The interesting thing about the Social Object is the not the object itself, but the conversations that happen around them-Hugh MacLeod, "More Thoughts on Social Objects," October 24, 2007
NECC 2008 is a social object. One only needs to use the #necc08 search tag on Twitter, Diigo, Flickr, Google to see what I mean. Social objects in and of themselves can be interesting, but I would agree here with Hugh and raise the ante: the only interesting thing about NECC as a social object is the conversations that are evolving around it. I would argue further it was the social objects within NECC--either formed or just hot ideas that could become social objects--that generated really interesting conversations and made the five days in San Antonio well spent.
Social Object #1 EduCon
The Great Disappointment at NECC 2008 was the loss of something that was gained at NECC 2007: a conversational structure and a sense of closeknit community. In 2007 Steve Hargadon led the efforts to convene Edublogger Con--an "un" conference--and the initiation of Blogger's Cafe. These venues created time, space, and ripe conditions for yearned-for f2f conversation, reflection, and community-building. It looked like this:
And this:
Alas, in 2008 EduBloggerCon's viral success meant the scale was different...
...and the conversation...well...let's just say "interrupted," not conversational, and definitely controversial:
Is it Hargadon's fault? Pearson's fault? ISTE's fault? I don't think it is Hargadon's, but I do think it reflects what can happen when organizations and grassroots efforts meet head on. Something gets lost if the grassroots efforts don't define clear goals but rather simply organize around the principles of "Here Comes Everybody."
And that's what I love about Chris Lehmann, Science Leadership Academy...and EduCon. They have clearly formed goals. You know, Lehmann and SLA could each be stand-alone social objects. The "buzz" about this school of his (if you've never visited, put it at the top of your list!) is spot-on and well-deserved. And Lehmann? Well, let's just say that in all my years in the corporate world and on the fringe of education I have never seen a guy so clear about where he is going, so amazingly articulate about what he thinks (even if he hasn't read the book), and so passionate about including others and really caring (see SLA Ethic of Care). (Besides which he isn't a bad dancer.) To get a feel for Lehmann's magic and the beauty of SLA and it's commitment to UbD check out his (and Marcie Hull's) outstanding presentation at NECC (Ewan's take here and preso wiki here). I was able to watch him in action for the first half, before leaving to support Will Richardson, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and their PLP model). Wish I could have stayed for it all.
Which brings me back to EduCon as a social object. Conversation happened last year at EduCon. Really interesting conversations about professional development, learning, conversational assessment and teacher 2.0, collaborative student writing, school 2.0. Not surprisingly, the home for EduCon is Lehmann's own SLA where every kid has the tools, but neither they nor you spend time thinking about the tools. Rather, we consider, weconverse, we reflect (there is built-in reflection time), and we go home loving our network even more, and loving ourselves and our students/schools enough to want everyone's (teachers and students) learning experiences to look more like this:
and this:
and this:
At the end of the day, the number one social object that I found at NECC, what was most talked about and sought after, was EduCon. It wasn't necessarily "present." It was yearned for. Much like last year's EduBloggerCon felt like conversation and community, EduCon delivers. It is what happens when the conditions are ripe for it to exist, which means clearly defined goals and community-size that is manageable.
What are those conditions? How do we "keep" EduCon? How do we scale and create other meaningful learning experiences such as this such that the social object doesn't get "talked down" but rather gets "talked up." (Funny how it takes me back to "The Tipping Point".) These are the questions I am pondering...I'd love to hear your thoughts.
With Compliments and Attributions To:
http://flickr.com/photos/teachandlearn/2223299569/
EduCon Reflection Session by TeachandLearn January 27, 2008 downloaded July 7, 2008
http://flickr.com/photos/elemenous/2619294811/
DSC_7068.JPG by elemenous June 28, 2008 and downloaded July 7, 2008
(NECC EduBloggerCon 2008)
http://flickr.com/photos/teachandlearn/2618819931/
Pearson at EdubloggerCon by TeachandLearn June 28, 2008 and downloaded July 7, 2008
http://flickr.com/photos/julielindsay/606759054/
Blogger_Group by Julie Lindsay June 23, 2007 and downloaded July 7, 2008
http://flickr.com/photos/snbeach/663597667/
DSC02442.JPG by snbeach June 29, 2007 and downloaded July 7, 2008
http://flickr.com/photos/23212871@N05/2223881076/
Educon 2.0 2008 Randy Baird 151 by www.randyabaird.com January 27, 2008 and downloaded July 7, 2008
http://flickr.com/photos/stager/2222079268/
Untitled by GStager January 26, 2008 and downloaded July 7, 2008
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