A Reader Needs Your Tech Advice!
March 6, 2008 by Kate Olson
This morning I was contacted by a reader via the chat feature on my blog and he then emailed me the following questions. I told him the best place to get this information is from the vast edtech network, so here it is. I’m throwing this one out to my readers - please help this teacher out, he wants some advice!
“As a computer teacher and computer facilitator in my school I have
recently become very interested in implementing technology in my
classrooms. My job as a computer teacher basically involves computer
programming and some application based instruction (OFFICE, MACROMEDIA,
etc.).
My job as a computer facilitator involves helping teachers implement
technology in the classroom. This is the area where I feel that I have
been failing slightly. Sure I have taught teachers how to access e-mail
and use the class management software that we use to generate marks but
very little of my “Professional Development” involves showing teachers how
to implement computers in the classroom.
Now, with web 2.0 and the collaboration avenues that it opens up, I would
like to start developing professional development (PD) that involves this
technology. I also believe that teachers need to embrace technology when
they are teaching the Digital Natives in today’s classrooms. The only
problem I seem to be having is filtering through all the hype to get down
to the “nitty-gritty” (excuse the colloquiallism) of actually implementing
some of this technology in my classroom (my classes are always guinea pigs
for my PD).
I am wondering if you have any ideas of where I should start, here are
some specific questions that I have:What types of activities using web 2.0 actually benefit the students? I
don’t want to be one of those teachers who implements technology simply
for the sake of implementing technology.
What websites, applications are useful in getting a good start with some
of these activities?
Which technologies do teachers have the ability to learn easily (quick
learning curve)?
I’m very interested to hear your response.”
I chose not to give my answers yet and I’ll be chiming in with my newbie responses, but I’d LOVE to get your input for this guy! Even if you just know of a great place that already answers the questions, that would be wonderful.
Thanks in advance for your help in supporting a teacher who is new to all of this 
Edited to add: Sue Waters is also looking for help today - head on over and help her out with some audio/video web advice!
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1. What types don’t? Anytime I’ve implemented Web 2.0 into student projects, I have had GREAT results - and all seem to impact student achievement.
2. Hmm…well, I can give a couple. I just did a preso on intro to Web 2.0 - that site might help:
http://web2ools.teacherlearning.wikispaces.com
My fav web 2.0 site is: http://go2web20.net
3. Web 2.0! Most web 2.0 are really great at being intuitive softwares - meaning that the learning curve isn’t too steep.
This is less wordy than some of my responses, but I’m in a hurry. Hope this helps!
~Susan
I’ve given PD workshops on wikis on both the local and regional levels, and they always seem to go over well. Wikis have such a low learning curve, yet they hold massive potential for a number of different uses. Without going into a huge post here, I’ll just say that I think wikis are great points of entry for infusing technology into an existing curriculum.
You can see the wiki I put together for a February presentation to the New Jersey Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development here: http://njascd-wikis.wikispaces.com
What about setting up a school wiki with resources that would be useful for general teaching ie, math, English, social studies etc. Introduce it to teachers so they can tap into it for enhancing their lessons … there are so many great sites. An example of what I have done (for our special needs teachers) is http:\\specialneedsresources.wikispaces.com
What about setting up a school wiki with resources that would be useful for general teaching ie, math, English, social studies etc. Introduce it to teachers so they can tap into it for enhancing their lessons … there are so many great sites. An example of what I have done (for our special needs teachers) is http://specialneedsresources.wikispaces.com/
First I’d love to delete the word Digital natives because creates so much misconceptions and isn’t the reason why we should be using technology with our learners.
What types of activities using web 2.0 actually benefit the students? We need to stop thinking about the tools; go back to basics, focus on what we are trying to achieve and why is it important. By doing this we will ensure that we aren’t implementing technology for technology sake. And not throw out good pedagogy when we use technology; I love the example of the two students in the UK that were given PDAs and insisted that they used them in every class for every circumstance. As they were bright, and using the PDAs a teacher made a bad assumption that they knew what they were doing and failed to check their progress. Meanwhile they were totally off task and had no idea how to even tackle the problem; or any understanding that they were lost.
I would suggest your reader joins Open PD because we discuss each tool and the benefits of using with students.
Plus I always recommend that educators use the tools for their own learning first, as they become effective they will soon realise the potential for using with their students. Which tool to start with is very individual - gets back to what engages them. I started with podcasting, then wikis and finally blogging. Others are more engaged by Flickr, digital story telling. Unfortunately as individuals we connect to different tools differently. We also need to accept the time frame between being shown a tool, being engaged by it and then using it effectively can be lengthy. Blogging was 12 months from first being shown a blog, to setting up my own blog.
Which technologies do teachers have the ability to learn easily (quick learning curve)? Gets back to their passion and level of engagement. If they use it for their personal learning will be faster than if only used during work time. Probably wikis (wikispaces).
Hi Kate, can I direct your reader to two open content courses (one is running at the moment which he/she can join informally) and the other one that has ended. They are a bit like Open PD. They are not about how to use the tools but rather designing flexible learning
http://sarah-stewart.blogspot.com/2008/03/designing-flexible-learning-open-access.html
and facilitating online communities
http://sarah-stewart.blogspot.com/2008/02/facilitating-online-learning_7004.html
cheers Sarah