"There is no PURE intelligence" (Day 1, ICOT)

Some points from the sessions I attended (about all I can recall for now):

• Giving standard tests and examinations, whilst seemingly the fairest way to assess pupils, may in fact be un-fair because it ignores the different kinds of intelligence of the students
• Intelligence is always contextual; there is no 'pure' intelligence
• Multi-tasking is a myth
• Photographic memory is a myth (the savant who could draw out the exact details of Rome as he flew in a helicopter over the city notwithstanding)
• Character is indispensable for education; the 'best and the brightest' of America were the ones who started the Vietnam war
• Teaching knowledge is less effective than teaching concepts
• The best way to win in Monopoly is to buy as much as you can, not just Mayfair and Park Lane!
• Learning increases when our hormones are tensed or fired up (e.g. driving!)
• 55% of Australian workers wouldn't mind taking a pay-cut for a more fun work environment

Funniest Moments:

• Rosmah Mansor (Malaysia's First Lady) speaking about the baby who was in her 'stomach' - twice
• The VC of UPM being unable to pronounce Mikhail Csikszentmihalyi and giving up (with Howard Gardner helping him out later)
• The facilitator saying that the First Lady had 'made history' with her speech (I can't recall for what, but something tells me my eyes will roll if I found out...)

Nice Moments:

• The coffee (very creamy and nice) and free Internet kiosks (which don't require you to stand, like in Changi)
• The roast lamb, steam fish and pasta at lunch
• Shaking hands with Kirpal Singh who remembered me from the MindMap conference two years back
• Skipping the opening ceremony (and its dozen anti-insomnic speeches!)
• David Koutsoukis telling jokes, giving fun tips and cool acroyms (e.g. "ABCD" = "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty", "SANTA" = "Saving ANother Teammate's Ass"!)

Not-so-nice Moments:

• Waiting 20 minutes for the First Lady to arrive then having to sit through another 10 minutes of a Permata promo ad
• Howard Gardner's very wordy slides
• The First Lady reading out her presentation and having no slides!
• The banquet tables at lunch which made it awkward to sit down once people were on the table; better, IMO, to use long-tables or standing tables as they did at Norrkoping and Melbourne respectively
• Some lady talking on the phone for almost 30 minutes at the Koutsoukis presentation
• The lack of forks at the buffet!

Lau. Out.