Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference

A scan of likely futures reveals the potential for an emerging "fun era" for educators. Come feel the challenges and see the hope. Joe discusses alternative and very likely future scenarios and their benefits as well as hints at where we can together apply the pressure to get to where we need to be in order to provide the best our centers can offer. Explore a few likely futures and some wild cards that should scare as well as excite. These emerging futures are not the stuff of fantasy, nor are they techno utopian dreams. They are informed by careful hindsight, broad contemporary insight, and methods based foresight with input from your peers, statistics, and even from Joe's experience as a librarian. Piece together education trends, larger shifting economic realities, cultural shifts resulting from technology changes, budget pressures, and signals from the global to the local. Know what to prepare for and discover the help available to get there together. Together is a key word not to be overlooked nor a platitude to be glossed over. Prepare is a central concept - we know working for the best future takes collective effort and we do not want to waste an ounce of our time or effort. Leave knowing that the hour spent together will pay off in familiarity with your most likely futures. Again, you are valued as the expert on where we are going. (Presenter(s): Joe Murphy, Library Futures Consultant, Library Future)