Twitter was allowing me to share and discuss with hundreds, even thousands, of teachers all over the world - a far cry from those isolated initial years
many majorly successful online teacher communities which provided the sort of positive environment I was looking for.
With the huge potential that Information and communication technology has to offer for teaching and learning also comes a matching potential for distraction, illicit and inappropriate activity, and poor judgement.
The teacher holds a cornerstone role in the development of understanding, the appreciation of culture and diversity, and the formation of the moral and ethical basis that, like the cornerstone of a building, provides a strong and stable foundation for life in both the real and virtual world they co-inhabit.
The most salient lessons are not learned by avoidance but by facing you action, its impact, and the consequences.
The teacher is no longer just the master of their subject. They are much, much more. Their classroom is no longer defined by four walls and a blackboard, but stretches far beyond the physical boundaries of their school. We are global teachers, ethicists, and moralists. We are masters of our subject and students of the world.
Papert explores constructionism vs. instructionsm, the potential of the Internet, teacher "training," the choice between Monday and Someday, as well as what we can learn from watching children play video games OR what children can learn by making video games.
Listen carefully at around 27:00 about uncertainty of impact on new social connections via screens... 38:00 "We need to maximize the ration of learning:teaching" 53:00 Teacher needs to be more of a philosopher than technician 62:35 onward: Teachers wait for "training" because that is the traditional paradigm of learning. As we get more "sophisticated", we stop learning (on our own) and wait for training (the teacher as technician/pedagogy). We need to embrace a new paradigm of learning over teaching (constructionism/constructivism)...
Rather than trying to stay ahead of their students with the content they teach, they should be staying ahead of their students in guiding them through the process of navigating and accessing content. If teachers are still trying to deliver content to their students the way teachers have historically, then they will easily burn out and feel overwhelmed. This is not to say that teachers should no longer teach, but it's not humanly possible for us to always know more than our students when information is just a click away.
Technology does not make teaching (or life) easier as much as it raises standards and extends one's capabilities.
Because information is easy for students to get, they deal with problems, projects, and learning in a different way.
So, there is a gap between students and teachers. I can’t say for sure how wide the gap is, but it certainly seems to be getting smaller (that’s the good news). But, it is not happening fast enough (that’s the bad news).
Traditionally, it has been the teachers showing the students something new – now, it seems as though the students are showing something new to their teachers. That’s not an issue, it just means that teachers need to be aware of these changes, accept them, and make sure that students learn how deal with it all. The job is still the same – prepare the students for their future.
So how did I learn all of the technology I use in my instruction and in my online collaborations with teachers? I learned it on my own.
So, I started using the internet to learn how to do what I wanted to do – blog, make videos, make podcasts, publish student work, etc. Of course it wasn’t easy, but I wanted to learn it so I did. (That is key – my learning was self-directed.)
learns best just like me-when she's interested, motivated, under no pressure of expectation and not afraid to fail. How do we as teachers transfer this type of learning to the classroom?
greater challenge, the researchers wrote, is in expanding teachers' knowledge of new instructional practices that will allow them to select and use the right technology, in the right way, with the right students, for the right purpose.
Google Docs. The application's power to support collaborative writing and in-depth feedback, however, was not being realized. Teachers were not encouraging group-writing assignments and their feedback focused overwhelmingly on issues such as spelling and grammar, rather than content and organization.
experts seem to agree on: so-called "job-embedded" professional development that takes place consistently during the workday
the greater challenge, the researchers wrote, is in expanding teachers' knowledge of new instructional practices that will allow them to select and use the right technology, in the right way, with the right students, for the right purpose.
Because iPads deal with pdfs so easily, teachers can share out their assignments as .pdfs, either via their websites, qr codes, email, etc.
We have Google Apps, including email, so one option is students emailing their assignments to the teacher.
But the happiest and most powerful benefit of all is seeing all the staff and students coming together to problem solve. Students helping teachers with utilizing an app, students sharing apps with one another, teachers showing other teachers new methods for doing things, teachers sharing with students, and tech staff and library staff all in the mix as well.