First Full Day at the 21st Century Learning Conference HK 2009--

[seantm]

First day, so far so good, despite a few bumps --(cancellations) a lot of good dialogue, networking and some very informative sessions: one conspicuous shift I notice so far at this conference is greater focus on actual pedagogy --enhancing learning-- and how that may look as opposed to just tips, technique, and broadly stated 2.0 evangelism.... Which is refreshing... Other views? Please join the forum!

[Brian Smith]

I'm not at the conference but I'm following virtually from Stamford in the UK.

I'm interested in your comment. It's great to see that real pedagogy is being discussed.

I'm a great evangelist for Learning 2.0 and how the old Victorian model of education is out of date, despite being so beloved of governments and parents, (teach 'em. test 'em).

But what I (and most of us) lack is a vision of exactly what the new curriculum should look like and what is the pedagogy that will implement it for our children.

At present, schools sit kids down, deliver prescribed content to them (this really is the UK method right now), and then test them. The resulting numbers are then displayed and called "Standards".

Governments say, "look how standards have improved - vote for us".
Parents say, "Look how clever my child is."

The only people who suffer are the children whose education is increasingly unsuited to the modern, connected digital world.

So keep it up, all of you in Hong Kong. You are pioneering the new way and your work is vital.