Alan Tamayose's Edublog

Attended TEDx Honolulu today at the Cupola Theater in the Honolulu Design Center. It was an amazing conference. I was very fortunate and blessed to have had this opportunity. The presenters were inspiring, and the organizers put on a great event!

Here is the link to my post about my experience on my personal blog.

The theme was “It’s About Time…” Here are some of the highlights:

Dr. Michael Liu, Mauna Kea astronomer, likened the telescope to a “time machine.” He said that in the past decade, we learned about stars. In the next decade, we’ll be learning about planets.

Edgy Lee, filmmaker, spoke about the tsunamis that killed over 200,000 in Indonesia. There was an island with a “primitive” tribe. They had a 100% survival rate. She coined the term “indigenous wisdom.”
Every “SmallTown, USA” has an ordinary person with extraordinary wisdom. Those are the people whom she would like to document.

Vivian Best spoke about collecting fresh produce at the Farmers Market to donate to the needy. Now, customers even donate boxes of fresh fruit from their yards. Vendors also donate unsellable vegetables to the cause.

Dr. Pualani Kanak’ole Kanahele explained the essence of hula. She went deep into its language origin and tied it to the environment. She spoke of the mist that comes down from the sky, and then the mist that comes up from the ground. “Hula is a sacrifice….”

Jason Tom delivered an incredible beatbox performance.

Amy Burvall & Herb Mahelona make up the creative duo behind those historic MTV-type music videos. They suggested that the keys are Creativity, Collaboration, & Celebration.

Kealoha Wong inspired us with his amazing slam poetry. I never considered myself a fan of this art form, but now I’m hooked.

Dr. Lani Leary spoke about making a difference to those who are dying. She’s learned that the dying need 1.) to be heard 2.) to be touched 3.) to be given permission to go….

The New Hope iPad Band gave an amazing musical performance.

Michael Wall led the audience in “collaborative creativity” with a rhythmic, percussive activity.

Jake Shimabukuro brought down the house with an absolutely thrilling performance. He spoke about music coming from his “being” before it even reaches his ukulele. He said that he can “practice” without an instrument. I thought that this was very profound and reminded me of how Beethoven could still compose after losing his hearing.

Elyse Petersen was a Peace Corps volunteer in Antigua and Barbuda. She saw the island covered with fallen mangoes that were going to waste. Her idea was to implement solar drying. This project helped over 20% of the entire population economically. Her next goal is to see this grow in Hawai’i as well.

Matthew Lynch on sustainability. “We define sustainability as zero negative impact on our environment. We need to go beyond sustainability to positively impact people and our planet.”

Dr. Ho Leung Ng is a cancer researcher. His quote: “We are all patients.”

Here is a link to download the electronic program of the event. TEDxHonolulu 2011 Official Program – 11.1.11

There was much more from the event. TEDx Honolulu should be posting videos and photos shortly.

Our Education Technology Services Team flew up to the Hawai’i Campus for the first Tech Slam of the year. It was a huge success, thanks to the coordination of Ellen and the leadership of Darrin and Mimi. It was a tremendous day. Click on the link to learn more.

I was able to give a presentation in one of the breakout sessions. It was nice to partner with our Distance Learning Team. It was especially nice to reconnect with Mark Standley, who is a great friend and mentor.

Looking forward to our next slam at the Maui Campus in October….

Here are a few highlights….

Sir Ken Robinson, “Creativity is applied imagination.” “The government couldn’t call it ‘Millions of Children Left Behind,’ so they called it ‘No Child Left Behind.’”

Steven Johnson, “Change favors the connected mind.” “Innovative learning spaces are where diverse interests collide.” “Ideas are networks. They combine with other ideas.”

Cheryl Cyrus, “The pedagogy of mobile learning is constructivist driven.”

Doyle Friskney, “Your IT department doesn’t ‘own’ mobile learning.”

Heather Dahl, “In the state of New Mexico, a graduation requirement is the completion of either an online, blended, or AP course.”

My notes can be found here. Again, it is a private Ning, but we hope to make it public soon. Here is my wall. Here are some photos.

Here are a few of the highlights or learnings from ISTE….

David Warlick at the EduBloggerCon, “Mobile devices: we have outsourced our brains. Teens have grown new limbs. Banning their devices is like amputating them!”

Dr. John Medina (opening keynote,) “The human brain was meant to solve problems, survive in an outdoor setting while being mobile. The worst design possibe for a learning environment would be a classroom!”

Will Richardson, “We need to move to passion-based learning.”

Will Richardson, “We need to learn reputation-management. We need to be ‘Googled’ well.”

Alan November, “One-to-one program is a bad name. It should be called a network program where students collaborate.”

Alan November, “Every school should have its own hashtag that every teacher knows about.”

My notes can be found here. Currently, it is a private Ning, but we hope to make it public soon. Here are photos from the trip.