Welcome

This won’t come as a surprise to anyone who has been in a classroom recently – but a recent survey of college students found that 40% cannot go more than 10 minutes without using some sort of digital technology and 67% cannot go more than an hour.  In a world where the gear and gadgets you have matter so much that you can’t go without – we’ve got to make sure we are moving towards classroom policies and lessons that embrace and leverage the bring your own device (BYOT) culture. Of course, as with any cultural shift, we should consider all the pros and cons of this level of tech adoption. One example in particular is setting the groundwork for safe and productive use.  Last month the New York City Public School system laid out their digital rules for teachers.

As you may have seen here and here, we’ve been teasing you about June 7, 2012 being your lucky day. If you’re following our social channels (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Slideshare, and Flickr) or reading this blog post you’re one click closer. Starting today – June 7 at 10am ET through June 8, 8:30pm ET – you get one more chance to register for BbWorld at a reduced rate. We’re calling it Lucky 7. We’ve lowered the registration rate to $777 (and $477 for K-12 folks) for 48 hours only. To get lucky with this rate, copy this promo code BW2012777 (or BW2012477) and click on over to the registration page to activate. You may be wondering why you should follow us on social media to get discount info. Well, social media and access to others through technology is growing. It is fast, convenient, and it allows for everyone to stay connected and become informed. Which brings me to my next point about social learning. The main idea of social learning is collaboration between parties. In order to learn more, you need to communicate more… and BbWorld is the best opportunity of the year to do that!

Anyone who has ever sat in a classroom is familiar with the quiet student who sits in the back and rarely speaks up.   Depending on the class, I probably fit that profile at times.  Introverts, or those who tend to shy away from classroom interaction, can pose a unique challenge for educators trying to build a more interactive classroom.   As our curricula shift to embrace an active learning philosophy, how can we best accommodate the introvert? While we might not see any studies on the impact of technology on the life of the introverted student any time soon – there are characteristics inherent to these quiet learners that can be leveraged through technology.

One thing is for certain – today’s students are adopting new technologies at a faster rate than ever before. The demand for these new technologies shows no signs of decreasing. So, how do you meet the ever-evolving needs of today’s students, as well as the faculty and administrators that support them? This question led us to select Technology Adoption as a key theme of BbWorld 2012. It is also the reason I encourage you to make attending BbWorld a priority for this year. As a former educator, I know how important it is for you to stay up to date on how your peers are leveraging new technologies on their campuses in addition to the strategies used to successfully encourage their use. So, in the words of jazz great Wynton Marsalis, “See you N’Awlins, ya’ll!” TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION: Top 5 Session Playlist

Picture this: a group of students sitting in a classroom with mobile devices in their hands and a teacher overseeing them with a similar mobile device in their hands. What are your first thoughts about the teacher overseeing their activities? If your initial impression of this situation isn’t positive – you aren’t alone. The movement from the wholesale banning of mobile devices and technology in the classroom to their adoption as best practice in the classroom is happening fast and is still new enough that misconceptions linger. Whether it is embodied in the prevalent fear that mobile media encourages distraction or just a suspicion that it’s a way for teachers to shirk off their responsibilities – the shift to a pro-mobile learning mindset is far from complete.