1. Introduction
   1. My Challenge
      1. You may know that I do a lot of public speaking
      2. And some of you in the audience may have heard me speak before
      3. So I have been struggling to find something to talk about that you have probably not heard
   2. And I have finally settled on three subjects
      1. To suggest some insights about our times, especially within the context of education
      2. I want to tell three stories -- about
         1. The stock market
         2. Pizzas
         3. Possibilities
            1. The Middle Ages
            2. An Irritating Silence
         4. Images
2. Story 1
   1. 1981
      1. Graphic of "1984"
   2. Dr. Funderburks Prescriptive & Diagnostic Reading Class @ Wingate College
   3. Funderburk meets us at the learning clinic he runs
      1. We tour the clinic
         1. Various diagnostic Instruments
         2. Various Learning Programs
      2. When he adjourns the tour I ask about the Radio Shack computer I see.
         1. TRS-80
         2. Sits me down
         3. Starts up computer
         4. Loads Math Program
         5. I am aghast, a machine that you operate by communicating with it
   4. At the beginning of the next year, my School gets 11 Radio Shack (TRS-80) model III computers
      1. Not a single teacher wants one.
         1. I get all 11 of them
      2. No Software
         1. We didn't understand computers
         2. No computer literacy
      3. I teach myself to program the computers
   5. One of my first programs -- Stock Baron
      1. Description of Stock Baron
      2. The Stock barons start making millions of dollars
         1. I don't know how
         2. They won't tell me
      3. Finally one student explains it to me
         1. They found a bug
         2. They can sell more stock than they own
         3. I'm fairly sure none of them work for Goldman Sack
   6. I re-write some of the code for Stock Baron over night
      1. Pearson Duvall Plays the game
      2. Pearson Duvall gets played
   7. I learn that what's special about this computer
      1. Is not that they are machines you operate by communicating with them.
      2. But that they are machines through which we will communicate with each other in brand new and powerful ways
   8. Learner Connection
      1. Graphic "Connection"
3. Story 2
   1. 1990
      1. Graphic of "1990"
   2. Working at the State Department of Education
      1. I get my first account on the Internet
   3. Internet in 1990
      1. Not Graphical
      2. Command Line
         1. Like DOS
      3. Moving around from computer to computer access to files from all over
   4. Mailing List Message
      1. Learn about IRC (Internet Relay Chat)
         1. Compared it to CB Radio
         2. Precursor to:
            1. IM
            2. Texting
            3. Twitter
   5. I connect to the Internet that night and login to the IRC Server at NCSU
      1. NCSU is right up the road
      2. Top Computer Engineering school in the state
   6. I Connect that night
      1. I see channels
      2. Today, they might be called Chat Rooms
      3. I choose Channel D / 4 participants
         1. Participants are Computer Science Students
         2. Talking about major exam
            1. Not being very polite about it
         3. I break in after some time just lurking
            1. I introduce myself
            2. They fake an interest
            3. I ask,
            4. "What do you think 5th graders might do with this sort of access to the Internet?"
            5. followed by a Long Cyber Pause
            6. Then the juices start flowing
            7. They could go here and get the manifests of upcoming shuttle flights
            8. They could "finger" this server and get latest earthquakes
            9. They could go here and do this with it
            10. Starting get excited
            11. You can tell when nerds are getting excited...
         4. Someone suggests we get together and talk about it
         5. I say sure, where?
            1. Pizza joint
            2. Graphic of Pizzeria
            3. I don't recognize it
            4. Gave me address
            5. I'm new, I don't recognize it (before Google Maps)
            6. Where are you guys anyway?
            7. We're in Reykjavik, Iceland
            8. Graphic of Iseland
            9. I'll have to take a rain check
   7. Two weeks latter, I'm thinking about it
      1. What's important is not that I was talking to people a quarter of a planet away -- for free
      2. What's important is that talked with them for forty minutes before I knew that they were free.
   8. Without Boundaries
      1. Graphic "Without Boundaries"
4. Story 3
   1. Possibility 1
      1. 1997
      2. I'm a consultant for ThinkQuest
         1. Describe ThinkQuest
      3. 1997 ThinkQuest Event
         1. Washington DC
         2. Event Showcase
         3. I learn about ICQ
            1. What IRC evolves into
            2. to become IM
            3. Texting
            4. Twitter
      4. End of the Showcase
         1. I see one boy at a booth
         2. Middle Ages
            1. I was a history teacher
            2. Going to show this kid something
         3. He impresses me
            1. He blows me away...
         4. Our exchange
            1. How old are you?
            2. 15
            3. Where did you learn this stuff?
            4. College Professors
            5. How old are you?
            6. 15
            7. How did you learn this from college professors?
            8. Here's How
            9. When we needed to learn something
            10. We found a college course that probably taught it
            11. Found the email address of the professor
            12. Emailed the professor with our question
            13. Trick
            14. Never said we're 15
            15. Said we're Graduate Assistants
            16. Don't know what GAs are but it worked
      5. I walk away (crest-fallen)
      6. Boy's teacher catches up with me
         1. That boy you were talking to
            1. Is not a successful student
            2. Been at risk of failing
            3. He's blossomed as a result of this project
            4. He's showed us talents we didn't know he had
            5. creativity (resourcefulness)
            6. Leadership
      7. What he's learned here is probably as important, if not more important, than what his classmates are learning who are making good grades
      8. He's learned to make himself an expert
         1. He's learned to resourcefully teach himself
         2. What he needs to know
         3. To do what he needs to do
         4. He'll carry that with him the rest of his life
      9. It's about the Learning
   2. Possibility 2
      1. 2007
         1. Graphic of "2007"
      2. I've been presenting at a state conference for school librarians
         1. The main topic is Web 2.0
      3. I librarian tells me about her daughter who's a senior
      4. She Choosing a university to attend next year
      5. She's going over the promotional materials provided by the schools
      6. But also utilizing social content
         1. Method
            1. Finds Facebook group for the college
            2. Joins the group
            3. Reads comments posted by members
            4. Current Students
            5. Alum
         2. One School doesn't have a group
            1. She's interested in this liberal arts college
            2. But there's no conversation to learn from
            3. A huge gap in the information she is using to make a very important decision
         3. New Method
            1. She creates a group for the college
            2. Goes away
            3. Three days later there are 120 members of the group
            4. Current students
            5. Alum
            6. She poses questions about the school, which members of the group answer
      7. The girl is playing a learning game
         1. Not the game of..
            1. Paying attention
            2. Following directions
            3. Memorizing
            4. Showing what you remember
         2. But resourcefully (creatively) gaming...
            1. a new information environment
            2. and it's behaviors
            3. To learn what you need to know
      8. Learner Control
         1. Graphic for "Control"
5. Conclusion
   1. I hope that these stories have been entertaining
   2. But more important than that, I want to double-click on my point in telling them
   3. That today, entering the second decade of the 21st century -- we are...
      1. Playing
      2. Working
      3. Learning
      4. in a new place
         1. Learning is becoming a contact sport
            1. Between the learner & the world they're learning about
            2. Free from the boundaries that defined industrial education
            3. empowered by a newly manipulative medium
            4. The Conversations of the Planet