TAIS Technology Institute with Ian Jukes

A stimulating day at Harpeth Hall . It's the 2006 Tennessee Association of Independent Schools' Technology Institute, New Visions for Teaching and Learning. I attended along with a number of other USN educators, including Mackey Luffman, Kathy Weiczerza, Penny Phillips, Mary Ann Lentz, Jake Wilson, David MacLean and Karen Knox. Our stalwart director, Vince Durnan, was also in attendance for some of the conference.

After a thought-provoking keynote address by educational curriculum maven Ian Jukes, I walked across the beautiful campus to a new lecture hall in order to sit in on another hour of Ian's dynamic infoshare, this one entitled "Understanding Digital Kids: Teaching and Learning in the New Digital Landscape." I slapped together a quick .wmv video (taken with a webcam, so it's a bit grainy, but "GE"--Good Enough. Firefox users right-click and "Open Link Target in IE") that briefly describes my impressions of Ian, who graciously granted permission for audio/video usage with the comment I love to hear, "Use whatever you want to use," and he frequently commented--during his long day of back-to-back presentations--"Creativity is just plagarism from several sources." Hmmmmmm. Sounds alot like folk music! Caution: Jukes warned us at the outset that he would be aiming to unsettle us. The video exemplifies his energetic plea for change.

Jukes's website features dozens of comprehensive downloads (see "Handouts") and links that support his call for a radical new approach to teaching and learning. While his comments and entreaties during the keynote and the two workshop sessions I attended generally fell under the heading "projects-based learning," he went a few steps further than other presenters I've witnessed, by sharing several websites that offer vast resources for the PBL educator, including the George Lucas Foundation and Analyze-Apply.com. His blog is also quite impressive, regularly featuring his top 10 Internet articles for like-minded educators. Does this guy ever sleep!? Comment here if you wish!