Keynote presentation at Computers in Education Society of Ireland (CESI) conference, Dublin City University, Dublin, 27th Feb 2016

1. Seize the Moment:
Make the Future Extraordinary
Professor Mark Brown
Director, National Institute for Digital Learning
Dublin, Ireland
27th Feb, 2016
@mbrownz@cesitweets

4. National Institute for Digital Learning

5. Lego® Education Innovation Studio

6. http://www.mindrising.ie/#mindrising-home

7. Institute of Education

9. To come…
1. Broken Promises
2. Politics of Change
3. Being a Future Maker
Seize the Moment:
Make the Future Extraordinary

10. Key message…
Not much meaning or magic!

11. 1. Broken promises…

12. “With the coming of the New Media, the need for
print on paper will rapidly diminish. The day will
soon arrive when the world’s literature will be
available from The Automatic Library at the
mere pressing of a button”
(Uzanne, 1994).
1. Broken promises…

13. “With the coming of the New Media, the need for
print on paper will rapidly diminish. The day will
soon arrive when the world’s literature will be
available from The Automatic Library at the
mere pressing of a button”
(Uzanne, 1894).
1. Broken promises…

14. “Books will soon be obsolete in public schools.
Scholars will be instructed through the eye. It is
possible to teach every branch of human
knowledge with the motion picture”.
(Thomas Edison, 1913)
1. Broken promises…

15. Project Plato – 1960s
1. Broken promises…

16. Growing
Support
Subsided Enthusiasm
Cuban, L. (1986). Teachers and machines: The classroom
use of technology since 1920. New York: Teachers’ College Press.
Technology
Expectation Cycle
(1986)
High Expectations
1. Broken promises…

17. Gartner Hype Cycle
“Technology-enhanced learning involves an
ongoing cycle of hype, hope and
disappointment” (Gouseti, 2010).
1. Broken promises…

18. 1. Broken promises…
2015

19. “Not everything that can be counted
counts, not everything that counts can
be counted.”
Albert Einstein
1. Broken promises…

20. “We tend to overestimate the effect of a
technology in the short run and
underestimate the effect in the long
run.”
Amara’s Law
1. Broken promises…

21. 2. Politics of Change…

22. “An educational change is neither natural nor
normal, constant nor common as it involves a
deeper struggle over who will win control of
the curriculum” (Evans, 1996, p.25).
2. Politics of Change…

23. 2. Politics of Change…

24. 2. Politics of Change…

25. Techno-centric
Perspective
Human-centric
Perspective
Demon
Perspectiv
e
Libertarian
Perspective
Technocratic Dream
Technological Determinism
Social Determinism
Technocratic Nightmare
2. Politics of Change…

26. 2. Politics of Change…

27. Techno-centric
Perspective
Human-centric
Perspective
Demon
Perspectiv
e
Libertarian
Perspective
Social Determinism
Technocratic Nightmare
Technocratic Dream
Technological Determinism
Critics
2. Politics of Change…

28. 2. Politics of Change…
http://audreywatters.com

29. 2. Politics of Change…
- Neil Selwyn

30. 2. Politics of Change…
“The web of our life is of a mingled yarn,
good and ill together...”
William Shakespeare,
All's Well That Ends Well, Act 4, Scene 3

31. “It is theory that
decides what we
can observe…”
Albert Einstein
2. Politics of Change…

32. 2. Politics of Change…

33. Competing Change Forces
Knowledge Economy
Learning Society
Different interest groups and stakeholders borrow the
same ‘language of persuasion’ to legitimize their own hegemonic agenda
• Open learning
• Online learning
• Anytime, anywhere learning
E-learning •
Digital learning •
Technology-enhanced learning •
2. Politics of Change…

34. “Frankly, all the computers and software and
Internet connections in the world won’t do
much good if young people don’t understand
that access to new technology means…
access to the new economy”
(President Bill Clinton; cited in Cuban, 2001, p.18).
2. Politics of Change…

35. Television Advertisement by Telecom Corporation, NZ
2. Politics of Change…

36. “The Digital Learning Festival will bring
together these digital learning trailblazers
from Ireland and abroad to… chart the way
forward for the future of technology in
education thus ensuring a solid base from
which to launch the next phase of Ireland’s
economic growth”
(EXCITED Digital Learning Festival, 2014).
2. Politics of Change…

37. 2. Politics of Change…

38. ReconceptualisingDeschooling
ReschoolingReproducing
Different interest groups and stakeholders borrow the
same ‘language of persuasion’ to legitimize their own hegemonic agenda
• Open learning
• Online learning
• Anytime, anywhere learning
E-learning •
Digital learning •
Technology-enhanced learning •
2. Politics of Change…
Knowledge Economy
Learning Society
Competing Change Forces

39. 2. Politics of Change…
The current emphasis on education in change
needs to shift to the language
of education for change.

40. “The old technology of tell
and test or experience and
evoke does not work, and
it is becoming clearer to
more people that it can
never work.”
Why we should be optimistic…
2. Politics of Change…
Michael Fullan

41. 3. Being a future maker…

42. 3. Being a future maker…

43. What type of
education system do
we want the use of new
digital technology
to serve?
Framing question…
3. Being a future maker…

44. 3. Being a future maker…

45. Conclusion

46. It depends on…
- Learning from history
- Shaping the future drivers
- Having the courage to be future
makers
Conclusion

47. Conclusion

48. Go raibh
maith
agaibh!

49. Professor Mark Brown
Director, National Institute for Digital Learning
www.dcu.ie/nidlmark.brown@dcu.ie
@mbrownz www.slideshare.net/mbrownz