November


 * Alan November**

// Raising our children to be global thinkers in a world that is very different from what we grew up in // // is what technology guru Alan November believes will best prepare American students for today’s world. // // And that’s not the only skill that’s important. Being able to dealwith “massive” amounts of // // information - organizing it, understanding it, adding value to it will all be critical to students in this information-rich society. Finally, college graduates will also need to be self-directed…not waiting for a boss to tell them what to do, they’ll need to adapt to an ever-changing world that is getting “flatter” by the day and have “very good global communication skills,” noted Mr. November. //

Alan November is an international leader in **education technology**. He began his career as an oceanography teacher and dorm counselor at an island reform school for boys in Boston Harbor. He has been director of an alternative hig h school, computer coordinator, technology consultant, and university lecturer. He has helped schools, governments and industry leaders improve the quality of education through technology.

Alan’s personable and friendly nature, coupled with astute observations about the economy, education and technology make him an extremely popular, entertaining and engaging presenter. For Alan, it’s not the technology itself that it is important; it’s the way we use it. His ideas about global communication, collaboration, assessment, and critical thinking have inspired schools, governments and corporations around the world to rethink and redefine their approach to education and technology. Alan November’s presentations are thought-provoking, creative and motivating. He has an uncanny ability to tap into the needs and energy of his audiences. Alan makes people think, question and laugh. His background as a dorm counselor for at-risk students, classroom teacher, technology coordinator, alternative school director, city planner, new school designer, university lecturer and years of consulting around the world give him a breadth of understanding and educational experience

I believe that Alan November is a visionary in the field of education and more educators need to understand and adapt the ideas and concepts that he is preaching. Students need to develop 21st century skills in order to positively participate in this pluralistic democratic society. The skills that students need to possess in order to succeed are not just rote memorization skills of the past. Students need to possess critical thinking, cognitive reasoning and the mental capacity to interact with the information and formulate their own ideas and concepts. The only way for students to do this and be familiar with the tools that they will be required to use in the real world is to have them interact and learn with technology supplementally in the classroom. I agree with Mr. November that our students need to be taught how to formulate their own ideas and organize concepts based off of technology prevalent in the contemporary society. > media type="custom" key="7104797" align="center"
 * Alan was named one of the nation’s fifteen most influential thinkers of the decade by Classroom Computer Learning Magazine.
 * In 2001 listed one of eight educators to provide leadership into the future by the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse.
 * In 2007 he was selected to speak at the Cisco Public Services Summit during the Nobel Prize Festivities in Stockholm, Sweden.
 * His writing includes numerous articles and best-selling book, Emp owering Students with Technology.
 * Alan was co-founder of the StanfordInstitute for Educational Leadership Through Technolog.
 * Selected as one of the original five national Christa McAuliffe Educator . RG