The journey from PARC to now...

"We need permission to take risks and fail. We need permission to fall on our faces with technology before we see the benefits. We need spaces of shared autonomy where we try things out and we need spaces of vulnerability where we are allowed to admit that it didn't work. " - John T. Spencer In July 2006, I experienced and participated in a significant milestone in my learning journey.  I spent a week with four other educators at PARC - the Palo Alto Research Center as part of Xerox/ACSA internship interacting with social scientists, engineers, gaming experts, and mathematicians. At the time, I didn't own a laptop computer.  I didn't know about Second Life, powerpoint or even google.  My technology circle included using the desktop computer for emails and writing with a few researches thrown in for good measure.  Well...that changed! As I look back, I say to myself..."you've come along way since then." My week at PARC broadened my view of the world.  After spending a week in a truly collaborative environment - white boards all over the walls, soft chairs in circles, open rooms where ideas where exchanged and challenged freely - talking about how education needed to be changed - I came back as a different person...ready to take a risk. Perhaps one of the ingredients in our life-long journey is "Risk Taking". What do we have to lose?