Algoma District School Board welcomes back Will Richardson – one of the first education bloggers and out-of-the-box thinker

Will Richardson has spent the last dozen years developing an international reputation as an outspoken advocate for change in schools and classrooms in the context of diverse new learning opportunities that the Web and other technologies now offer.

He spent two days in April conducting sessions with staff of the Algoma District School Board.

A parent of two teen-agers and a former public school educator for 22 years, Will is a leading thinker and writer about learning in a “networked” world. He was one of a handful of original education bloggers and over the past eight years, he has spoken to tens of thousands of educators in over a dozen countries about the merits of online learning networks for personal and professional growth.

Will recognizes that “…if we have access and the skills to take advantage of it, the Web gives us an easy connection to the people and the resources that we need to learn whatever we want to learn, when we want to learn it.

That fact challenges the fundamental beliefs that we’ve held about schools and teaching and learning for over 100 years. As our students graduate into a fast-changing, globally networked world, what assumptions do we need to reconsider about how to best prepare them for their futures? How can each one of us begin to change our own learning practice to better model these new opportunities for our students? And what new challenges do we have to overcome to make sure the idea of school remains relevant in the networked world in which our students will live?”

(excerpt from Will Richardson’s website: www.willrichardson.com

Algoma District School Board educators were challenged with some of the same questions as Will brought his presentation to Sault Ste Marie in April (2016).

Will has authored six books, including “Why School? How Education Must Change When Learning and Information are Everywhere”, published by TED books and his most recent book “Freedom to Learn: Solutions for Modern Learning.”