Leadership Matters September 2014

Davidson: Today’s students have their heads in the (digital) clouds

By Michael Chamness IASA Director of Communications

Annual Conference. His presentation titled “Leading, Learning and Achieving: The Reality of the Digital Age for Administrators” is scheduled for the first general session on Wednesday afternoon, October 8. “The real message is the importance of leadership in the digital transition,” Davidson said. “That transition occurs faster and better when it comes from the top, and that’s more important than at any time in curriculum development because it’s

One could say that Hall Davidson went from teaching in the classroom to teaching on TV in a matter of minutes. Literally. Davidson would teach mathematics at a Hollywood middle school until the final bell rang, then would drive to a PBS station in Los Angeles where he was an on-camera math teacher for a live call-in show -- math’s version of Bill Nye the Science Guy. “People would call in with math

problems and we would show them how to solve them on the air,” Davidson recalled. “The show was designed for students, but we knew we had a covert adult audience of stealth learners. We’d get a call from a construction site asking how many yards of concrete it would take to fill a certain area. We didn’t have a lot of tools to work with – the TV weathermen were still drawing on white boards back then – but we solved math problems on live TV.” A cutting-edge concept for the 1970s, the show won an Emmy Award. It also helped launch Davidson on a career of producing

happening so fast and the potential impact to reach individual students is so great. Classroom practices must change and superintendents have to set that tone that moves that forward.” Davidson said his own conversion from the classroom to mass media was a classic case of necessity being the mother of invention.

educational TV shows and being a leading proponent for schools to adapt to the digital age, a transformation that he sees as one of the most important curriculum changes ever for public education. Davidson, Senior Director of Global Learning Initiatives for Discovery Education, will be one of the headline general session speakers at the IASA

Math teachers in the ‘70s were being lured into other professions, helping to create a shortage. Teaching math on a PBS station was one way to reach masses of students, at least those curious enough to watch. Now, he said, the best way to reach students is on their turf, digital turf. It can enhance learning and can induce understanding in students very quickly. He recalled watching with some sense of

Wednesday, October 8 4:30 – 5:45 p.m. Opening Ceremony/First General Session Leading, Learning, Achieving: The Realities of the Digital Age for Administrators

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