A focus on personal learning networks – I shared my skype, twitter, blog, & contact information with total strangers that were supposed to reciprocate, however they didn’t know what these tools are. This networking opportunity provided me with a reinforcement of the idea that teachers are overwhelmed and afraid of not being able to keep up. I was glad to share my knowledge and experience with these particular tools, I only hope that they will go home and make these connections – to become not only followers of my tweets, but participants in the blogosphere as well. I look around the room in this presentation and see lights on or off. I hope that those that have a light on will share with others and those with lights off make connections to others so that they can become more aware of the possibilities for PLNs.

I almost lost it. The individuals at my table were SO OPPOSED to exposing students to the web. I heard phrases like “Kids don’t need to have access to everything out there” and “We don’t have time to include that stuff in our class.” I think back to some conversations with others in Ed Tech and realize that we need to work with teachers to refine their thinking. Technology is not an add-on, but an integral part of student learning and teaching practice.

Lesson Learned: When you introduce wikis, blogs, and web tools to classroom teachers, you must start out with definitions lead by examples. You must also take participants through the process of establishing each tool that was used. This provides on the spot guidance through creating a web presence. When participants go through these processes together, they are more likely to continue their personal exploration of these tools. Individuals that are not given support initially are not likely to go back to the class and start using this on their own. Also, teachers must be provided the opportunity for continuing this support long after the PD session has ended. Thankfully, this session ended with such support in a community wiki that is open to all.

Does this look any different than any other school out there today? At first, you might think yes because students have their own desktop, but of the thirty minutes I spent in this classroom, 20 of it was spent filling out reading logs, silent sustained reading, and shuffling worksheets from one student to the next. As a school described as a Technology High School, I found computers for nearly every student, equipment for every teachers, and skills that did not go far beyond the lowest levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. I watched as classes supposedly used multimedia to reinforce the curriculum, but it was more of the same. Teachers read a book with students and then reinforced the plotline and history with a MOVIE!!!!! I asked the teachers how much of the movie would be shown. “We’re going to watch 20 minutes of the movie…” I was relieved to hear that…but then she continued with “…each day until we finish it.” This isn’t promoting higher order thinking, contributing to the greater good of a global community, or nurturing ICT skills or digital literacy. So I have one question, what would you do to support this school’s endeavor to become a technology enriched environment?