Anthony Salcito at #pilUS - VP of Microsoft
These are my live notes of this presentation at Microsoft Partners in Learning Innovative Educators Forum. Please pardon the lack of links and the occasional typo. My notes are in parenthesis, other notes should be attributed as a paraphrase or notes taken from Anthony Salcito's talk.
The released the manufacturers version of Windows 8 today - so it is "birthed" and born today.
Anthony Salcito, www.microsofteducationblog.com
tonysa@microsoft.com
Presenting on "Leading a LEARNING Revolution!"
He's going to demonstrate things with us. He says that very often there are many teachers who don't know many of the cool tools and technologies that Microsoft has to offer. (True - IE. I think PhotoSynth is a great app for iOS devices, for example.)
We should be focused on helping students expect more from their future.
He grew up in the Bronx without an expectation of what his future could be. He didn't understand what potential exists - when he got into high school he was playing with his computers in the mid and late 80's while his friends were joining gangs and lifting weights. His sister is a teacher in Bronx who keeps him grounded about "the real stuff that goes on in the classroom."
He wants to help kids who often don't see a bright future see a bigger opportunity.
He thought the US was further along in the US but he's seeing the same thing happening around the world. He sees a global community of educators emerging and he wants Microsoft connect and feature the global community of change happening in education.
"heroes changing the world." We're on the precipice of something big happening. We're going to be the ones challenge the school to drive a different model.
We are moving from the HOW to 2
Important elements:
#1 What are we teaching? What are we focusing upon? What do we teach and test?
Kids want and need to be relevant - it makes kids have meaning.
In many ways, technology is a lens for how we've changed. Technology and testing are still at odds b/c the presence of technology hasn't been factored into how we assess and evaluate students.
#2 Why?
Why are we in education? Why am I learning and what I'm learning.
**We can start by looking back**
The key lens of the old classroom and the old industrial age.
We have a different work environment today - the world of work is fundamentally different. Critical element we have to drive.
What matters is not as much how a classroom looks but what we are DOING In those classrooms. The HOW is part of it, but we should know that "the classroom should serve a purpose to drive a learning path."
Asks us how we feel about this. Many teachers feel tense because "I don't want to be left behind." The reality is that this statement should be cause for applause. Teachers 100 years a go probably would have thought this was great. Students are learning everywhere as technology becomes ubiquitous, particularly in places like the US. In many ways, we try to compete with that as opposed to embracing the fact that this is powerful. We must build on the reality that exists outside the classroom.
Embrace this reality first and find ways to encourage connecting outside the classroom. We can extend content delivery online. This is a journey we have to be on.
(NOTE: I'd like to point out that Anthony Salcito has gutts b/c he's talking about transformative devices and mention devices from other companies - he has a slide of the iphone.)
He talks about what we should be piloting is not iPads or laptops but we should have the real pilot be about what we're trying to do and not the device.
(NOTE: I agree beause some who are doing iPads are making it about iPad but not change in pedagogy and how it is being USED. Otherwise you just get a thinner bookbag and thinner wallet.)
Mouse Mischief - they are using things like this in India.
He's using term "individualized learning path."
Each student has their own QR code to answer questions. Small laptop - they hold u a qr code to answer the questions. (Not sure how this works.) Doesn't "look" innovative but in some parts of the world there is a place to start.
Showing a bathroom - school in Turkey focusing on water conservation and want water to be conserved. They think water is coming from aquarium so they rush to wash their hands so the fish won't run out of water. (It isn't really coming from aquarium but keeps it top of mind. This is a creative example of helping kids keep water top of mind in the bathroom.)
He's talking about Kinect cameras to create immersive experiences. He says they can make cool stuff but what we have to focus on is making cool stuff work for you.
Innovative teaching, personalization, doing more with less, employability, urgency to drive change.
We need holistic transformation through personalization. How do you create tools, methodologies and connections to help students recognize their own learning path. References Jane McGonigal about creating "moments of wow."
In the world of technology you don't have an emotional response, but we need that sort of thing in education.
Similarities between games and education.
What we teach and what we measure are critical. The assessment model we face today -- get a grade and it yields a response.
"Game over" is a motivation not a failure. When students play a game it creates a path of mastery.
Developing and connecting skills.
ATC21S is a big initiative
A partnership with Intel, Microsoft, Cisco. UNESCO, OECD and world bank.
Assessment of teachers
Ways of assessing:
Ways of Thinking: Creativity and innovation, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making
Ways of Working
Tools for Working
Ways of Living in the World
www.atc21s.org
There are competency based examples from their website. These tools will be used to help prepare kids overseas for the PISA test (not used in the US.)
They are demonstrating the laughing clowns initiative.
This is a simple example. They are both looking at a machine and figuring out what happens and they have a chat. You are comparing how the machines are different using the chat to figure out what is the same or different. Using principles of behavior about how things work.
These curriculum models are free for kids to use on the website. You can have partners. Should look at and investigate.
(This is the flattening of the classroom.)
Not everyone knows that Office 365 is free for your students, teachers, and staff free to use. Includes Microsoft Professional Plus 2010, Exchange Online, Lync Online, Sharepoint Online -- all of these are free for schools. Many don't realize this.
Lync will become part of the "stack" in education. No add with enterprise quality for us to use and roll out in schools. Partners will be building around these tools going forward.
Windows 8 Demo
Goal is a "no compromise" environment - not patched - everything works together seamlessly. It is less about form factors but more about creating an immersive environment for learning.
He's running the Consumer Preview:
Start screen - very different.
PERSONALIZATION
All keyboard and mouse shortcuts you're used to are still there.
Quick navigation for apps.
Apps run in hibernation mode so don't drain CPU time.
Design is personal and unique to the user.
The people hub brings your people and experiences
The peoplehub integrates with Twitter, Facebook, linked in that is aggregated and put together.
Many people share computers. Windows 8 understands that others can log in. There are picture passwords in here so you have a standard way of moving around a picture to log in instead of a full password (this is very cool.)
It runs in a separate memory space when someone else logs on.
USB to go with USB sticks - kids can take the environment home on a USB and log on a home computer using that account.
This is a family safety account.
It looks entirely different for users.
The ability to search across applications is a neat feature of Windows 8.
You can search across all things -- this will search everything (of note, it searched the Kindle app, OneNote, and sources of information as well as maps) -- now this is cool. I love the Kindle integration with this!!
There is a news.
3rd party publishers can write to core of operating system to create these experiences -so Kindle app is integrated with the OS for the computer. (I love this!!)
The wikipedia info looks like a magazine.
It has semantic zoom out for a navigation hub.
I also note one note and evernote integration with searching and apps.
(NOTE TO SELF: I'm going to be putting Windows 8 on my computer. This is different but FAR superior to what I've seen. Wow. I've not been excited about an OS like this since Win 95.)
Semantic zoom is very interesting. The kids will like links with xbox live.
Talking about Microsoft Office
* Outlook - You can use outlook as a front end for Office 365 deployment.
Can have a conversation view in outlook. Can do in line replies in messages.
Calendar integrates remotely now and with publishing with calendars remotely, etc.) One NOte is integrated across the office experience.
You can share notes for the meeting. Share notes.
Will link to this notebook. Streamline how people work.
(I like the ability to launch a notebook in anything, powerpoint, word, etc. and use it as a simultaneous editor.)
Demonstrating dragging into the notebook.Whatever you're in - it makes alink in the notebook to what you were looking at when you took the note - what you were looking at. No longer have to keep track of what you were looking at when you made a note. This is called link notes.
Kids can easily put sources of pics into their notebook
(NOTE: course there are licensing issues here with how easy this is)
Translation options are part of the environment as well.
Release preview of office - there is a one Note versin - One NOte MX
The US is built for using a stylus, mouse, keyboard, or even control with your thumb if you're holding the device. That type of interface is standard as part of the OS.
He has stylus controls. It can recognize "ink" and type it in. Different keyboards are simple to put it on the keyboard. Easy to add language packs inside Windows.
Can swap to a keyboard that lets you use your thumbs on the left and the right.
Microsoft Word has changed a bit.
Want to make it easier to navigate and present documents.
Text reflow around pictures is DRAMATICALLY improved. (The whole room applauded!!)
Linked notes are associated with documents. (NOTE: This means that you can have conversations around having parts of a doc.)
Import a PDF and give it all the properties in word. Everything is there in the PDF.
Edit the PDF and don't have to worry about moving documents.
Saving is in the cloud. Skydrive is everywhere. (NOTE: I've learned that I should install the Skydrive app on my Win 7 computer so that it works like Google Drive or Dropbox.)
EXCEL
Showing us how to extract first names out of first names.
Excel stars recognizing a pattern of typing and retyping. (Now, this is a HUGE time saver. HUGE HUGE. If you work with data, the new excel is going to take you a lot of time.)
They made charts a lot easier.
Smart editing inside
Excel will recommend chats for you and give you a preview of the kind of charts available with this data. (This is a time saver as well.)
POWERPOINT
Coolest thing in Powerpoint he says -- there is a rich presenter mode - see the next slide coming up.
LINC
They use it daily - it looks like a live chat, etc. If you have Office 365deployed then linc is there for everyone. You can search based on the skill. He searched the directory for the names of those who have a certain skill. He an instantly click on someone's name, start a video chat, and share a whiteboard from within any app.
Could do a quick poll of people as well.
All of this training is on the Partner's in Learning Network - you can join and get training on all of these features for Office 365 for free. Students can use these tools too.
IWB in classroom -
Can have 2 screens but all apps and start buttons can be on both screens so you can launch apps from the IWB even though it is a second screen.
(The CPU usage looks much lower when he launches task manager.)
(NOTES: MY take on this.
I've now played with Windows 8 at Microsoft over the last 2 days and seen this demo. YES< this is very different from what you're used to. But all I can say is "it is about time." We NEED different. This is much more like we work with MANY features that teachers will love, use and have been begging for. It is going to require that many of us get up to date on this. In the last few years, I've been very unimpressed with changes -- I have to say that I AM very impressed with what this will let us do at school but I have work to do. If you're in PD, you're not going to be able to implement this in the next few weeks, it is going to take time, but many of you are going to want to be prepared to be implementing Office 365 this time next year.)
This was an EXCELLENT presentation.
