ISTE 2010

I am currently in Denver attending one of the largest conferences in the world around technology in education. On Saturday I attended a half day session run by Google certified teachers on "administering and managing google apps for your domain". I wrote pages of notes and even sent an urgent text message at one point back to the MGGS I.T. Manager that this was the way of the future.

The Blue Bear at the Denver Convention Centre

Today, Sunday was the official conference opening and the keynote speaker was Jean-François Rischard, the former vice-president of the World Bank and the author ofHigh Noon, a 2002 best-selling book discussing non-geopolitical alternatives for solving the world's largest problems. Since leaving the World Bank in 2005, Rischard has been lecturing and working with myriad global agencies to support his premise. With a primary focus on how the power of technology and student action can be harnessed to help society develop better methodology for global problem-solving, his work has given traction and inspiration to curriculum worldwide.

"We indeed need two things on this beleaguered planet: 1) a new methodology for global problem-solving, that is, one that will help us navigate the very challenging decades ahead, and 2) a new mindset in the next generation...one rooted in a strong sense of being foremost a global citizen. With the global credit crisis not yet over, society still has more than 20 burning global problems on our hands that must get resolved within the next 20 years, if we are to avoid the massive and adverse planetary consequences many of them bring in their tow."

From this session I walked away with many ideas, not only to expose our students to global issues but also discuss how they can play a role and work towards solutions.

After this I met up with fellow educators from Australia, Jamieson Kane, from Scotch College who had a stand showcasing some of his students digital storytelling projects, Rob a Physics & I.T. teacher from Scotch College, Tony Crehan from the Independent Schools of Tasmania and Rebecca O’Brien from Cisco in Melbourne.

From tomorrow through to Wednesday I have sessions starting at 8.30am each day through to 7pm in the evening so I will continue to update this blog with my notes along the way.