I also want as many Aseems in my classes as possible. How do we make that part happen as well?

I do not feel obligatory patriotism on the 4th of July. I do not feel ashamed of an American heritage that has been equally beneficial and oppressive to different demographics. I do not feel the need to set off a lot of fireworks in someone’s back yard that at any moment could set a house ablaze. Instead, I feel introspective. It is strange that July 4th does for me what January 1st does for so many others.

On this day, I try to think about where I am going with my life and how that measures up to the average American (whatever that may be in my head on a particular year). I also think about where this country is going and why the stereotypes of American greed, arrogance, and privilege need a serious overhaul.

Now, I know many of you are not from the USA, so pardon this little bit of western-centric rambling.

I am where I wanted to be as of this July 4th. That is what I am proud of. I am proud that I live in a place that lets me be happy. I can have a beautiful and intelligent wife, a (almost) always smiling daughter, and the ability to roam across state lines without fear of interrogation or harassment. Not everyone else is so lucky.

I am proud of the flat world that I am a part of that tells me my country of origin only matters because setting up skype calls to Australia is harder than to Mexico.

I am proud of the beliefs about education that the blogosphere has helped to shape. I am proud of the change we are making in the American educational landscape.

I am proud to be an American because of the potential that I have to do good, not because of any of the good that has been done in the past. I just hope that I can live up to this potential.

If not, I will just be one more lazy, ignorant, meat-headed, attention-starved American without the patience to see through anything to fruition. I am not him this 4th of July.

Maybe next year.

June 3rd, 2007

Who am I, and why am I doing this podcast?

I am a teacher and a learner.

I am someone who seeks out knowledge in every avenue available to me.

I am the first one to try something new.

I am passionate about my students and their potential to do great things.

You see, I work tirelessly from all angles on the problem of inauthentic education. I talk about wikis and blogs and podcasts, but not because they are the latest thing. I talk about them because I have seen them work in the classroom. I talk about technology realization because nothing changes the nature of a students learning more than asking them to collaborate around the world with other students or write, think, or express their own passion for learning on a global platform.

My name is Ben Wilkoff, and I am working toward the creation of Education 2.0. My hope is that this podcast will help to show this vision to a wider audience, therefore transforming the way everyone thinks about education. But, what exactly do I mean by Transformation?

Transformation, like so many other words, means different things to different people. To one person, it may mean revolution. To another, it means transition. To still another, transformation has little to no meaning because it has been bandied about by so many people that it has lost all of its initial potency. I would hate to fall in any of these categories, really. In fact, I want to set out right now that Transformation means something very specific, powerful, and universal. Now that I have set the bar ridiculously high for myself, I would like to meet it.

Education Transformation is not defined by what it is not (traditional, the status quo, etc.). Instead, Education Transformation is a movement based on positive attributes.

We will create authentic engagement for all learners at all times.

It is that simple, or that complex. For anyone who has taught, they know that engagement and authenticity are two of the hardest things to create in a classroom. In fact, many teachers simply give up on one or the other in favor of safe methods of content dissemination. This is exactly what Transformation aims to combat. Throughout this podcast, I will be talking trying to find the ways in which engagement and authenticity become endemic in the classroom. I will be seeking out the practitioners of true learning, grappling with what is truly important for our 21st century children.

One last element of Transformation that I think is important is the fact that all transformation starts from something. There has to be an element to be transformed. With this in mind, it is my aim to take all of the great elements of education that currently exist and use them to transform the whole. This means that I will be looking for anyone and everyone that is willing to help. Even without any experience in educational theory, parents know so much of what works for their kids. They can be a resource for the Transformation, as can the business community, veteran teachers, and of course the students themselves. All of these stakeholders must be a part of the Transformation if we want it to succeed. And, as I hope to establish with the first few podcasts, I think that Education Transformation is a moral imperative.