The keynote speaker for the HECC Conference 2012 in Indianapolis, IN was Milton Chen, Ph.D., senior fellow for the George Lucas Educational Foundation.
Dr. Chen talked about his learning journey, his work on Sesame Street, and the details of his website: Edutopia.org. At Eutopia.org you can find educational films, resouces for teachers, and over 150 documentaries that integrate students in the production of these films.
The keynote speaker also explained some of the educational problems in U.S. such as the drop out rates in schools and the students’ reading levels. In order to overcome some of these challenges, informal learning (after school programs, museums, field trips, etc.) should be integrated with technology. In addition, learning should be at “any time, any place, any path and any pace”.
Dr. Chen preaches 6 leading edges of innovation, which are the following:
1. Changing our thinking
We need to change the way we view education by changing our vocabulary and our thinking about new roles.
2. Curriculum and assesment
We also need to change the curriculum. Instead on focusing on textbooks, we need to focus on project based learning, integrate social/emotional learning, and a global and bilingual curriculum.
3. Technology
4. Time/place
5. Co-teaching
6. Youth
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