Labyrinth of Learning 2.0

Thing 23 - Add your reflections to the K12 Learning 2.0 Voicethread; Blog about your experiences and next steps

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The world is rapidly changing and advancing all around us. I can envision a time when we will no longer be able to determine a clear divide between the ‘world of education’ and the ‘world of technology’. We are living in an era where new technologies are emerging, and old technologies are improving, on a minute by minute basis. Today’s children and students have never known a time when they were without technology in their daily lives. Therefore, I feel it is our duty as educators to teach these digital natives, our students of today, and our leaders of tomorrow, in the modality of learning that is most conducive to their technology-enriched learning styles.

As an educator, I want to empower students to learn through the use of technology. I want them to view school as a place where they can explore their curiosities and expand their knowledge, not only through books, but through the use of technology tools that enable them to grow, share and learn with the global classroom, the global community. I strive to instill in my students a life-time love of learning. I believe the only way to accomplish this goal is to show them that education and technology are intertwined; they are not separate entities and to do that we must learn, use and model the appropriate and beneficial uses of technology tools for our students. My goal as an Instructional Technology Specialist is to empower educators to do just that, to implement and integrate the use of emerging technology and web 2.0 tools in their classrooms and with their students.

Thing 22 - Learn about Social Networking and explore the Classroom 2.0 and other education-related NING Networks

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I’ve been a member of a few social networking sites (MySpace/Facebook) for many years now but purely for the social fun of it. I also belong to Linkedin which is a professional networking for career growth and development. My first experience with a Professional Learning Community (PLC), which also marks my introduction to NING, was via the professional development program entitled Powerful Learning Practices (PLP). Sheryl Nausbaum-Beach set up a NING social network for the participants of the program to connect us with each other in the 20 participating private schools as well as with “expert voices” from across the world. It has been a great way to connect with people worldwide who are integrating technology and web 2.0 tools in the educational environment. NING communities, as well as other social networks, serve as a common place for members who share common interests and goals to exchange resources, host discussions, collaborate on projects and trade ideas.

I now belong to several NING social networks that focus on integrating technology in education, including:

Visit iPod Educators

Visit Classroom 2.0

Visit Ning in Education

Visit Laptop Learning Community

Visit IND-PLP

Visit Trinity 2.0

As a culminating project for the PLP program, I set up a virtual NING community for our school faculty and staff called “Trinity 2.0″. The Trinity PLP Team’s hope is that Trinity 2.0 will serve as a way to connect our community of educators and personnel together on a more personal and social level in the beginning. In order to lure the teachers into using the virtual PLC we have set up groups with social-sharing themes like “Recipe Exchange”, “For Sale” and “Restaurant Reviews”, as well as many more. After we have thoroughly “hooked” our teachers and staff into using the Trinity 2.0 network, we will begin to phase in professional development modules and cross-department collaboration groups. To begin this “phasing in” process I came up with the idea of having a group where teachers could share the various projects they are creating with their students using technology and web 2.0 tools. Another one of my teammates suggested calling this group “My Successes.”

I am keeping my fingers crossed that Trinity 2.0 catches on like wildfire at the beginning the next school year when we officially launch it to the faculty and staff of Trinity.

Thing 1 - Task:

Write a reflective blog post based on The 7 1/2 Habits of Effective Lifelong Learners. You may write about anything related to your own experiences or beliefs about Lifelong Learning, and your thoughts about this course. The three things you were asked to consider were:

• Which habit(s) may be most challenging for you to employ as part of your K12 Learning 2.0 experience?
• Which habit(s) will be easiest, or are most resonant for you as a lifelong learner?
• Which habit do you think will be most important for you as you work through this course, and why?

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I have always enjoyed learning new things and have often pondered the idea of becoming a life-long full-time student. Not that I have any desire to write endless amounts of dissertations and/or reflection papers, but a I do possess a strong desire to learn all that I can within my life. The 7 1/2 Habits of Effective Lifelong Learners helped me reflect on this part of me as a learner and a professional.

The most challenging habit for me will be accepting responsibility for my own learning (Habit #2). In school, I was always a good student and continue to be a hard worker but I tend to get caught up with certain tasks and lose track of time very easily. I am also a self-diagnosed “perfectionist” which inevitably leads to spending too much time on a task that may not be as important as other things that need to be accomplished. Therefore, keeping up with everything that needs to be done without exact due dates will be a test. Balancing this course work along with my professional goals and responsibilities will be a challenge for me to accomplish without procrastinating or letting time “slip away” from me.

The easiest and most enjoyable habit for me will be PLAY! (Habit # 7 1/2). Almost everything I have learned about computers and technology has been the result of playing around with it. Similarly, the most powerful and engaging learning I have seen taken place in the classroom environment has been the result of playing. When we can engage in an activity of our choice or based on our interests, the level of learning taking place is substantially increased. Play is an activity designed to allow us to engage in exactly those activities. I believe that we can take-in and absorb more information/knowledge when we are given the flexibility to engage in an activity by our own means, thereby increasing our enjoyment and engagement levels. When restricted by structured or constrained parameters for an activity by another person, our interest and engagement levels decrease.

The most important habit for me will be to teach and mentor others (Habit #7). In my current role as an Instructional Technology Specialist, I am teaching, assisting and encouraging teachers to use technology in their classrooms. As much as I enjoy learning new and interesting things, I relish in teaching others about these very same ideas and tools. Sharing knowledge and teaching others to apply their knowledge is a personal passion for me. As it has been said countless times and in countless ways, a person who can teach a concept or idea has truly mastered the content themselves.

I feel this course is the perfect segue for me to lead and mentor teachers in building their educational technology knowledge base. Which in turn, will encourage them to engage in more technology enhanced lessons within their own classroom environments? The level of excitement I see from the teachers participating in this course is outstanding. Many are approaching me asking me to show them ways in which they can begin implementing the tools they have explored into their classroom environments. I feel that allowing teachers to explore or “play” with these new tools is raising their excitement, opening their eyes to what is out there and available to them, and providing them with a desire to learn more. Now, instead of me trying to push new technology tools on them, they are approaching me to help deepen their understanding and assist in applying their knowledge effectively in the classroom. I love this effect! I no longer feel like the “bully” in the schoolyard who constantly pushes others around insisting the other kids do things his way. Now I feel the new (not quite popular - yet) kid that everyone wants to know and be “seen” with. This course is exactly the kind of thing that was needed to kick-start what I feel will be a phenomenal wave of technology integration in our classrooms.