Why all the fuss?

What is it with all the geeks today making a stink about how technology is changing our world? Why all of a sudden do we HAVE to be teaching With (big word there) technology?

Before I continue I would like you to watch this 8 minute video created by a Technology Coordinator out of Colorado. This video has a great story. The short version is he created it in August of 2006 to show all the teachers in his district at the start of the school year. A year and a half later, the PowerPoint that he created has been viewed over 5 million times and has been continually updated with the latest information. Karl Fisch is the creator and I encourage you to add his blog The Fisch Bowl to your RSS reader if you don't already have it.



So what does all this mean? I don't know....I guess it means different things to different people. You'll have to take some time to ponder what this 8 minute presentation is trying to say to educators.

For me it talks about the pace of change and how we can not ignore what technology has done and continues to do to our society. As the pace of change continues what skills do our students need to have to be successful in this new fast pace world? The slide that talks about people having 10-15 jobs by the time they are 38 is the one that speaks most to me. How do we prepare students for a world in which they will not be like us...they will not get a job, do it for a lifetime and then retire. The ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn is what companies are and will be looking for in a new workforce. Workers who are highly adaptable and can continually learn new skills will be the highest in demand as we continue into the 21st Century.

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OK, above in a usual start to this class for classroom teachers and those who don't have a lot of experience with technology. What I'm excited about is all three of you taking this course are technonlogy educators and you understand the above message already. This....is going to be exciting!!

My hope is to expose you to some new tools, connect you into a network of learners that will allow you to grow, share ideas, and push your own thinking and abilities on how we educate students in a network world. Again, don't read to far ahead in this course as it's Sunday morning for me here and this is when I sit down with a cup of joe and update pages based on past conversations, your blog entries, and what ever other crazy thing I might be thinking about. :)

First thing: Make sure you add your classmates blogs to your Google Reader and get in the habit of reading it every day. Make is your home page or a tab that opens automatically when you start Firefox (Hopefully you all use Firefox). Here are the links to your class mates blogs. Patti, I didn't get your's off your profile page so you can click the Easy Edit button at the top and add it to the list.

http://shegstrom-ed5160.blogspot.com/

http://hockeymomblog.blogspot.com/

torchgirl's blog

You should be able to copy and paste the link into your Subscribe portion of your Google Reader and it will add it to your feeds. This is a great way to keep up and comment on others in the class as we start to right.

I know some of you have not received your books yet, and that's OK. The Siemen's text is a free download so hopefully you got that one. The Richardson book is a easy quick read so I'm not worried about it at this point.

What I do want to do those is get you connected into the Ed Tech network. There is a new tool called Twitter (you might have heard of it). I promise you this will change the way you interact with people, get ideas, and read the web. This video does a good job of explaining what Twitter does.



So head to twitter.com and sign up for an account.
Then start following others. You can start by following me www.twitter.com/jutecht and then down the right hand side you will find over 700 other educationa technoloy people who are on twitter. Pick some you know or you can go through it randomly. I suggest starting with about 10 or 15 people in your network and expanding it after you get into the conversation.

What makes Twitter so cool are the tools that allow you to add a twitter widget to your desktop. A little program so you don't have to be in a browser all the time. I suggest downloading and installing Twhirl (Mac and PC). Start it up every morning when you go into work and watch the information start to flow to you and get involved in the conversation, share links, and learn the power of network learning.

Readings:

• Siemens: Pages 1-24
• Richardson: Ch. 1
• Read and analyze the Department of Education School 2.0 page.
• Read and analyze the web site Partnership for 21st Century Learning

Assignments:

• Gain access to the course wiki. Create a personal profile page and play and learn how to work a wiki.
• Set up your blog and write your first two blog topics
• Add other classmates blogs to your Google Reader (watch videos here to learn how) Read other classmates blogs and comments.
  
  
• Blog Topics
  • School 2.0
  • Your first thoughts

Trying to understand what RSS Or Really Simple Syndication is and how it works? See if this helps.