This podcast is a reflection I recorded on a flight back to the United States from the October / November 2009 21st Century Learning Conference in Hongzhou, China. There are some issues about which I am reticent to blog, given their poliltical sensitivity in China, but want to share
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and reflect upon because of the importance they have for a variety of reasons. In this podcast I reflect about social media, the similarities faced by Chinese as well as U.S. educational leaders seeking to integrate digital technologies and 21st century skills into formal school settings, and the opportunities presented by social media for educational as well as societal change. I became more aware of "the power of place" and the uneven distribution we have today of digital technologies and open access to digital content as a result of my experiences in China this week. The opportunity to disagree, to speak openly, and to form groups are all so important within a free society. I would like to present a new session at upcoming conferences titled something like, "Don't Filter Your Network Like a Communist." We need to recognize the value and importance of open access and discourse in our society and in our schools, and take steps to insure our learners are empowered to create, communicate, and collaborate on a regular basis. Note: A little after the twenty minute point of this podcast, for some reason there is some distortion in the recording. This distortion just persists for about 20 seconds, however, and does clear up for the remainder. My apologies for this, I'm not sure what happened!
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