Gary Stager speaks, and it's well worth a listen.
I'm posting here with people who did not attend the recent Australian Computers in Education Conference - which I imagine will be most people reading this.If you didn't pick up on it on Twitter, I tried to broadcast as many of the presentations over my webcam as I could - with the kind permission of the presenters involved.
Gary Stager was not only enthusiastic about me broadcasting his talk, he was enthusiastic about me recording it too. I am delighted at the new culture of sharing, and delighted at the idea that you don't have to spend money and travel and a week's worth of time to get the benefits of a big national conference.
The highlight of any conference for me is meeting like minded educators, but at most conferences there is a talk or two I can really get my teeth into - in this case:
Stager's presentation was another major highlight for me. He is intelligent and he is sincere. If he is not exactly the epitome of gentle diplomacy, well, I don't really care.
I found his talk to be insightful in some very particular ways.
For one, he is insightful about the importance of 'expectations'. Our expectations of ourselves, and of our students.
For another, he is insightful about the importance of language. We create reality with our words, right? I appreciated his remarks about banal words like 'content'. It has been a New Year's Resolution for me to expand my vocabulary - not so much for how I speak but for how I think, because I think with terms that betray wrong assumptions.
Ok I will now shut up about the insights I found in Stager's talk. It comes very highly recommended. I am watching it back over and over!