About this time tomorrow, I’ll be flying up the Garden State Parkway on my way to TEDxNYED, an “all-day conference examining the role of new media and technology in shaping the future of education.” Organized by a group of passionate educational visionaries in New York City, this event is part of the international TEDx series, an offshoot of the inimitable TED conference (see also: TED’s wikipedia entry). The video below, from the TEDx Youtube channel, does a good job of capturing the vibe and essence of what we will experience on Saturday.

… or does it? While the event promises to be a celebration, these are not halcyon days for education in our country (anyone know a good antonym for “halcyon”?) Our educational system is “failing” (insert your favorite dismal statistic here), the collapse of the American family unit has been well documented, half of new teachers leave the profession after 5 years, and retiring baby boomers are expected to create a major teacher shortage by 2015. Oh, and the US economy is in the worst shape since the Great Depression, and a double-dip recession is now likely.

photo credit: lepiaf.geo

And yet, something drives us, those that have dedicated our daily lives to this profession, those committed to this conversation, those seeking social networks of like-minded learners to engage with, enriching, expanding and energizing our minds so we can continue to fight the good fight. For me, it’s the essence of the picture above. Speaks for itself. I’m just happy to be here in public education, able to make a contribution, to my school, my community, and hopefully, in some small way, to this conference.

David Logan, in the TED talk above, says:

The question on the table is this: what kind of an impact are the tribes that you are in making? Will your tribes change the world?

Heady stuff.

Fortunately, the heavy lifting is being done by a slate of educators and those passionate about education who will have 18 minutes each to share their visions and inspire us. The schedule says it all. Andy Carvin leads off. Our very own Chris Lehmann is batting cleanup. Between them, the likes of Michael Wesch, Henry Jenkins, Lawrence Lessig, Jay Rosen, George Siemens, Dan Meyer – those are just the people already on my intellectual radar screen. The others are completely new to me.

I wonder what it’s going to be like to listen to, converse with and walk among these folks? (Just had an amusing mental image of literally interpreting “standing on the shoulders of giants“. If we were meeting in Second Life, it would actually be possible!) But it’s not just about them. It’s about everyone in the room, including so many of my friends & colleagues who were lucky enough to also receive an invitation. Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Marianne Malmstrom, Dan Callahan, Kristen Swanson, Scott McLeod, Vinnie Vrotny, Jeff O’Hara, Alex Ragone, Sylvia Martinez, Alice Barr, AJ Kelton, Larry Dugan, Caren Levine, Diana Laufenberg … they’ll be there too.

And I know this much – those folks are already changing the world.

We’ve got more work to do. Let’s get busy!

-kj-

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