Powerful Learning Practice offers a unique opportunity for educators to participate in a long-term, job-embedded professional development program that immerses them in 21st Century learning environments.
the cohort model uses a blend of face to face and online curriculum to connect small teams of educators from forward thinking schools and grows those connections over the course of a school year.
I challenge GoogleApps for Education--the organization, not the users--to speak up and share the toll-free number they have for technical support, knowledgeable support staff to respond to questions, and HelpDesk for their GoogleApps
This comment does not align with the fact that "helpdesk" models have changed drastically by all software.
Perhaps a place for a future business opportunity...?
I would say, when it comes to seeking answers for google apps questions, I have always found the answer within a few clicks and searches. There is a good tech support sytem, it just doesn't look and feel the same as the old model.
Somehow we keep confusing technology use in the classroom with negative outcomes rather than seeing and understanding the exponential expansion of learning possibilities and the positive advantages our student will have in navigating the world of new jobs still unknown to us because of their familiarity with technology.
This fear factor reasoning not only denies students access to the tools that will aid their learning, but it it also sets them up for troubles and potential failure in that they don't learn cyber responsibility in a guided way, but are left to the very "wolves" we think we are protecting them from. "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" that's our current motto in education.
Errors of omission consist of not doing something that should have been done.
Of these, errors of omission are usually the most costly because it is harder to correct a missed opportunity than to correct something that has been done.
Thus, those who want to avoid errors in an organization that define mistakes as a bad – if not punishable – thing find that to maximize their job security they should do as little as possible.” (Ackoff & Greenberg, p.7575)
There are and should be no more excuses, just swiftly planned action to put technology in the hands of every student for use whenever there is a need.