About six weeks ago I pointed a number of key people in our division to Will Richardson’s article The New Face of Learning. It sparked some discussion and interest, and in an effort to bring forward these ideas, we invited any interested teachers to gather informally to discuss what this article might mean for schools.
So we gathered together using a hodge-podge of technology. We had 16 in Moose Jaw, 4 in Assiniboia via Polycom, 1 in Bengough via Skype and 2 in Eston via Skype as well (Kelly Christopherson and a colleague using a mic-less computer but he did participate via chat). Then Will joined us from New Jersey. Here’s a large version of the image.
What you hear is the last 20 minutes of Will’s portion and another 20 minutes of conversation that took place after he signed off. Sorry, I only remembered to start recording after 40 minutes into our talk. What impressed me was the diversity of the group both in both teaching positions (grade 1-12) and in experience using technology. Yet the common understanding seemed to be that things must change. While many have already embraced the change, everyone recognizes it must happen. We may not agree on exactly how that must happen but the beginnings of these conversations are important. Those of us using these tools have been having these conversations for some time so to see others joining in is encouraging.
Here’s a short clip taken with Jeff’s Treo.
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We hope to offer a few of these types of sessions to promote some discussion and interest around web 2.0. We ended by agreeing to bring in students to try and better understand how they use technology…Stay tuned. Thank you Will for taking time…buy your son something nice and send us the bill!
Show notes:
- Will Richardson
- George Siemens
- Alan November
- David Warlick
- Kathy Cassidy (Primary Blog)
- Clarence Fisher (Middle Years teacher blog)
- Clarence Fisher (Middle Years classroom blog)
- Calculus Blog (High School Math classroom)
What an exciting way to carry out professional development, simple conversation, but using today’s technologies to bridge the large distances so everyone can participate no matter where you are.
You have set a great model for other school divisions in our province to promote conversation across distance.
I hope to encourage this in my division soon.
Thanks for sharing Dean.
So…. Can I hire you as a personal PR agent?
Dean,
It was great to be in on the discussion. We are encouraged by the idea that this type of communication can take place at a moments notice, we can share and, if you have all the technology working, can see and hear what is happening. I’ve commented on this in my blog and the 6 things I took away from this conversation. Thanks for the opportunity and the chance for dialogue. I am encouraging others in my school to look at these tools. I suspect it won’t be too long before I’m contacting you to do this with some of our teachers! Thanks!