NECC 2003 Keynote 1
29 June 2003
Has logged 200 hours in 1992 joint space mission with Japan
Doctorate in Medicine from Cornell
Servied with peace corps in Liberia
Was on Star Trek (literally)
Has started 2 technology companies
Also has started a technology conference for young people working to solve
the problems of the world
Polite = listening with interest to someone who knows less about a topic than you do
Time is the one truly irreplaceable commodity that we all have at our disposal
While our time is limited, the potential of that time is unlimited
86,400 seconds
in each day
it is the choices that we make, how we spend that time, that make the potential
unlimited
Franz Fanon said "each generation mus start out of relative obscurity, discuover
its mission...fulfill it
Now: how do we reconcile mandates for testing with need to learn technology
skills, develop higher level thinking skills
1997 Mae was at WWW6 in Silicon Valley
Everyone was there to meet each other, network - "Everyone, Everywhere Connected"
- seemed like a threshold of a new technology era
Now we are all being told we have to do something with technology
we have to use our imagination to predict what is on the other side
imagination is not unguided
it is based on our past experiences, which we use to guide with responsibility
Mae doesn't do email but decided she didn't want to be that accessible
- it is a tool
- her assistant does email
Some of her most important lessons: don't let a kiss fool you, or a fool kiss
you
- be careful what we do with an experience
- also be careful about the people we hang out with, it mkaes a difference
Her mom was a public school teacher in Chicago for 25 years
- went
- learned Fortran 4 in high school
- Professor at Dartmouth and now and Cornell
- Went to Stanford, then Cornell
That is just data: this is the core (who she is):
- She is a way over 30 year old
- short term pessimist and long term optimist
- when she thinks of herself she sees a little girl who used to stare out at
the stars and wonder with all her imagination if anyone would ever go there
- that spell would be broken by someone shouting "the ice cream man is coming"
(reality then set back in)
New and changing ideas were all around her, she wanted to be a part of it
- as a young black girl growing up on the south side of Chicago, many did not
recognize her as a full human being, train her to her full potential, even
care that she existed....
She had the audicity ot go to space because her parents raised her to have self-confidence, could see that all humans share in our desire to understand and explore or universe
She could see herself in space, knew it was her right and responsiblity to
live up to her potential, learned early never to limit herself because of someone
else's limited imagination
- now she tries not to limit the potential of others with her own limited imagination
Wasn't straight science oriented, because of her mother, pushed her to learn humanities and social sciences
The young girl she was didn't take to heart what other doubting people said
We can all dream, plan, be strong as well as sensitive in giving to others
- can't talk about technology in education in a vacuum
Education is really about getting kids to a place to be functioning members
of society, education does not just take place in the classroom, not just when
someone tells us to pay attention
- must understand kids bring in a lot into the classroom
- what duties must our children fulfill
- the world they grow up now
Look at what has happened in the past 5 years:
- evidence of water on moon
- balance of political power shifted
- 3 million died in the Congo
- 500,000 high school students dropped out
- 12th graders in US ranked at bottom in TIMS
- Pope gave his blessing to Viagra
Each one of these things has been result of increased information exchange, a result of how we as a society have been educated
If you wait for tomorrow, tomorrow comes, if you don't wait for tomorrow,
tomorrow comes"
- I want to become the person my child wants me to be, I want to work for the
Science and technology literacy is key
- 60-70% of the problems we face now and the solutions to them will come thru
science and technology
30% of those other solutions are going to come about just because of chance
She thinks science and technology are misunderstood
- we have a language of science, names of theories, formulas, etc, but that
is not the heart of science
-
I think, I wonder, I understand = that is the
heart of science
With understanding we can solve our problems
We do need 100 million people who can read an article in the paper and responsibly vote, learn new skills, seek understanding and apply it to our
Science is understanding, technology is putting it to some practical use
I don't just talk about technology in the context of of computers and information technology
Technology and science literacy is about critical thinking and problem solving
- our info will change, it is the framework which we use to understand and interpret
it that is critical
We get an opportunity to shape our technology thru our understanding, technology
is just a tool
- we have been designing tools for thousands of years
- the technology we develop depends on the people we are
Difference between mechanical engineers and electrical engineers: build weapons and civil engineers build targets (people think of social problems and development of technology as separate things)
We all have to be transdisciplinary, must all be science and technology literate
- the more rapid changes occur, the more important it is to have many literate
people involved
- this is happening right now, need to talk about what is basic science and
technology literacy
We think we know what reading literacy is, need to define science and technology literacy
Are basic levels of info everyone needs, have to have regular mechanisms
- must make sure there is a pipeline of those who will become the specialists
1- she doesn't believe there should be any calculators in school before 9
years
2- doesn't believe we should have computers before 6th grade
She believes it is very important for students to learn how to think well
- kids have to use their imagination, have to learn to think
- you have to do the wet labs, "grow the potato"
- way we educate students with
computers
Told a sexist joke about brain shopping, male brain and female brain, female brain was 50% less because "it had been used"
Girl perceptions about computers and technology
- most thought girls were just as capable as boys
- when asked why they don't take more technology classes, girls said they didn't
want to have emotions with inanimate objects, girls didn't want to play video
games, etc
- need to make sure all children across this world are educated
Digital Divide: It is important to have computers in the home yes, but the
idea of literacy is not just counting computers
- can't just be invited to see the game, should be invited to play the game
and even design the game
- not just about how many computers are in front of people, it is also about
who designs and creates the systems
Must be sure as a nation we use our entire pool of talent
data not equal to knowledge does not equal wisdom
Taking tests based on fact recall is not what science and technology education should not be all about (not just about parroting back info)
Must have students learn by connecting it to the real world (not rote memorization)
Changing education is a bigger job than any one individual
A fool and his money are soon parted: we want to know how did a fool and money
get together in the first place?
- how do we get the right funding into our schools?
-
Humans don't have litters of babies so we know that small children need a lot of individual attention (why are we so spellbound by studies showing benefits of small class sizes in lower grades)
MLK: There is nothing as dangerous as sincere ignorance and consciencious stupidity
Must balance an energy for yourself as well as for your students
Goal of an effective technology program should be instruction that is more
efficient than if you didn't use a computer, and based on best practices to
engage learners
- must provide differentiated instruction
She is on the board of directors of Scholastic, excited about "Read 180"
- high interest literature, use videos to build mental models before going
to the computer
- computer has to be worked into the curriculum
What this workshop title means to Mae:
To be a steward you must be able to participate
No one solves a problem alone
Adolescents have lots of energy and creativity, want to use it for good not
for evil
- peer pressure in a group project can be a positive influence
- computer use should be incidental
- kids even learn statistics
What is our job: provide a meaningful educational experience, integrating students' own experiences, bolsters their own confidence (promotes self-esteem)
Alice Walker: it is the nature of this flower to bloom, it will bloom unless
we do something to prevent it to bloom
- each child is born a flower and it is their nature to bloom, it is our task
to help them bloom
Pop quiz: ball has potential energy but has to have kinetic energy in order
to do work
- ideas are like potential energy, nothing will happen until the ideas are
put into action
Our worst fear is that we are powerful beyond measure (not that we are inadequate)
it is our light, not our
As we let our own light shine, we give others permission to do the same