In Roads

I just gave my first presentation to our staff on Web 2.0 tools. Even though I have been sharing, discussing, and presenting the tools for over a year now, it was my first time I could package and deliver the whole as pedagogy.

My approach was to use the web 2.0 tools to deliver the message. I stressed two points. I wanted teachers to consider building their own personal learning network and to consider trying one web 2.0 tool that would help them to do that. The second point was to consider trying at least one tool that would help their students to create their own personal learning network.

I had some very capable co-presenters. The K12 Online Conference presenters were there to help out. I used several of the videos and had some great discussion. I'll be back here to share with you any in roads that I make.

I especially liked Drew Murphy's 10 essential skills video. It made sense to my teachers and gave them a starting point. So check out the K12 Online Conference.

K12 OnLine Conference Response!

I missed the live version of David Warlick's Fireside Chat. I won't miss the next one live. Even so, the recorded version is great. It has compelled me to chime in on question asked.

How do teachers use these new tools.

People learn best when they have a reason, when it is relevant, when it becomes personal. In a previous life I was a shop teacher. Shop teachers have always known that hands on project oriented learning is very successful. I can create a list a mile long with names of students over the past 27 years who succeeded in my classrooms, shop or technology, when they completely failed in other traditional settings.

This is an undercurrent in my mind as I learn about and implement the web 2.0 tools. I don't mean it to sound arrogant in anyway. The new twist on it all for me is the social aspect of most of these tools. You must not underestimate the power of the larger audience.

One of the projects my students complete is a podcast review. You can check them out here. Within the first few hours of our first post of a review, we were contacted by the hosts of the podcast. They had all kinds of questions for us. This made it very real for the student who reviewed the podcast. You should have seen this student scramble to see what he wrote in his review. The hosts ended up discussing the experience in a podcast. This was a moment they won't forget. This made it real. They were held accountable and I didn't have to say a word.

I believe you need to tap into this new form of accountability. Students will rise to the occasion. Make them the expert. Most activities I do, gives them the chance to share their knowledge with others.

ToolsI use are podcasting, wikis, classblogmeister, slide, google notebook, voicethread, and motionbox. The class is media, a senior english elective.

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