I learned about a series of webcasts titled Innovation in Education through Tweeter @ncara. The first installment of the series is three conversations, featuring Alan November and his book Web Literacy for Educators, on "transforming education to meet the needs of the 21st century learner" (Promethean Planet). The first installment consists of three 15 minute webcasts titled Empowering Students with Technology, Reinventing Schools, and A New Literacy.
I listened to the first one because I though the theme of Empowering Students with Technology went right along with what I have been exploring. The webcast started with the discussion of why technology was not taking off in schools. Alan November presented data obtained through surveys conducted at his seminars and conferences. Principals blame a lack of funding and superintendents cite a lack of training, while technology directors and teachers point to a lack of vision (November and Magana, 2009). I found this interesting and it really hit home with me when Alan November said, "you can have technology all day long, but unless there is a compelling vision that adds value all the technology in the world will not help you" (2009). The data also showed that the stakeholders mostly agreed the people responsible for changing the implementation of technology in the classroom was the school leaders (November and Magana, 2009).
Who are the school leaders?
I want to be one of these leaders. This is what I need to strive for in incorporating web 2.0 tools into my classroom - setting a vision for what I want the outcome to be.
I encourage to go an listen to the webcasts yourself. I listen to the first two and will be back when the third one is released.
How will you lead?
Stay tuned to the webcasts; future sessions will feature Marc Prensky, Ron Clark, Dr. Debra Pickering, Dr. Grant Wiggins, and Dr. Robert Marzano.
References:
November, A. and Magana, S . (2009). Empowering Students with Technology. Retrieved March 11, 2009 from http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=nav.16956
Promethean Planet. Retrieved March 11, 2009 from http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=nav.16956
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I think that too often technology is integrated into curriculum without having a vision of exactly what outcome is expected. I listened to the webcast and agree that we need to reevaluate what we are doing with technology. Too often it is technology for the sake of technology, without any goal or objective in mind. As educators we need to determine what our students' needs are and what is effective in our instruction. Thanks for sharing this link. I look forward to the last webcast.
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