The Connected Classroom: Supporting Reluctant Swimmers-or letting them drown? - 0 views
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I have to wonder how many folks would jump in at all if they were afraid of the water. As David Truss points out, "too many people fear drowning and never get into the pool” and that in most Teacher Ed programs the amount of technology skill they leave the program with seems to be optional... to me that's like throwing a non-swimmer into the deep end.
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I spend a day or two, sometimes a week “teaching folks to swim.” I give them the skills and we go SLOW.
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There has been talk in the edtech community for a long time that we need to stop talking about the tools, but I disagree. You are always going to have those non-swimmers who finally find their way to the edge of the pool. Teach them what the water feels like and support them as they develop confidence in using the tool. When I share a tool like voicethread with a teacher, they can see so many ways it can be used in the classroom. They get excited about the potentials but they don’t understand the many concepts that go into it, embedding, and sharing, and privacy, and moderating comments, are so new to them…They are excited about being at the pool's edge, but it is like being thrown into that deep end for the first time.
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So True! We do need to continue talking about the tools, but that can't be our focus, that is our line of support.
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There has been talk in the edtech community for a long time that we need to stop talking about the tools, but I disagree.
