What I'm learning

I selected “Pushing the Limits: Web 2.0 and 21st Century Learning” as the conference to view.  This was interesting because the two presenters, Aimee Stoffel and Tanya Gray, were trying to find ways to help their students be prepared for technology rich lives after graduation- a similar quest to those of us taking this course. I think their main points are well captured in the Essential Questions found in the voicethread imbedded in the presentation.

“Do you inspire students to understand that the world is different outside the walls of the classroom?”  This is such a valid and constant question for teachers.  No matter where you teach, rural, suburban or urban, the world has changed since we were in school and continues to change daily.  To not help our students become responsible global citizens is irresponsible.

“Do your students know that learning can empower them for successful living?” This is problematic for many students in my district.  They want to do well, but lack the support from home and the drive to do so.  Some don’t understand that it takes hard work to really be prepared for life after high school and to achieve success.

“How can Web 2.0 tools prepare students for a technology rich life after graduation?” As I learn more and more, I can see how the various tools will impact life in general as well the way learning occurs in and out of the classroom.  To give just one example, look at how quickly photography has changed in the last decades.  Growing up we had black and white film, followed by color film.  Your pictures came back with a set of prints and a set of negatives.  Then came the “drop in” film cameras with built in zoom, panoramic, and auto focus settings. In the last decade, digital cameras have become the norm and the technology has even made them small enough to be in our cell phones.  You do not need to print your pictures, you can post them online for friends and family to view.  There are even web tools that will let you edit them, to put special effects on them and even turn them into a movie.  That’s a long way from my little Brownie camera!