The Tech Report for November

Being a 21st Centurian

If you listen to the news or read any main stream magazines, etc. you are all living in amazing times full of constant change and innovation. We have lots of gadgets, high speed internet, laptops, GPS in our cars, etc... Some would argue that life is easier with all these advancements, others think it is making us lazy and less connected with other people or with reality. What do you think?

Do you notice that things are changing, or have you always been in such a technology rich environment that you don't know anything different?

Do you like technology?

Is it something you see as a positive in your life helping you or is it a burden?

I welcome your thoughts.

Actem Day 2

The 2nd day consisted of continuous workshops on various topics. I was fortunate enough to get into almost all of the sessions I was interested in and consumed a huge amount of information. It actually made my head swim, and by the time 4pm came I welcomed driving into a downpour on my way back to Gorham just to get my mind somewhere else.

One thing that I learned for sure is that the infrastructure of education is changing. Schools have up till now, been considered the culmination of the knowledge center. That center is now shifting at light speed pace. The center of education now resides within the richness of a global community network in which students can not only consume information, but author, edit and publish it in real time. So much for the average newscaster's job! Kids can have access to devices that allow them to report live coverage of an event and publish to the internet pictures in real time with information using a cell phone! This challenges me to think through how to ask teachers to leverage this critical piece of learning and not diminish their role, but to re-frame it with more emphasis towards student created learning networks. This is no doubt a shift that would make some people uncomfortable for a while, but after all it is important work! Let's shift to become a Globally Connected Classroom.
Remember "Shift Happens" :)


More later as I sift through the resources..... till then Blog Blog blog....

ACTEM Conference 2007

I'm at the Actem 2007 Conference in Augusta and it has been incredible so far! The session I attended today was a pre-conference session called "Media and Technology in the HS Classroom": Supporting Literacy and Numeracy for all Students.
I have tagged a del.icio.us site with all the links from this conference. I included a particular site that was originally created by Jim Burke called learninginmaine.com ....he sited all the links presented in our workshop session today and made my life easier. Visit my delicious page to see the links from the sessions I attended in this years conference including his.I feel Like such a geek!

Here's the Link....Copy & Paste it into your browser...
http://del.icio.us/tactem2007

Alot of GREAT info was passed on today......Looking forward to tomorrow- Only downside was I wasn't registered for the Actem Banquet which included the award for teacher of the year...I Would have enjoyed seeing that..oh well.... ordered a pasta dinner from Sam's and blogged from the Holiday Inn....LOL

Till tomorrow....Blog blog blog