Give it up to the kids!

I had two quick, just-in-passing conversations with teachers today. The point that each of them made was that giving the technology over to the students goes a long way! In both cases, kids felt accomplished and confident, and teachers were happy with the outcomes.

Our kids are going to be the key to helping move many of our teachers forward in their technological journey!

Lori

ECOO conference

Last week I had the wonderful opportunity of attending the 2009 Educational Computing Organization of Ontario conference. It was fabulous! I got from it all that I had hoped, and then some. First and foremost, it reaffirmed for me our need to look at how we are educating our current students, and how we need to change our classroom/teaching practises to better prepare them for their future. Secondly, it allowed me to see first hand how teachers are successfully using Web 2.0 tools in their classroom. I now understand more clearly the power that blogs, Wikis, podcasts, and MP3 players can have when incorporating them with authentic and meaningful experiences. These are the natural tools of our students...they only know a digital world!

The bigger question for me now is how I can help encourage teachers to explore and embrace this new way of thinking, planning and implementing the curriculum. Although it will undoubtedly feel overwhelming and risky, we need to take a leap of faith. We need to be prepared for failures, and look at them as lessons. Isn't this how we want our students to think and approach challenges? We regularly ask them to step outside their comfort zone. Shouldn't we lead by example?!

Wish us luck!