Yesterday I mentioned the Past Play conference and the great work that Kevin Kee and Bill Turkel are doing with technology and learning at the academic level. One of the keys to their conference was that they went the route of an unconference. Participants spent the first day essentially "playing" with new technology in the hopes of coming up with new ways to share and portray history.

Presenters also were given the especially fun task of not talking. It sounds strange, but really it sparks more discussion. Rather than simply presenting their paper, attendees could only respond to comments from other members who had already read a draft paper. The results for their conference were extremely positive.

If you have read anything before about my views on teachers conferences, you know I think we have to start changing things now. There is a weird understanding amongst everyone involved that the present model just isn't the way to go forward. At a traditional conference, displayers are dissapointed with declining numbers and the inability to reach their audience, presenters are dissapointed with low retention rates and declining numbers, and attendees are bored with the same content year in and year out.

And perhaps worst of all, school boards and administrators are loosing any hope that professional development through teaching conferences is important or has any role in the regular life cycle of a teacher. Funding to attend the conferences is being cut and redirected towards other programs. And to be honest, I don't blame them.

It's just not an effective model for professional development and it's not working.

So that's why I'm really excited that the Manitoba Social Science Teachers Association is showing some courage and has opened up three workshops at their annual conference to the unconference format. It's a small step in the right direction that I'm very thankful for. We even have special placement in the book: see Teachmeet on page 2.