Opening Keynote

Marco Torres is the opening keynote. Schooling vs. Learning Today: Learning and Learning for Now not Tomorrow. Here are some of his key points:

• One plan teachers should have is to make kids want to come back tomorrow.
• "My job [as a teacher] is to infect enough kids with curiosity to make them want to come back tomorrow."
• What makes an expert, if you are an expert because you have a bank of information what does that mean? The definition of expert is changing.
• If you can look it up, don't ask.

This is an interesting point as we look at expert vs. learner. Marco makes the argument that experts do not have much room for error. Being a learner is the better stance to take. This fits into the idea we have been discussing with regards to modeling technology. If you attack it as "I want to be an expert" you may never start, because with the new Web 2.0 tools it is almost impossible to be an expert. If you are a learner you just dive in, like I am doing right now.