This past Saturday I attended the NJEA 2009 Thinking and Learning Symposium. The brochure was filled with promising phrases such as “global classroom” and “information literacy”. When I signed up, I had no way of knowing it would be the most deliciously warm spring day the area has seen in a long time.
Dr. Shari Albright from the Asia Society gave a thought-provoking key-note which clearly explained our changing world. My favorite part was the audience’s reaction to the latest version of “Did You Know”.
One of main reasons I signed up for the workshop was to hear Will Richardson speak. I was NOT disappointed. He blatantly demonstrated that many of our schools are falling further behind because our teachers and students aren’t using powerful tools now available to enhance learning. About halfway through his rapid-fire presentation of all things wonderful (Google Reader, Twitter, Diigo, blogs), the shock and awe began to wear off, and the “Yeah, buts…” (Will’s term) started. Teachers voiced concerns that presenters like Will must hear all the time: my district blocks this, I can’t get permission to use this with my students, I don’t know how to use these tools, I don’t have time to use these tools. Honestly, I’ve usually felt a little slighted when presenters dismiss these types of teacher concerns because we don’t have answers to them. We sometimes feel stuck in a system that encourages professional development, but rarely supports implementation of “new and exciting” practices.
I shared a bit of my PLN journey with the group, hopefully to help them see that you’ve got to start somewhere. I knew what it was like to be trapped by “Yeah, but…”s. It took (and still takes) effort to look at this process from a proactive position. But suddenly it hit me…I finally understood why dwelling on the “Yeah, but…”s was a waste of time. 1) We’d never have time to solve all of the individual issues in the room 2) the issues don’t matter.
I started my PLN about a year ago because the idea that all information and the learning of that information is available at any time blows my mind. All I have to do is participate. Although my district is hestitant about trying these learning methods with our students, I keep…well, bugging the administration about it. It’s been a slow uphill process. During Will’s workshop, I realized that if even 10 teachers in my district had been at the conference and conquered their “Yeah, but…”s, there would be nine more teachers like me trying to make change for our students.
My best advice for someone struggling with an issue that prevents them from taking charge of their learning is to ignore it. Think of what would happen if we ALL started rocking the boat…
PS: a bit of irony… In the morning workshop, Will introduced us to Diigo. We were all impressed by the annotation tool and drooled over the possibilities of using it with staff and students. In the afternoon session, the presenter asked us to ”jigsaw” a photo-copied article and then write notes about the section we read on chart paper hanging around the room.
Many bloggers post about the joy of reading other blogs, and jumping from link to link…practically swimming in new ideas and information. (Will Richardson describes it as a dance, and Steve Dembo reminds us to Link it Up!) To be honest, I often feel what I like to call RSS two-way guilt (I may or may not be the first person to use that term, but I’m surely not the first person to feel it.) When my Reader has 100+ posts, I feel guilty that I’ve neglected my ever generous, always stimulating PLN. After 2+ hours catching up, I feel guilty when my non-educator husband calls from the living room, “Are you still blogging?” (He doesn’t differentiate between PLN activities..everything is “blogging” to him, mostly to yank my chain. I can’t imagine what you folks with kids do.) Would some basic time management help? Of course, but there are only so many hours in the day. I have Twitter, Nings, wikis, and emails to stay on top of! Did I mention I’m also a full-time technology AND gifted/talented teacher? But, alas, I cannot stop…
Believe Me, I’m Not Complaining!
Discovering this “new world” of information 8 months ago is the BEST professional thing that could have happened to me. (I have Lisa Thumann to thank for a great Web 2.0 workshop at Rutgers University.) I was lucky enough to attend the Google Teacher Academy in NYC this past November. (Here is my application video) I met amazing people who have the same (and different)goals and ideas as I do. I’ve encouraged my district administrators to continually add “Web 2.0″, for lack of a better term, to each technology meeting agenda. Today, I pitched the idea of using Google Apps. for Educators with our teachers and students. I made this simple presentation, and it sparked a forward-moving conversation.
Go Team!
My Free Master’s Program
I completed my Master’s degree in Educational Technology in 2005. I’m very proud of that degree, but feel…well…sad, when I think about the hours I spent in musty campus computer labs creating projects that proved my knowledge of Flash (a car driving across the screen) or my superb PowerPoint abilities (creating a Jeopardy game). In three years, I have never felt the need to recreate either of those activities. Participating in my PLN, even if my activity is limited at times, is a free, incredibly engaging opportunity to stretch and grow. I feel the ups and downs that all life-long learners feel: discomfort and hesitation with the new material leading to confidence and pride with the things I’ve mastered. I feel like the student from the YouTube video Networked Student by Wendy Dexler. The last bit of the video describes the role of a teacher as someone who guides, supports and encourages rather than acts as the “sage on the stage”. Somewhat ironically, I think it reinforces the need for f2f learning environments as well. I’m very interested in learning and sharing with my peers in my PLN, but nothing beats seeing the excitement on a fellow educator’s face when they say, “My students LOVED this… it was so cool.”
Thank you to Lisa Thumann for including me in this intellectual game of tag. Following the lead of Barry Bachenheimer, Lisa listed some key beliefs of her educational philosophy. With a belly full of delicious banana pancakes (thank you Fiance’), I’m going to attempt the same:
I believe:
learning should be student centered. Educators know this, but we’re often confined by curriculum, administration or simple lack of time.
educators, just like everyone else, need to be inspired by their leaders, and supported in their quest to achieve professional excellence. This is not achieved by limiting professional development.
a school building should be the original “educational network” (thanks to Vicki Davis for the term). Many of us communicate, share and collaborate online, while in our own schools teachers are reluctant to open their doors and their lesson plans in order to foster a community of learners.
although Education is the business of learning, growing and changing, our society/politicians have not allowed Education to learn, grow or change as much as is needed to keep up with the 21st Century world.
there is hope. There are many educators who love helping children learn about their world. In my opinion, that’s half the battle.
To the Future Mr./Mrs. President of the United States of America, Members of Congress and The House of Representatives:
Let’s cut to the chase: No Child Left Behind scares me. I’m frightened not only by what’s included in the policy (high-stakes standardized testing, and unrealistic and underfunded goals) but also by what’s been left out: the use of terms such as social networking, Web 2.0, blogs, wikis, online collaboration, etc.
Thanks to the Internet, I was able to research the leading presidential candidates’ education platforms and was saddened; Senator Barack Obama, Senator Hilary Clinton, and Senator John McCain, you each addressed the need for educational reform, but didn’t include any plans for Internet-based learning.
While I was conducting my research, I came across some amazing documents on the Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology website. One, Visions 2020.2: Student Views on Transforming Education and Training Through Advanced Technologies seems to break the mold of government documents. Not only is it forward thinking, but real students were interviewed and their desires and needs were published. Among these wishes were “anytime, anywhere learning”, “online classes”, “working digitally-using email and chat for collaborating on homework and schoolwork”. Great news, right?
Well, the document was released in August 2005; the survey of students had been conducted in 2004. So it’s a few years old. Then I pulled up the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Summary for Elementary and Secondary Education on the Department of Education website. Surely, the use of social networking tools in education would be addressed. However, I didn’t even see technology mentioned. If the Office of Educational Technology is aware of these trends, why isn’t educational policy keeping up?
Good news: It’s not too late to learn about the power of these tools and how they could/will/have revamp(ed) the way in which our children learn. I’ve learned quite a bit about this buzz in the last month. I plan to continue learning because I’m becoming a better teacher. I’m asking you to learn with me….so you become better leaders.
Living Example
Ed. Tech’ers, Web 2.0′ers, Tweeters, 21st Century Learners and Teachers: I’m proposing that we take this opportunity to show our future leaders and lawmakers how social networking can help learners grow. Please comment on this post…leave your hopes/wishes/desires/needs/demands concerning the future of educational technology. If you wish, post links to your blogs, wikis, videos, examples of educational Web2.0 tools, whatever. I’m sending this post to the presidential candidates, members of Congress and the House of Representatives: not because I believe they’ll listen to me, but I believe they’ll understand the power of this living document and listen to us.
In my district, elementary students use technology, for the most part, only while they are in the technology lab. For most students, that’s about 30-60 minutes a week. I can only speak for my school when I say that technology is considered a “special” subject. Although I am thankful the teachers recognize my classes as a valuable extension of the curriculum, technology is not generally considered the key to our students’ future. In their defense, our administration uses much of our teacher’s time for professional development of core content areas. How much can we expect teachers to learn independently, when many consider themselves technology novices? On the other hand, some teachers are lax in their efforts to learn even the basic technology their students are mastering!
Lisa Thumann’s post from yesterday really spurred this idea. How do we rally our teachers behind the idea that in order to prepare our students for life in the 21st century:
They need to teach with technology and their students need to learn with technology.
Technology is a thinking tool.
Technology ignites creativity and promotes intellectual, personal and social growth.
If I stood up on the table and proudly stated those heartfelt words at the next faculty meeting, the staff might brand me the new village idiot. Rather, I need the opportunity to show them that technology shouldn’t be “special” anymore.
I’m dreaming up a list of resources I will use when our administration asks me to sell the expansion of the use of technology in our district. Although I expect it to be a continuous work-in-progress, I’ll post it when it’s “finished”.
4/24/08 Thank you to Scott McLeod for posting research about educator perceptions.
