From the TCMS Media Center

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I am not associated (other than finding favor with my nephew’s mother-in-law and through Kathy I found favor with Shelley) with any other school utilizing this great opportunity to learn more about Web 2.0.  In the public school system where I am employed, funds for professional development are devoted to the four academic areas.  Other teachers have been excluded from many great opportunities because of the funds required for teachers going through training for Georgia Performance Standards.  Notice:  I didn’t say I disagree with the policy, but I am concerned by the policy.  Many teachers in our system have been given the message that the subjects they teach are not as important simply by the constant denials to attend valuable and applicable training sessions.  Tools like K12 Online Conference can help those of us who have been denied access to quality training to take the matter  of our personal professional development into our own hands.  Does the phrase “taking ownership of your learning” ring a bell?  Well, it does with me.  I am not going to get access to quality training if I don’t push to find it. 

 I’ve listened to two of the presentations offered at the K12 Online conference site. Each presentation, though in two different divisions of the conference, were very from very positive presenters who gently encouraged the listeners to take the step into the world of Web 2.0 in the classroom. 

Sylvia Martinez, in her presentation titled Web 2.0 Share the Adventure, encourages the classroom teacher not to view bringing Web 2.0 into the classroom as a big step, but rather as a smaller series of steps in which our students help us, the teachers, make discoveries of uses for Web 2.0.  She encourages the teacher to use the students to create classroom wikis, blog pages, or other tools to be utilized.  Martinez makes mention that teachers should not be embarrassed that students seem to know more about the Web 2.0 tools than the teacher seems to know.  Utilizing the students knowledge will give the student more ownership in the process.  I’ve enjoyed listening to this presentation.

The second presentation I listened to/watched was from Chris Harbeck.  Harbeck shared how he utilized Web 2.0 tools in his classroom to facilitate learning.  I enjoyed the visuals of the student work he presented.  I thought that it was interesting that he wrapped up the presentation by sharing several things he would do differently next year.  So many times we hear how others do things that go so perfectly and the things they describe just do not seem doable in the normal classroom.  Harbeck seemed real and genuine to me. 

 I have a teacher on my staff who has made the comment several times that his classes would never utilize computer technology because the students knew more than he did about computers and he didn’t want to seem dumb to them.  Perhaps I should stream the two presentations about into his classroom and see what happens!

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