Keeping up isn’t easy but the best way to start is by participating. Personal use is a pre-condition for any kind of comprehension or competency with educational technology.

• Try a new digital tool
• Play with it
• Read about it
• Talk about it
• Watch it being done
• ‘Show and Tell” it with peers

You don’t need to go out and implement fresh strategy every time you read a new blog post or editorial, but just integrate yourself into the conversation. You don’t need to read the whole instruction manual (unless you are a type A personality). Well designed and programed technology is user friendly and easy to pick up… the digital generation demands it. You know this generation; they have a strong  tendency to just jump right in as if they were a kid jumping into water. Maybe we should approach this digital stuff like a kid.

Just this past week, I was playing soccer with my 5 yr old nephew. He has great skills on the ball but he has never taken a shot from a pass. So I gave him a pass to kick into the net. He missed the ball and landed on his butt. He bounced right back up and tried again. On only his second try he put it in the net with perfect form.  Watch the little ones learn with eyes and minds wide open. The little ones make mistakes all the time without fear and learn from them. Their first step is to participate.

I personally have resisted cell phones. I find them very disruptive but… the  smartphones has become the Swiss Army knives of the digital age thanks in large part to the iPhone, introduced in 2007, and the App Store, which opened its doors last year. With 90,000 apps available and a lot of them free or a small fee, how can you not participate and stay connected.

It’s hard but try learning like a kid.

We live in an amazing time… participate in it!

When it Comes to Digital Literacy, Don’t Be a Billy!

Lord Puttnam message about barriers in education systems and new ways of teaching in the XXI century.

4 key factors to change management

1. Involve Your Team
2. Communicate Constantly
3. Plan Properly
4. Don’t let up

A short animated movie about the state of progressive action and inaction today — and what’s standing in the way of a better future. Please be aware that level headed pragmatists may be upset by some of the scenes in this movie.

A short commentary about how teachers are changing the culture of education in the 21st century through the use of technology and web 2.0 created.

Letting the imagination soar

Teacher Carol Stephenson describes a novel exercise that allows children to let their creativity fly. (Oct. 30, 2009) Can this happen in higher education?

A video on wisdom

Something to think about;

The Learning Management System (LMS) is the administrator of my course.

EVERYTHING for the course is on the LMS:

• Weekly schedule
• Grades
• Assignments with Rubrics
• Content (powerpoints, links to content)
• Calendar
• Email

Feel like you are answering the same questions over and over again -> Send them to the LMS

• When students claim they are going to miss a class and ask what they will miss, I point them to the LMS.
• When students ask how much something is worth, I point them to the LMS.
• When students ask when something is due, I point them to the LMS.
• When students ask how something will be marked, I point them to the LMS.
• When students ask what their grade is on an assignment, I point them to the LMS.
• When students want the answer to a quiz, I point them to the LMS.
• When students ask what is a good website to use, I point them to the LMS which has a link to my delicous bookmarks.

EVERYTHING for the course is on the LMS.