Today, I am proud to say, my first entry was published.  Focusing on the K 12 Online Conference, organized by WesFryer and others, I took the opportunity to show educators the value of this FREE ongoing conference. When you have a chance, take the time to read EdTech conferences persist without funding: The K-12 Online Conference.

Now, I don’t know what will be visible once you click on the link, but here’s a run down of what it was when it was live. You’ll need to understand two major components that went into creating this:

1. CurrentTV - a television station that broadcasts programs created by the audience…in essence it what web 2.0 is, but for television. It came about in 2005 and has been on the air 24/7 since then. Current.com came about a few years later as a way for the audience to be involved even further.

2. Twitter – a microblogging site that supports instant blog posts, limited to 140 characters (about the length of a standard text message). Twitter is part social network, part blog site. Twitter’s power lies in the built in features that allow tweets to mesh with other programs.

So what was on current.com during the VP debate? Think: VH1′s pop-up video meets CNN. As people posted their tweets marked with a tag #current, they would pop-up, in real time, on the Current TV airing of the debate. Most of the comments were relevant and appropriate with only a few making comments that were less than appropriate.

This is powerful! This is amazing! I can’t get enough of web 2.0 mash-ups.

Each day, I set my mind on the task that when someone needs my help, I give to them. I do this with one thing in mind – educate others so that they might be able to help themselves. Give them the knowledge and confidence to tackle problems when they encounter them. Today’s education system no longer needs to cram information into student’s brain, but we need to show them how to dissect information and use it in meaningful ways. Critical thinking is vital to learning today.

So as we as continue down the paths of technology and education, we have to make sure that teachers focus on becoming technologically literate. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. Try something new and celebrate your successes. From that, you will only move forward.

If you haven’t read Karl’s article, then please do so – and share it with others – after all it’s been around for more than a year.

By the way, here’s a shot of Karl I took at NECC this summer: