Teaching and Learning in a Connected World
Concurrent Session 9
Brief Abstract
We are living in times of connection. And it’s not just about networked information technologies. Today, cross-continental travel is easy. Economic interdependence among nations is a ubiquitous. Migrants and refugees move in greater numbers than ever before. Our lives depend on complex energy grids and sophisticated infrastructure. Around the planet, connections bind us together in new, exciting, and often challenging ways.
Today’s educators need re-evaluate the conventions of schooling for this new world. Some are trying. But unfortunately, most efforts fall short. Even the most forward-thinking teachers remain tethered to old educational paradigms. Many new blended and online learning systems simply attempt to smoosh old pedagogical structures into shiny new boxes.
It’s because we struggle to acknowledge that the routines and conventions of learning that we all take for granted were actually derived in response to distinct technological needs. Schools are full of old tech: chalkboards, copy machines, loudspeakers, books and more. All literacies are tech literacies. And education has always been “blended.” But now, it’s divided. We keep reinforcing a false distinction between online and offline—which is just code for: learning through old tech and learning through new tech. Haphazard hybridization will quickly prove problematic because it can’t adequately condition people to live and work fluently within a globalized world.
In this intimate townhall style discussion, we will interview keynote speaker Jordan Shapiro. Come prepared to challenge your thinking, ask lots of questions, and participate in an imaginative and though-provoking conversation about re-imagining what learning means in a world where everything is blended and connected.
Presenters

Extended Abstract