Dean Shareski is the Community Manager for Discovery Education Canada since 2012. From 2002-2012, he worked as a Digital Learning Consultant with the Prairie South School Division in Moose Jaw, SK, Canada. Previous to that Dean taught grades K-8 for 14 years and specializes in the use of technology in the classroom.

Dean wrote “Embracing a Culture of Joy” and a new book with Scott McLeod, “Different Schools for a Different World.” I’ve been lucky to attend several of his keynotes and am honored to have a conversation about culture, joy, and so much more. Dean mentions no selfies but I’ve had a few with him so I had to include one. We didn’t talk about why he loves to take pictures of people jumping but I had to add a picture of Dean jumping. Below are a few excerpts from the podcast, some of his presentations, and about his books.
 
About you and your family
I always share my family in my presentations. It is controversial about how much to share about your personal life. I’ve always focused on the idea that you learn from people you like and there has to be some kind of connection so you can relate to them. So I hope that sharing my story helps connect to some of their own experiences. We live in the middle of Canada. My wife is an educator also and we have four wonderful children, three of whom are married. My youngest is in her first year of post-secondary school. Most exciting of all is that we are grandparents for the first time last October. Everything I talk about now is about my granddaughter who is just a real joy and delight.
 
Your background as a teacher using technology in the classroom
When I first started teaching in 1989, there wasn’t a lot of technology around. We were just starting to get a computer or two in the school. The idea of a computer lab kind of emerged somewhere in the mid-90s. I didn’t have any specific fascination with technology more than probably most teachers did then. I kind of remember a distinct turning point for me around the use of technology. One was access to a video camera and a digital camera which I took home and used first as a way of documenting my family. Then I started thinking how these could be used with students. I remember giving a session on an in-service day sharing what I learned about the digital camera with other teachers. That began my journey using technology and moved pretty quickly to the late 90s to where I believed that it had great potential. As the Internet began to emerge and software became more user-friendly, there was more of an opportunity to explore and use those resources. When I think of technology, the whole media production aspect is what I captured my interest.

I began teaching first grade and there weren’t many opportunities for them to create at that time. But when I taught middle school, there were a lot of opportunities so I had kids doing video production and even did video poems and other powerful stories. When I look back I was lucky to work with small groups of gifted students where I could really explore with and learn from them. It was an important time in my own learning.

When Beauty Leads to Empathy (TEDx West Vancouver September 2016)

 
Being a Digital Learning Consultant in Moose Jaw
I became the Digital Learning Consultant in 2002 at our school district. I adopted that title Digital Learning Consultant to support the district-wide use of technology and pedagogy instead of Technology Coordinator. That was a great experience and opportunity to go even deeper with my own learning. For better or worse, by design or by luck, I tended to reach out to people I thought might be interested. I’d find something new and go to a school and share with a teacher what I thought would be perfect for them or mention to another...