see you are!
Don’t think I’ll be at Learning 2.012, but I’m definitely in!!
Jabiz, I am going to be the dissenter again. I’ve been thinking about this and wondering why some part of it just doesn’t sit right with me. Please know that I support this idea in general, but I am uncomfortable with how it is being pitched.
I quite strongly feel that this alliance of whatever sort should be associated with #beyondlaptops because it grew out of discussions from that event and headspace. To label it otherwise is not giving credit where it is rightly due.
I suspect Kim would love for an “alliance” or whatever you want to call it to grow out of #beyondlaptops, or for it to be incorporated into Learning 2.012 and further. But please let’s start with where we’ve been. Let’s build on all the work we’ve done already, and stick with “brands” (I hate that term!) that people already know and trust. Can we do that? If so, then I’m more likely to bring AIS on board.
Note that I hesitated to post this because I’m somewhat worried that you’ll over-react and feel that I am picking on you. I’m not. I want us to work together. I think sharing and collaboration is important and there is definitely a need for something like this in our region. I just want to do it right. I don’t want to undermine Kim or undervalue all the great work that came from #beyondlaptops, and I strongly feel that the two ideas (the conference event and this new collaborative organization) need to be connected.
This.
No over-reaction. I appreciate your input. I totally agree with you and would love this to be an extension of #beyondlaptops. I was just being hypersensitive to the #beyondlaptops “brand” for lack of a better word. After the contentious discussion last time, I didn’t want it to feel like this alliance idea was hijacking the amazing work done by Kim and the people at YIS. I mentioned this in the post:
“Kim has suggest that we make the Beyond Laptops blog collaborative. I think this is a great idea and fine starting point, but I was thinking a bit more in terms of wider use of tools under the “Brand” of whatever we call this thing. (Thanks to Kim for offering the blog, but because of the sensitive nature of previous conversations, I am not presuming to use the #beyondlaptops tag)”
It is becoming clear that all of this, all of us –are connected and blurring the lines: #beyondlaptops, Leanring2.012, 21stHK, this alliance….they are all us! Again and again, that is why I think this working action group is necessary. To consolidated it all.
You are right, “…the conference event and this new collaborative organization need to be connected.
I have no idea where this will go. I do not want to take anymore leadership on this than I already have. This idea began from a chat I had with Will walking to The Green, one that we didn’t want to see die post conference. It is ours, all of ours- all the people who have commented above.
Let’s let it stew and brainstorm: names, tags, brands, organizational structures etc…Collaboration is not as easy as it sounds, that is why this project could be so powerful. We are literately modeling everything we preach theoretically.
I truly appreciate Jabiz continuing to press forward – and to do so as diplomatically as possible. I just wish he didn’t have to keep defending reasonable ideas. Apparently it’s hard to prove that one is not a
racist#beyondlaptops hater.I don’t I agree with Adrienne’s premise that this all started at #beyondlaptops. It has merely been the most recent vehicle for an ongoing and important discussion: have schools not chosen to collaborate together before? Have many of us repeatedly expressed (or secretly held) the desire to collaborate more closely with other like-minded schools? I for one know that the model that I outlined had been churning around in my head for about a year. I am thankful to the regional conferences, and especially #beyondlaptops, for giving me a community to share these ideas.
In short, Kim has facilitated great things in this region, but I am sure she would agree that we weren’t conscripted into cult membership by flying to Yokohama; she is not going take anyone to court for infringing upon her patent on “school collaboration in Asia”.
The fact that this even has to be argued is why I had not written publicly that I wanted to join an “Alliance.” Instead, I’ll publicly affirm the power of closer collaboration between schools, but keep the alliance building private. Alliances are about shared interests not club membership.
I can feel your frustration, but let’s keep it “diplomatic” and positive. We are all in general agreement and want to head in a very similar direction. The question is how? I agree these conversations have been ongoing, but it feels like perhaps we are at some kind of tipping point. The intensity of our conversations have to be from something right?
Everyone take a breath. It’s all good.
Brady, you may have felt this way before, but it wasn’t explicitly expressed by so many until we all returned from Yokohama. I doubt this was a coincidence. I was in no way suggesting “cult membership” so please don’t jump to that conclusion. No such words were in my post.
Are kindergarten teachers invited to this party?
Sounds like there is a possibility of things taking shape here! I’m very interested to be involved. I think focusing on a product is key. Most of us are working within a educational “model” or “framework” that has not changed much despite some advances in the way we use technology in our classrooms. I think the frustrations some of us feel arise from being constrained by this model. The problem is, the current model works well enough to get kids into college and in the end (like it or not) that’s a pretty big part of what we do. We’ve all heard the old adage “If it aint broke don’t fix it”. Well it is clear to me that there are some amazing and talented people who are eager to work together to improve or possibly completely re-model the framework we work within. (or at least give it a try!)
I think it was Dana who mentioned something earlier about getting to work and showing what is possible. The proof is in the pudding as they say. We all have the opportunity to promote what we believe in by doing it in our classroom and documenting the successes and of course the failures.
One last thing and then I’ll stop yapping my gums. I mean no disrespect by this but I think many people are approaching things backward. When you start a new school you don’t begin with a 12th grade and work your way backwards. You start with the younger grades and work your way up. Why then is there so much focus on MS and HS?( My hunch is that’s the age group the people having the conversation work with.) Why not focus on the younger years where we quite possibly have the most flexibility. We have an opportunity to really shape the conversation early on when the “stakes” aren’t high. (My opinion) Please don’t take this to mean I don’t think everything that has been mentioned so far isn’t correct, valuable or worthwhile. I simply mean that focusing on the early years would allow us the opportunity to set the stage right from the get go. That’s my two cents. Now let’s get to work.
I’ve been doing my best to keep up with the conversation—while managing a particularly busy time at school—and then it happened. Came back to this post after a day or two, scrolled down past several comments, and saw the “alliance” had been formed. And we were not there. NIS had missed out…and would be left in the dust that is the Great Firewall for all eternity…
OK, a bit much, but you get my drift.
I think my gut response might get at Brady’s point—while we are all trying to move in a direction together, we should be building together as a community (which I think was the point all along). I know that it is not the intention of this group to be exclusive, but it could be seen that way if there is a public list of who is “in”. And that makes me really nervous for schools/individuals who view this as a really good (slightly nerdy) party to which they have not been invited.
Making an email list leading up to Beijing is good. Exclusivity is not. Going back to the UN analogy, can we not accept anyone who can make a positive contribution? And from there, form smaller groups to do serious work based on commonalities (a la the Brady model)?
I agree with Adrienne on the name—while Kim did not start the conversation, she coalesced it. So why not keep it as #beyondlaptops? Besides, it’s catchy. And the hashtag already has some traction.
Tim you make some great points, and ones I honestly do not have answers to. Yes, this should be open, but how many cooks in the kitchen before nothing gets done? If the goal is to have small manageable doable action items that result in resource and materials, then it will be tricky if there are too many voices. It sounds terrible, I know, but what else can we say.
This is a great lesson in workable collaboration models and democracy. This is what we tell kids and doubters is possible, now we will see if it is. We have the brains, we have the passion, we have the tools…..so what else?
I did not mean to publicly make a list and say in or out. This is not up to me. Just last week, I felt I was crazy and no one was even interested. I just made the list to show that as of now, we can start. There are enough schools to begin. Who else joins and in what fashion needs to be determined. I have no idea how.
I do know that if we have too many voices we will get lost in spinning your, wordsmithing, arguing and nothing will get done. Perhaps we start smaller and once something is in place we move forward. As of now, I am just gathering names and interest, so no-one is missing out on anything. Perhaps I was a bit over zealous “publishing” a list.
I’ve been watching this unfold since the first post after #beyondlaptops with interest. It’s usually good to see colleagues engaging one way or the other.
I’m saying “usually” because I honestly feel that this discussion and the amount of blog posts and comments around it have now gone #beyondlaptops, gone #waybeyondlaptops, gone #waywaybeyondlaptops and now sits squarely in the realm of the unknown.
I really have no idea what you are all on about anymore…and (respectfully) I’m not convinced many of you do either. I can’t help think this has totally lost track of the starting and ending points (student learning) and I can’t be the only one who feels this conversation needs a real rest.
Seriously…it needs to end…at least for a while.
This whole thing brings to mind Mugatu in the scene from Zoolander:
http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq9dgjqZjg1qg88mco1_500.gif
Everyone in this conversation is a passionate educator…BUT passion needs productive outlets.
This ain’t it. At least IMHO.
r.
I respect you candor and humor, Rob, and you are right we are in the realm of the unknown and this is good.
What we want:
A shared Google collection where a variety of (group created) documents, that are in progress, can be shared and stored.
A Google site or Wiki to keep track of completed documents, presentations, and other useful resources
A blog, like Kim suggested, for reflection on the process and discussion
In order to create:
Digital Citizenship materials*
Professional Development materials
Community building and Cultural materials
* materials can include: documentation, posters, scope and sequence, standards, criteria, letters, rubrics, media, presentations etc…
That is a starting point.
I appreciate your need for a rest and totally agree and need one myself, but it is hard to hatch a idea have it take off a little, only to have someone tell you it is getting tiresome –and say nothing. I am trying to be Zen about all this, but I am only human.
I hoped this would not turn into a debate, but an invitation, alas here we are again.
Crazy pills!!!So so right. We push forward.
It’s great to see that #beyondlaptops participants want to keep collaborating, this really was the purpose of us getting together face-to-face. Here’s what we’ve been working on at YIS, looking forward to taking this conversation to the #nextlevel.
Perfect Kim. Thanks. Enough over-thinking. I love the wiki. I love that you just did it. Lesson learned. I left a comment and look forward to seeing where this goes.
Hey everyone,
Be sure to read Rebekah’s post and start to add your info to this wiki:
https://rebekahmadrid.wordpress.com/2012/05/06/a-simple-step-beyondlaptops/#comment-312
This could be a great way to take inventory of who we are and where we are headed.