Overall it seems very much in line with Obama's campaign speeches and recent statements on education, in which he urges individual responsibility and innovation. But there are a few interesting points which should be pointed out here, like the reference to media and culture artifacts:
"I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox."and
"Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class."
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"You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy."
He weaves his personal story into the address to make it more vivid, trying to deliver his messages in an illuminating way. I think it is a great opportunity for schools to share his speech with teachers and students on different formal or informal forums (e.g., Twitter, classroom blog, wiki, etc.) to engage discussions, and to decide what need to be further improved in their educational concepts, rationales, and practices.
My colleague at the EdLab passed me the following 4th grader's video response to the speech, which is quite interesting:
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