As a computer teacher and
technology instructor I often get on my soap box about new and innovative technology.
When I talk to my peers about being a “connected” instructor, their first reply
is often “Why? What’s in it for me?” shadowed by “I have too much to do already!” I can understand that. Two years ago I was
feeling the same way. My days were full,
doing the best I could in my classroom, insulated to only the help that was
close by. Having just started my Master’s degree program, there was not a spare
minute in my day. How could I ever find time to connect with others? How would
my instruction and my students
benefit? Although the process was ambiguous to me, because of a class
requirement, I started following educational chats on Twitter. I discovered a winning
collection of educators, who encouraged me to give my students more say and ownership
in my classroom. I began to trade my evening DVR time for twitter chats, where
I shared my classroom accomplishments and struggles. During this process, I
realized just how much I had in common with teachers all over the globe. Online,
I found that sharing helped me to step out of my box and move towards becoming a
more productive person and more engaging to my students.
Becoming a connected educator has transformed the way I
view education and has helped me identify with the lives of my students in a
completely different way. Technology has taken me to a level where I can
collaborate beyond my wildest imagination. What is my message to you? Technology is not going to go away, so it essential
that you be connected if you are going to be a quality 21st Century
educator.
As I progressed in my graduate program I realized the
power of reaching out to others that knew more and had experienced more than I
had. It became blatantly obvious that the whole world could be my students’
teacher, not just me. I knew I was not enough anymore, and I am excited about that!
Now that I am connected myself I am taking major steps to connect my
students and connect my curriculum. I think many forget the power of connecting
their students or simply don’t know the tools available now to help them do
that. We chatter about connected educators and all that it brings into our days,
but I think it is time we swing the conversation to that of connected students
as well. Sure, I am now connected, but that does not matter if my students are
not. Rather than just ourselves to get connected, let’s focus on getting our
students connected too, through a “Connected Curriculum”. Let’s focus on showing what pulling the world
in represents and how it can revolutionize the way our students think about their
world. Let’s center our attention on making global collaboration simple, even
if it is one small measure at a time. It is not enough to be a connected yourself
anymore, we must evolve into connected educators that connect our students, and
we can do that through making simple changes to our individual classroom
curriculums. We need to give our students the opportunity to call out to the
world and then see how the world answers them back. We must have faith in them to
do the right thing and educate them on how to do it best.
Online
communities and educational networks are helping educators all over the world
to learn, access global knowledge, and create opportunities for
collaboration. However, many educators
are not yet joining in nor realizing the advantages.
My
purpose of this blog is to help you join the massive ocean of connected
educators, online communities, and Web 2.0 tools. This is not a “sink or swim” challenge…..the
intent of this forum is to give those that need it a place to start, and those
that have expertise a place to share. Stand on the edge and dip your toe in or
go ahead and dive in headfirst. There
will be many useful resources here and I encourage you to take advantage of them
as you being your professional learning voyage. Even as a beginner, I’m sure
you’ll find something to “connect” with!
I believe that we are all guilty of professing the “lifelong
learner” path to our students, but do we practice what we preach? Education shouldn’t
stop when you get your teaching certificate or even your graduate degree; the
world is changing too fast not to keep up. You have to be a lifelong learner. The
tools for education today lie in the technology and I will be introducing some
of the best of these tools on this blog.
My challenge to you is to TRY them.
Step out of your box, change your mind language, and give one or two of
these a shot each week. Tomorrow will bring Challenge #1, so be ready
my friends!
Completely Agree!! I have become addicted to Twitter chats. I find myself searching for chats each evening and crashing those from other states or disciplines. We have so much to learn from each other. Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteWhen I first discovered the world of the "connected educator" in 2008 my entire world changed. During the first few years I taught I worked in pretty much complete isolation. When you feel alone and isolated it is easy to dig in your heels and refuse to change your practices. When you teach in isolation what you do year after year is good enough because you have no idea that there are better (and more exciting!) ways to teach and engage students. Over the last 6 years I have had access to educators from around the globe. My perspective is so much different than it was before I was connected and my students are the ones who have benefitted the most! They use a variety of web tools to share their work and connect to the world outside of Scottsbluff. I cannot wait to read you blog and see what challenges you have in store for us!
ReplyDeleteThis is really awesome stuff and certainly reflects the wave of the future...which is here now! Bert
ReplyDeleteThere is so much to learn globally and what better way to do this. What kids need to learn in my opinion is that technology is note than gaming and Facebook. It is also learning responsible behavior and what else is out there.
ReplyDeleteSorry. I didn't put my name above. Kel
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