This was the introduction of the program:
Experiences of schools and teaching methods that stand out in the world, new teaching approaches, and education innovation cases. An innovating example of the use of technology in teaching is the "totally online school" that reaches millions of people and allows them to learn a wide variety of subjects free of charge. Classes follow pioneering teaching methods, use a clear, informal language, and make the most of the interaction with the objects on the screen. Dozens of countries have been translating the courses. In Brazil, NGO Fundação Lemann is providing the videos dubbed in Portuguese.
The first lecture was about Khan Academy, Sundar Subbarayan from the USA who is " in charge of disseminating and implementing the Khan Academy methods in conventional schools. " I have known Khan Academy for some time because I have already helped my own kids and my students with the videos on Math and Science.I have also used the videos dubbed in Portuguese provided by Fundação Lemann. Sundar talked about how Sal Khan started with the videos and how they started to be spread all over the world.
Billal Musharaf also from the USA, who coordinates the global operation that translate Khan Academy into other languages, talked about their translation project.
I think Khan Academy can be an effective tool that can be used in class as well as a tool to support students at home.
After these two talks, it was Andrew Hargreaves's turn to deliver his lecture: "Teaching in the Society of Knowledge" . His talk was amazing! He talked about improvement and innovation in Education. He said that teaching for the knowledge society includes creativity, flexibility, adaptability, teamwork, networks and continuous learning. When he talked about education in Brazil he stressed out that there is no quality without equity; about the large achievement gap between students from poor families and wealthy ones. He pointed that technology , per se, is not the answer for the educational problem. It is a tool but cannot be used as the only way out. Finland and Singapore are examples of countries that are maximizing innovation and improvement in Education (two among the top-three PISA). Regarding Finland he listed some important characteristics: high-quality teachers, inspiring sociteal vision, hearing weak signals (early intervention), testing by sample,among others. I really recommend reading his website:http://www.andyhargreaves.com/. It is really interesting.
The next speaker on the program was Rubens Alves who could not come to Porto Alegre. Celso Antunes, founder of the NGO "Todos pela Educação", who came do talk about Education in Brazil: Present and Future. His talk was impressing! It was rewarding watching this 75-year old man telling funny and interesting anedoctes to illustrate what he wanted to say.
His website is a good source to learn more about his life and work: http://www.celsoantunes.com.br/pt/publicacoes.php
Finally, Denis Mizme talked about the project sponsored by NGO Fundação Lemann that uses Khan Academy videos to support teachers in some public schools in Sâo Paulo.
Great conference! Amazing company: Mara Rubia Lima and Thomas Lima. I would like to thank the Congresso Inovação organizers for letting me attend the panel (without paying for the whole conference) and my school adminstration team for letting me go to the conference on a school day.
Worth reading article about Sal Khan at http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelnoer/2012/11/02/one-man-one-computer-10-million-students-how-khan-academy-is-reinventing-education/
You might also to check his TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.html
