Flickr, and Wikis, and Blogs.......Oh My!

Spent a terrific day at the Mid-Hudson NYSCATE Conference
Some great people there. Good organization. And resting on top of all this was Will Richardson as the keynote!
Will's understanding of the sweeping changes that these new tools offer is something that should be available first-hand to all educators. Throughout his keynote he gave us ways in to this new space: "Age of Authorship"; "Push vs. Pull Education"; "Hand it In vs. Publish It"; "Teacher as DJ". All these handles of doors to new ways ended with his final question: "What are you willing to trade from your old classroom?"
It's a question that allows us room to let the familiar live as long as we need it, but doesn't allow us to ignore the possibilities that now stand before us.

A quick lunch and Will was back with a 2 hour workshop on "RSS-The New Killer App for Educators". This was a high octane sprint through the basics of rss (Real Simple Syndication) through a Bloglines aggregator; to provide updated search results; to subscribe to weblogs among some of its uses. Then it was on to Flickr, Del.icio.us, Furl and Suprglu. He was anticipating "glazed eye syndrome", but most stayed in with him to the end, though some were a bit out of breath.
It's events like these that can bring new life to teacher's development. While it's wonderful that organizations like NYSCATE provide this opportunity, you have to ask - what could our schools be like if this need was recognized and incorporated into the fabric of systems of education like public schools? What if schools were places of learning for everyone-not only the young ones? Wondrous things are about if only we open new doors. I saw a few of them today. Thanks Will!

Back On The Horse

Okay, national priorities are not what they should be. Now "Back to the Game".
With barely three months left in the academic year, there's interesting work to do.
So today I investigated a few wonders of "Flickr". Reading about it in Will Richardson's book, I had to try out the "add note" feature. This is just too great to be free-but it is! Flickr is an online photo library. You can create your own account, post your own photos, search for images-the implications for classroom use are impressive.
So in the weeks ahead, I'm determined to bring all the "emerging technology" I can to the teachers I'm working with. So wikis, and flickr, and podcasts.......oh, my!
I'll make sure to post the links here...

Technology Funding: "It's Nothing Personal"

I haven't posted for nearly two weeks now.
I've continued to read my favored Ed-Tech bloggers. But haven't felt compelled to write.
I think it's the pall that's been cast over this area of education due to the massive cuts in federal funding-it's personal impact on my work-and what it says about those in positions to make such decisions.
Such sweeping cuts are seldom seen in personal contexts. Due to other needs, priorities, political persuasions student's futures are effected-but it's nothing personal.
Claims are made regarding how important it is for our country to bolster learning in areas of math and science. At the same time, funding that might put just the necessary tools before these young scientists and mathematicians is cut and their training is diminished-but it's nothing personal.
Kids in the inner cities-many who only have access to technology in their schools-may no longer have these resources either. Technology will be something they see others use on their favorite TV shows, but their futures will not include these tools-but it's nothing personal.
No. It's never personal for those people making such decisions-they will not miss a day of email or broadband internet access. But for those young people who depend on the responsible adults to prepare them for the "global marketplace" it's personal.
What could be more personal than your future-why do we act like it's only business?