It’s Time to Walk the Talk

As I move from theory to practice in my educational technology journey, I realize that all of these new tools I have examined will have a far greater impact if I share them with my students and colleagues. In the words of the mathematician and philosopher, Alfred North Whitehead, “Ideas won't keep; something must be done about them”.

If I Could Only Introduce One New Tool

Where to start? Well, it would be helpful to provide staff with an overview of the new Web 2.0 tools that are now available and relevant to teaching and learning. This short video from Teacher Tube gives a brief overview.



As a teacher-librarian, I would find it difficult to narrow it down to just one tool to share and promote to my staff. So, I went to the experts in my ever-growing on-line learning communities and found the Center for Learning and Performance Technologies. This Slide Share outlines 25 free tools that ‘…every learning professional should have in their toolbox”.

25 Tools

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: learning tools)

After watching this slideshare, I would most likely introduce wikis to my staff. For example, PB Wiki ranked #16 on the Center for Learning Performance Technologies’ list of the top 25 Web 2.0 tools. Although I would love to also show them the power of podcasting and the many applications of Voice Thread, I believe that wikis have tremendous potential to improve communication and collaboration between students and teachers in all subject areas. In any case, my amazing T-L already demonstrated Voice Thread to the staff last year, yet I believe I am still the only teacher in my school to actually use it or encourage its use with students.

Wikis are the way to go. Why you ask? Well, they are extremely easy to create and have many applications. In Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Tools for the Classroom, Will Richardson suggests using a wiki for a class Wikipedia – which is exactly what I am going to do next semester for my Social Studies 11 students, who can get bogged down with all of the vocabulary they have to learn in order to be able to write their provincial exam (in French no less). Even better, according to Richardson, they can post not only text, but “graphics, links, annotations and reflections” as well as “PowerPoint presentations, video and audio files…” The following Wiki educational link outlines other uses for wikis in the classroom such as collaborative textbooks, student portfolios, collaborative between teachers and even literature circles. In another article, Wild About Wikis, David Jakes discusses the educational benefits of wikis in the classroom (class writing projects, class textbooks, group lab reports, collaborative problem solving), for professional development (workshop planning and post-workshop reflection) and for administrative use (collaborative creation of policy documents).

To encourage teachers to use wikis, I would first make sure that I am proficient with the technology myself. This means creating at least one wiki to demonstrate its uses to my colleagues. I would also encourage staff to check out this PBwiki Mini Tutorial by Ramit Sethi. I could also call upon Lee Lefever of Common Craft to supply a straightforward instructional video on how to use wikis. Here’s his tutorial, Wikis in Plain English.




You Can Lead a Horse to Water…

How do we encourage our colleagues to adopt new technologies? Adults don’t learn new skills or information in the same way that children do. In his article, Principles of Adult Learning,Stephen Lieb discusses how adults learn differently from children and teens. He identifies the following characteristics of learners: they need to be self-directed, they want to connect their life experiences and previous knowledge to their learning, they already have specific goals in mind when it comes to their learning (but still appreciate identified, specific learning goals) and they must see relevant, practical connections between their learning and their work.

I have learned through personal experience that new technology cannot be forced on teachers. Educators are more likely to adopt new tools if they can see it and experience it for themselves. For me personally, I would want to experience a new technology and see practical applications of that technology before I invest the time in using it in my classroom. Will it be useful? Will I be able to easily incorporate it into my teaching practice? Just throwing something out there to our colleagues will not convert them. For example, I suggested that my colleagues and I start a subject specific ning to better communicate and share resources (since this is one of our department goals). My suggestion was met with a polite but lukewarm response. This was AFTER I offered to set up the ning myself. It’s not that they weren’t interested, but for busy classroom teachers, it’s just ‘one more thing’ to add to their already overflowing plates.

So, the best way to build momentum and to keep it going is to use the new technology yourself and to introduce it to staff one by one. Generally, I have found that sweeping changes in education (whether they be directives from a principal or new curriculum policies from the province) are often met with resistance or fall flat on their faces. Any BC educator who has been in the biz for more than 15 years can tell you what a resounding failure the top-down ‘Year 2000 Program’ was. The best approach is to be a positive example and to recruit like-minded colleagues. New ideas will spread slowly - grassroots style - and will gain momentum as more and more teachers adopt them. If we really want to encourage change and growth, it isn’t going to happen overnight. Patience grasshopper, patience.


Promote, Advertise and Celebrate!

How do early adaptors of technology in education build on their grassroots successes? Well, you’ve got to get the message out. Here’s how:

Promote
Allow districts, schools and professional development committees to earmark money for technology pro-d and integration. Teachers need TIME to explore and integrate new technology. Technology teachers and administrators need to encourage other educators to pursue professional development in technology education.

Advertise
Publish examples of integrating technology on the school website, teacher websites and blogs, principals' letters to families, the library website, displays during open house night, and on the school district website. Provide links on the school web page to teacher blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other multi media examples.

Celebrate
Principals, tech teachers and coordinators need to celebrate the individuals and groups who are exploring and successfully integrating new technologies in schools. Most people love recognition whether they admit to it or not. Why not celebrate and recognize teachers’ and students’ use of new technologies so that their example can serve to inspire and encourage others?

As someone who is now poised to be more of an educational technology leader as opposed to a follower, the time has come for me to pass the relay baton onto the next colleague, all the while continuing on in my own quest for knowledge. So, in the words of the great Walt Disney, "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing".