Myron Dueck

David Bowie offered a timeless warning to all educators. When speaking about our students, and the inevitability of change, he suggests they may ‘be immune to your consultations…they’re quite aware what they’re going through.’

Education gets a little more complicated with each passing year. With the aftershocks of a global pandemic reverberating, overnight artificial intelligence (or AI), most notably Chat GPT, has dominated the headlines and many of our educational conversations.

How are educators and schools supposed to adjust to the reality that computer platforms and robots can perform tasks typically reserved for intelligent beings – us! How might we need to adjust our purpose for learning? Could AI help teachers engineer environments rich with inquiry? How do we stay relevant?

Perhaps we need to rewind a little through history to look for clues as to how to manage change and adapt to new technologies, all the while striving to deliver what students and communities need (and want). With a clear sense of who we are, and the service we provide, and the quest to model adaptability, perhaps we can look at technology and change with a little less trepidation and a lot more confidence.

This keynote represents a journey of changing practice. From learning targets to retesting…grading and rubrics, Myron will share how his practices have needed to shift with each change to our educational and societal landscape.  Globally, educators are adopting new performance scales to complement curriculum that requires students to analyze, create, design, and argue. We are taking steps long overdue in embracing inclusive language, Indigenous practices, and equity for all students. Most recently, as we pick ourselves up from the COVID gauntlet, we face the challenge of AI/ChatGPT being at the fingertips of every learner, educator, and parent. With every development, instruction, assessment, grading, and reporting are impacted. Participants will learn from this journey and take away an array of tools and templates.

In this humorous, fast-paced and broadly relevant keynote, we will start with the unmistakable reality that we are all different in our passions, skills and learning styles. Considering this reality, we need to make learning personal, meaningful and relevant, and essential to this goal is asking the student for input.

In an era of Facebook and Trip Advisor, where feedback from the user is considered essential information, how often do we ask  students for their opinion on grading, assessment, reporting or relationships? In ‘Ask Them’ Myron Dueck will argue that it is high time we ask students about their opinions and experiences as they relate to learning. By sharing the views of real students, and incorporating some of the tools used to gather evidence of learning, Myron will present the case that students have much to share concerning their understanding and it is time we listened very carefully.

Novelist Norman Douglas wrote in 1917 that, ‘you can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements’. Whether humorous or dramatic, subtle or loud, by some estimates we encounter somewhere between 300 and 6000 ads each day. A staggering 600 billion dollars are spent annually trying to influence what we purchase, what we think and how we act (O’Reilly & Tennant). Perhaps us educators might have something to learn from the world of advertising.

In this interactive keynote, Myron will incorporate actual ads and dig into the type of design-thinking behind them. Some key, transferrable themes will be investigated. For instance, we may want to…

• Design experiences that invite curiosity rather than demand attention.
• Be clear on our purpose of education.
• Ensure that we create a feeling or culture that supports learning.
• Spend time and energy creating our own ‘elevator pitch’ for what we do, and why we do it.

The best advertising firms understand that success is born through establishing a feeling, or culture, around a brand. More recently, in light of avenues such as YouTube and Instagram, some suggest that it’s the consumer who defines the product, not the producer. Could the same changes be occurring in our schools? Participate in this keynote to explore why education may want to take a page from advertising’s catalogue.

We’ve been through some pretty big changes in our collective past, and clearly the COVID pandemic was one of them. There’s no denying that transformational forces are at play in the global education arena – not least on account of COVID. Unlike the pandemic 1919, our readily accessible digital technology has allowed us to reach across the street, into our homes and around the world… to connect, communicate, learn. Education has mutated as of late, and there may be no going back.

We also got a little better at navigating constraints, the daily inability to do things the way ‘we’ve always done them’. Most recently it’s AI that’s commanded the educational headlines and again we need to adapt. So as the ground moves beneath our feet, let’s be mindful that changes and constraints can be forces for good. In this keynote, Myron will argue that instruction and assessments that include inquiry, differentiation, exploration and problem solving may prove more effective for an uncertain future.

Legendary NASA Flight Director, Mr. Gene Kranz, famously declared that ‘Failure Is Not an Option’ while engineering the safe return of the Apollo 13 crew. Though this approach is essential when lives hang in the balance, it may not be the mantra to adopt when designing deeper learning experiences for our students.  Recent research suggests that creativity and understanding are the silver lining of struggle. Furthermore, bands like the Beatles, who took great artistic risks, ended up fundamentally changing modern music.   Surprisingly, immediate feedback models and instant performance measurements can be misinterpreted as true student understanding, while our own life experiences suggest that difficulty, uncertainty and mistakes provide the canvas for long-term memory. This keynote will make the case that if we want to increase student learning and promote competencies such as critical thinking and problem-solving, we need to embrace modes of inquiry, risk and exploration in which failing is certainly an option.

In this humorous, fast-paced and broadly relevant keynote, Myron will start with the unmistakable reality that we are all different in our passions, skills and learning styles. Considering this reality, we need to make learning personal, meaningful, and relevant, and essential to this goal is asking the student for input.  In an era of Facebook and Trip Advisor, where feedback from the user is considered essential information, how often do we ask students for their opinion on grading, assessment, reporting or relationships? In ‘Ask Them’ Myron Dueck will argue that it is high time we ask students about their opinions and experiences as they relate to learning. By sharing the views of real students and incorporating some of the tools used to gather evidence of learning, Myron will present the case that students have much to share concerning their understanding and it is time we listened very carefully.

When content was our focus, we delivered ample amounts of it with specific pedagogy. However, it’s obvious that the cutting edge of global education has shifted towards competencies such as problem-solving, critical thinking and creativity. The global forum rewards the competent learner who has a sliver of innovation over one who has a broad but shallow knowledge base. Given that learning is a dynamic endeavor with multiple pathways to achieve it, how we design the context for learning becomes paramount.  As we teach students who will see the 22nd century, we should not guess what will be required, but rather help our students develop the tools that have always been necessary for both advancement and survival. ‘Retool’ means to ‘adapt or alter something to make it more useful or suitable’; perhaps this is exactly what we need to do to remain relevant.

Schools have mission statements and an abundance of rules and policies. What are educators and students to do when the messages embedded in these established doctrines collide with the very practices used in the school? This keynote highlights how mixed messages abound everywhere in our society and that the extent to which our actions contradict our words ranges from the humorous to the disturbing.  Unfortunately, it’s no different in schools.  From school mission statements to classroom rules and norms, students certainly feel the brunt of mixed messages.  This keynote not only addressed the issue of confusing statements, but participants will also get a few suggestions and hands-on strategies to deal with the most obvious mixed messages surrounding standards-based grading issues related to homework, lates and attendance.

Tradition is valued and upheld in many school districts.  While educational institutions have much to be proud of and should honor the contributions previous educators, what are we to do when new, and possibly contradictory, ideas and research appear on the horizon? Participants in this session will be challenged to identify the difference between upholding tradition and defending something that is arguably obsolete.  What if poses a series of questions such as: What if students could monitor their own progress?  What if we only measured personal evidence of learning? What if students could strive for mastery learning? This keynote will challenge educators to think outside the box and to consider the value of a paradigm shift. Thankfully replacement routines will be offered for each question.

Poverty is a reality in communities and classrooms across North America, and too often the policies and practices in the classroom further exacerbate the challenges faced by economically disadvantaged students.  In an era when schools supply food when it is lacking at home, what do we do with homework policies when students do not have support at home? This is one of many questions that arise when we focus on how grading and assessment routines must be changed to improve the educational outlook for students who live in challenging situations.  Actual accounts of teachers and students will be used to make the point that grading and assessment routines need to be part of the socio-economic disparity conversation. Many students overcome the hurdles imposed by poverty, and along the way a few changes to traditional grading and assessment structures can help.

Common Core (CCSS), NGSS, C3, AERO and many other curricular learning outcomes have ‘arrived’ and with them educators are tasked with re-examining the focus of learning.  Myron Dueck will discuss the importance of targets, while focusing on the vital role that targets play in learning. If applicable to the location, a short history of the origins of CCSS will be provided so that audience members will have a better understanding of ‘how did we get here?’ Myron will demonstrate how he incorporated CCSS/NGSS/C3-style learning outcomes into the day-to-day routines of his own classroom.  Student responses to learning targets will be presented as well as a selection of projects that resulted from them. Accurate data around the extent to which students have understood the targets is achievable and Myron will highlight his experiences in obtaining results that guide instruction. We create opportunities for creativity and autonomy once it is clear of the direction of the learning. Common targets do NOT equal common teaching, but assessments that link to common targets can certainly equate to a common set of goals and possibly better instruction.

This keynote is an overview of Myron’s best-selling book, ‘Grading Smarter Not Harder – Assessment strategies that motivate kids and help them learn’. The audience will get a distinct flavor for the tone of the book as well as a good idea for what we could do differently in the areas of grading, unit plans (targets), homework, retesting and creativity.  Myron tackles why we need to consider changes to traditional grading and assessment routines, and provides a look at the tools that can help pave the way for effective change. Overall, the importance of building strong relationships is emphasized.

With the introduction of ChatGPT, Bard and other generative AI platforms, educators are faced with adapting our instructional and assessment practices. In this session we will examine ChatGPT, Magic School and a few other AI tools while we tackle a few key questions:

• How can educators use AI tools in their practice to save time and devote energy to other things such as assessing student learning?
• What are some critical shifts in assessment occurring at post-secondary and elsewhere that can guide our decisions?
• How might the existence of AI impact grading practices and homework?
• What are some effective approaches to instruction and assessment in an AI world?
• Can we develop effective sequences and processes to more effectively use AI to address learning outcomes and build applicable assessment tools?

In 1964 Marshall McLuhan famously declared, ‘The medium is the message’. Myron Dueck will seek to underscore this idea as he shares tips, tools, and ideas from over 20 years of presentation design and delivery. This hands-on session will offer participants:

• Effective ideas for students, teachers, and leaders around storytelling and messaging
• General design considerations that reflect purpose and intention
• Specific slide design tools and approaches that capture attention and help underscore a theme

Participants will receive numerous resources that support effective messaging, as well as strategies and skills that can be incorporated in common programs such as PowerPoint, Keynote and Google slides. Attendees are encouraged to bring a laptop to receive resources and begin the design process in this session.

In their NYT bestseller, ‘Extreme Ownership’ (2015), former Navy SEALs Willink and Babin describe the necessity of ‘Decentralized Command’: that ‘every tactical-level team member must understand not just what to do, but why they are doing it’. If this principle is true for SEAL team members, it likely applies to learning environments and our students. Research suggests that how we engineer our assessment strategies impacts the perceptions students have of fairness, equity and accessibility. This session will focus on ways that we can invite students into the assessment realm as co-pilots rather than disinterested passengers. Key topics will include:

• Sharing and co-creating learning targets based on standards.
• Helping students understand and use performance assessments (rubrics).
• Considering the right scale: proficiency scales vs 100 categories
• Student self-reporting – on academics, behaviors & personal insights.