On Tuesday, I got back from Austin, Texas. I was speaking at SXSW Interactive 2009. It was my first time at South-By, and I can say right now that I am going next year - no matter what. My presentation was great (thank you, Alex, for offering me this great opportunity!) - read on for more about my presentation. I met so many incredible people, including Gary Vaynerchuk, Kevin Rose, and danah boyd. Being under 21 at SXSW was tough, since so many after-parties were at 21+ venues, but it worked out. SXSW was overwhelming, especially going for the first time. Basically, it doesn’t stop. Day, night, morning, evening - you name it. There is always something going on at SXSW. Just check my Twitter stream. I reconnected with some “old” friends from the Boston Social Media scene, like Steve Garfield, Clarence Smith, and Chris Brogan. The Bigg Digg Schindigg was amazing - I finally saw a live Diggnation! Check my Flickr for pictures. I’ll be uploading many more in the coming days. The panels I saw were amazing. Gary Vaynerchuk was the most inspirational speaker I saw, up there with the “SHIFT Happens” people and the Web and Feminism panel. I made a PDF of all the tweets I tweeted during SXSW. Download it. Most recent at the top.
My Presentation
As you all _should_ know, I was on a panel about the future of technology in education, called Blackboards or Backchannels: The Techno-Induced Classroom of Tomorrow. Alex Leavitt Moderated, and I spoke along with Archana Ramachandran, Kelly Sutton, and Diana Kimball. Someone liveblogged our panel, check it out! I spoke of my EduTech project and my feelings about, at least in small class settings, the use of off-hours technology only. For example, in small seminar classes, I see laptops as walls and severe distractions. They might be employed to “enhance” communication, but instead, they replace human-human interaction with superficial and removed conversation. Technology cannot replace or fix bad teaching - I was surprised to see some teachers react negatively to that statement, for surely I thought that they would all be in favor of quality teaching, too. I was also surprised to find out that predominately older K-12 teachers and university professors saw my own (and the groups) views as conservative. I never thought about it that way. The educators in the room appeared to want validation from us students. They wanted us to approve the unbridled use of technology in their classrooms. Not to say that risk-taking and experimentation are bad, because they are very crucial to the learning process, but the successful use of technology in classrooms need to be thoughtfully planned out. Technology cannot be there just to be there. One needs a goal. A teacher should be able to answer the question, “Why are you using technology in your classroom?” A teacher does not, or should not, just assign an essay or exam. Just to let you know, my philosophy of technology and education only applies to small class settings. I have yet to seriously consider the implications of technology in large classrooms, simply because I haven’t been in those situations and, I don’t particularly agree with lecture based styles of education.
The response to our panel was mixed. Following the Twitter hash tag (#sxswed) was interesting: one person thought she should have been on the panel and did not restrain her anger, and others were frustrated with our “non-techno induced” classroom. Questions were engaging, but somewhat strange. One woman suggested that Kelly and I had been brainwashed by the educational systems in this country. Why? Because we both go to smaller liberal arts colleges? Or because at least I (don’t know about Kelly…) had a very progressive education in high school without standards? Anyways, others were more positive. One man raised the issue of learning, in general - how do you learn of find things on the Internet? Another man, who seemed younger, perhaps a recent college graduate, seemed offended by my advocating against the use of technology in the classroom, and proceeded to give various reasons how Twitter had helped him. Just to clarify, I think Twitter is amazing, but, do you really have a need to use it in class? How about on the weekends, when the students and the professor are not in the same room together?
Check out the Twitter search for #sxswed. Again, go back a few pages. You’ll find some interesting responses.
Overall
I’m gong next year. Meet me there. I will try to get myself on a panel (email me if you have ideas or are interested in having me speak on your panel), but we’ll see. Don’t forget to check out my pre-SXSW interview with SXTXState. Want to meet next year? Email me. Check out Flickr photos, too.
K.
I am only speaking for myself in this post. I cannot vouch for the other panelists. Just FYI.
Kabren Levinson is fist-year student at Bard College. Throughout high school, Kabren has worked in various technological, political, and artistic positions. He has worked as an intern at the MIT Media Lab Computing Culture Group and during his senior year of high school, he developed an Academic Technology program at the Cambridge School of Weston. He has been podcasting for over three years and has been blogging for two. Kabren is a philosopher, technologist, and artist.