Educon

We're sending a crew the Educon conference in Philadelphia at the Science and Leadership Academy (SLA) next week.

Here's the scope of the conference (from the conference home page itself):

What is Educon?

EduCon is both a conversation and a conference.

And it is not a technology conference. It is an education conference. It is, hopefully, an innovation conference where we can come together, both in person and virtually, to discuss the future of schools. Every session will be an opportunity to discuss and debate ideas — from the very practical to the big dreams.

The Axioms

Guiding Principles of EduCon

1. Our schools must be inquiry-driven, thoughtful and empowering for all members 

2. Our schools must be about co-creating — together with our students — the 21st Century Citizen 

3. Technology must serve pedagogy, not the other way around 

4. Technology must enable students to research, create, communicate and collaborate 

5. Learning can — and must — be networked

Take a look at the Conversations page on the Educon website and you'll see some great discussions have been mapped out.

SLA as a school is a great study in itself. We'll be touring the school Friday, talking with students and teachers. The school is steeped in project based education, they use one unified, streamlined, thought provoking assessment and sport very simple goals across the curriculum. The Principal there, Chris Lehmann, writes up a great blog called Practical Theory. I've had a great time reading Lehmann's blog over the last few years. Give it a look and I think you'll see some very thought provoking work.

This will be my first trip to Educon. I was scheduled to go last year but ended up surfing through swine flu, an upper respiratory and sinus infection instead. Chances are... this years trip will be significantly more interesting.

AP