This past weekend, I had a wonderful opportunity to lead a conversation/session at Educon 2.1. I had planned a 20-25 minute presentation to be followed by small-group and whole-group discussions. But, at the last minute, I decided to scrap the presentation part and let the folks in the room talk. At the wiki developed for the session, you can see the premise of the discussion. The conversations were really good, though we never really got beyond the first question.
Using my Tablet PC, I recorded some of the ideas that seemed to resonate with the folks in the room and that struck me as particularly interesting. Here are those ideas:
Additionally, one of the attendees was using Inspiration to document the conversation at her table. Here’s what she came up with:
I’d love to get your thoughts. Please comment here and/0r (if you really want to be 2.0ish) add your thoughts to the wiki.
Hey, Jon,
Tried to help you out here, but I can’t see what I’m supposed to respond to. I don’t see conversation. I certainly can’t see/read the Inspiration map, and can barely make out the fifteen words from your tablet. Together, they mean nothing to me.
And, the wiki has just a couple overly jargoned docs. Am I missing something? Did I do this wrong?
ed
Thanks for pointing out the problems, Ed. I’ve fixed the images so that they are “clickable” (click on them to enlarge).
Also, I should add a note about the two documents on the wiki. The ISSLC standards are the standards by which educational leadership programs are accredited. They are the “competencies” we are supposed to develop in our pre-service leaders. The NETS-A are the latest draft of ISTE’s standards for school leaders. Nobody is held to account on those. I handed out copies of those documents at the session so that those in attendance could refer to them as they had their discussions.
Nice work, Jon. I wish I could have been there although in hearing about so many people returning home ill, I’m thankful for my health.
Additionally, I’m very happy to see the traction you’ve gained in our community and am ashamed of the initial impressions I promulgated about you. I misjudged you greatly in the beginning and sincerely hope that you’ll accept my apology. You’ve turned into a valued friend and a very important member of my learning network.
A key (and often taken for granted) attribute of effective leaders is their ability to build relationships. Key components of this attribute are: vision, communication, team sense, and influence. All of which are addressed to varying degrees on the KSA map. It was the “digitally literate” bubble that caught my eye as building relationships in an virtual environment involves a series of skillsets that many leaders still need to (1) acquire, (2) use, and (3) assess the quality of the interactions.
Kudos to you for leading by example. So often presenters feel the need to totally control “their” time. I am sure an interactive session was enjoyed and meaningful by all of the participants.