Thing 23

The video has quite an impact. It really makes the point about how the internet, and all the technology that supports it, has evolved and is continuing to evolve. The rate that technology is evolving is quite literally too fast for any one individual to keep up with. I think this rapid march of technology is possible because of the "new" collaborative and interactive internet.

One way my thinking has been changed is that I am now wondering if we are adequately preparing our students to live and prosper in this 21st century technology. Do high schools have staff who are trained and current in teaching technologies that probably change before the semester is over? How would staff keep current--given that teaching is a full-time activity already? The way we teach technology will probably have to change--with more interactive and actual on-line training in real time. All staff will have to use technology as an integral part of their content areas--just as we have tried to incorporate writing skills into content areas.

I will most likely use screencasts for "make-up" lessons for students who are absent. I will definitely go back and use Flickr to bring images into my lessons, and for organizing my own personal photos. I will also learn more about the wiki and continue to fine-tune mine. Videos from YouTube and United Streaming that demonstrate art (clay) processes might be used in my high school classes. I have made copies of all the text in 23 Things and most of the tutorials so that I can re-study them in the future--"practice makes perfect," so it is said.

I am not intuitively a "techie" kind of user--but this course has given me a bit of confidence by refreshing skills I already knew (but had sort of forgotten,) and given me some really cool and current new skills. I have become really excited about what I have learned and am eager to do more exploring on my own.

This has been a great opportunity, and I would like to thank the district for offering it and the two moderators for a job well done. I feel this course really needs to be taken by every staff person in the district at some point.