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This slide share is a pretty good prep to see what is being said and done in schools who are ingaged in 1:1 computing. Henrico County Schools are also mentioned.

Online social networking is spawning a new type of professional development that brings educators together to share face-to-face lessons, but in a more freewheeling-and, some argue, more targeted-way than traditional conferences intended to boost teaching skills.

"A sixth grade class at Yokohama International School in Japan is using Google Apps to complete all of their assignments, including the creation of tutorials designed in Presentation and surveys created in Forms. Each student's work is then published to the web and shared through ePortfolios." 2011 Horizon Report

This is an article for the times. Good information to be shared with colleagues.

I am so glad that there are sites like these that introduce information in easy to understand language and vusuals. Understanding TPACK

It is always good to hear about TPACK. I appreciate it. Thanks.

Breakdown of the different aspects of TPACK and how they can work together

This is a great summary of the history of educational technology

YES! Saw this today. Thanks for sharing.

Amusing little video that goes through a cartoon timeline of the technology used in classroom pre-historic up to present day.

One of my faves. Thanks for sharing it!

Have you ever said or thought this: "We didn't have [x] when I was a kid and I turned out okay"? You might be interested on an article shared by George Couros in Twitter. The author says if this argument is valid, so these others are too: "Buses? We walked to school barefoot, in the snow, uphill both ways!", "Electricity? Pshaw! Do you know how dangerous those wires are? When we were kids we had oil lamps and candles and everything was fine.", "Agriculture? Hah! It's the ruin of society! Kids are just sitting around getting soft while they watch the crops grow. When I was a child we actually had to run after our food. We were tough, not like these kids today.", etc… Check it out!

The knee-jerk reactions that teachers (& yes, me too!) have against new technology applications are perfectly understandable. Change is not always easy, but attitudes will depend on how things are introduced and explored. I successfully avoided Facebook for a year until a friend sat me down and went through it (it was also the only way to communicate with her, so I had to!) Some of the negativity from teachers must be connected to how technologies are introduced to them. Being told "you are doing this, this and this now" without any explanation or support is bound to develop negativity.

I decided to share this plan because it has a comprehensive approach to developing a district level technology plan. I also noticed that they have been working on a technology plan since 2004. They include all stakeholders in thier plan, which is relevant to our topic.

This is the technology plan for Virginia. One can use this to compare their own district's technology plan.

Glad you shared this. And, yes, it'd be great to hold up your school or district tech plan to both the national and state plans.

I like the second video that discusses how administrators can use tech to collaborate. I hadn't previously thought about using tech to have students' records follow them.

This document pinpoints how to realize the benefits of technology, schools must develop a plan for integrating technology into the curriculum. It explains that an effective technology plan is based on the shared vision of educators, parents, community members, and business leaders who have technological expertise. And how it strengthens existing curricula and supports meaningful, engaged learning for all students. There are many enriching links to go deeper into the several aspects that the article mentions.

Contrasting and comparing school/district/state/natiomnal technology plans requires standardized "Best Practices."

Great supporting documentation and access to further information in the form of imbedded hyperlinks

A Wiki site created by Judi Harris & Mark Hofer ( School of Education, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia USA) for sharing and developing ideas for incorporating TPACK into educational environments. Some good suggestions and ideas, with links to resources and webpages.

The Web offers a trove of just-in-time resources that administrators may find helpful, such as podcasts, online classes, and social networks that can match up administrators across the country, he said. Read the whole series on Virtual PD!

Some good pros and cons raised in the article and I agree that face-face and online courses have a place for both teachers and administrators. Attitudes towards webinars need to be addressed too - numerous times the webinar is on in the background whilst the teacher works... how much is being absorbed during this? Yes it can cut down travel times etc. but participants need to focus without distraction - is that always possible in school?

In reading this article I thought about the same Viv... I have the feeling that on trying to be more effective and save time, the school districts are actually making PD sessions unreachable for many teachers... There can be wonderful opportunities out there but if enough time is not provided to take advantage of them or to have enriching discussions afterwards, teachers are not going to internalize and process how to apply the new knowledge to the classroom.