The theme that came out of today (based on my participation in the Tech Coordinators forum and Keynote) is:
Knowledge is a conversation, not a destination.
We know this, but we don’t always practice it. Schools are still entrenched in “disbursing” information for the purpose of testing. Technology in the hands of kids at home is making them connected in so many ways. They are having conversations constantly and taking control of what they learn, when they learn it, and how they learn it.
Upon arriving at the Philadelphia Convention Center for the first workshop at NECC (National Educational Computing Conference) I was greeted by this artwork which consists of thousands of coffee cups massed together. Lots of computers and lots of coffee in one place – this is definitely going to be a good time…
No iPod needed, but the lastest craze is audio broadcasting over the internet, or podcasting. If you make an mp3 recording and save it on your computer, you can set up a webpage that broadcasts it for those who want to get it. It can be downloaded by interested people and then put onto a portable mp3 player (hence, “podcasting”). My current favorite podcast is by some awesome techies who used to be on The Screensavers, a daily technology TV show. The show is gone, but Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton & Co. are back at it in a weekly podcast called This Week in Tech (TWiT). Check them out at thisweekintech.com
Our technology plan for the next 5 years, titled (appropriately) Heim 2010, is in place. In the first phase, next year we will be replacing classroom instructional computers. We have not replaced computers in a number of years, so this is the focus for next year. In addition to that, we will begin 2 other parts of the plan – mounting computer projectors in classrooms, and starting a video studio. Both of these initiatives have some awesome possibilities for learning, and we are looking forward to implementing them.
If all goes as planned, next year is year one of a 5-year plan that will see Heim Middle leading the way in technology integration!
Wireless acccess to the network from anywhere in the building is still spotty. If you are close enough to an access point, it is great. If you are not close enough, it is not so great. IT has made a committment to get the wireless overlay network totally fixed during next school year. When that happens, we will truly have an “anywhere, anytime” network in the school.
Thanks to an outstanding staff for a great day today. I feel one of my most important jobs is professional development. The more teachers feel comfortable integrating technology, the more it can benefit the learning process. I hope you found the day as beneficial as we hoped it to be.
“…good pedagogy trumps good technology. Bolting technology onto the current industrial model of school, “integrating technology across the curriculum,” has the hidden danger of freezing an outdated curriculum in place longer than it deserves. We need a lot of bright people to spend a long time thinkng about what children should learn in order to make important contributions to our society.”
~Alan November
McLester, Susan. “Q&A with Alan November.” Technology & Learning April 2005 : 64.
Here is a question that comes up all the time. “I just printed – which printer will my stuff come out on?” At home, with one printer, the answer is simple. In school we are networked, which means you can print to just about any printer from any computer. So the question becomes, “which printer did you choose to print to?”
BTW, the answer is to look at the print dialog box before you click print – it tells which printer the computer is currently set to. 🙂
This entry is in anticipation of the SIGTC event on Tappedin this evening. I started this blog last year after NECC. Bernie Dodge’s session on Blogs and Wikis was the catalyst for me. I ended up with teacherhosting.com as the host as that was what the folks at NECC were using last year for the conference blog.
Like many I think the biggest challenge is finding the right voice, or angle, to create and keep up with a blog. My focus is to basically chronicle what we do in our school with technology. Its a small undertaking so far (combined with a hiatus from Nov. – Mar. when my daughter was born) but I’m starting to get into the swing, and really enjoy what there is to offer.
Now if only I can figure out how to change the RSS feeds that appear here…
You may notice a distinct lapse in entries (the last one being Oct. 24th). It may come as not suprise that our daughter, Anna, was born November 5th. Its been a whirlwind since then, and now its “back to business.” When she is old enough, she’ll probably be saying “Blogs – what old fashioned technology!”
Speaking of Anna, here she is…
