A Technology Facilitator's Perspective

A Technology Facilitator's Perspective:

Julie LaChance writes:
"I encourage anyone that is, or works with, a technology facilitator to take a look at the Tech & Learning article, 'The Five Essentials of Technology Facilitators: Successful On-Site Help for Technology Integration'. It was written by Cheryl Whitfield back in 2005, so it is a little older, but I like the view of the position that it gives the reader.

According to the article, there are five things anyone hired for a technology facilitator position should possess."

My comments:
These five points are right on the mark. There may be other points, skills, capabilities to add, while acknowledging this substantial start.

What would you add?

Twitter / Home

Twitter: A Tweet with Message by Suzie Vesper

@suzievesper
"Have just protected my updates due to targeting by online cyberbully. Will go back to not doing so when this dies down."

My comments:
I have been wanting to explore "Blog This!" with a tweet.
Picked this once since, it relates to important issues - privacy, security etc.
All the more significant when we ask students to register for online tools.

Sign up for Twitter, while you are there and enjoy your choice of tweets to follow with to your browser professional learning.

PinDax - Online Message Board

PinDax - Online Message Board:

"Why choose a boring message board for your website? PinDax offers a fun real-time alternative to the traditional message board. Sign up for free, you will be up and running in minutes."

My comments: Just broke my commitment of a last post not to sign-up to any more tools.
I always loved the eboard facility of many years ago. I am a sucker for post-it note functionality.
This little app. was originally brought to my attention by @larryferlazzo. If you are not subscribed to blog feed or following him on Twitter and you are an educator, then you are missing a great number of learning opportunities for you and your students.

I'll get back to you on what use I make of this nifty tool.

Plan puts 'super teachers' in worst schools | National News | News.com.au

Plan puts 'super teachers' in worst schools | National News | News.com.au:

"RADICAL plans to boost exam results by enticing a new breed of 'super teachers' to work in the worst performing schools have been unveiled by Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard.

An initial batch of 100 of the so-called Highly Accomplished Teacher positions will be advertised in NSW in October before the plan is rolled out across the rest of Australia.

The elite teachers will earn a higher salary than their colleagues and teach fewer classes."

My comments: It will be very interesting to watch this program through implementation and development. The language used to describe the program and individual teachers will need to be carefully chosen.

Words like "elite" and "super" may be a more a hindrance than help.

Many people will remember the derogatory comments that the Leading Teachers of the 1990s had to endure.

Change ... so much to attend to and so little time

Harsh .. maybe not.
It's about time, isn't it, that we all in education started mostly talking about getting with it rather than how to get around things that are new and a little "challenging" to our dearly held beliefs and current practices.

I am ready to say, enough!

On leadership: simply, lead or leave. It is more than being aware of the latest quality teaching principles and practices, especially in the context of the latest online social media learning tools. If you don't know and don't practise use of these interactives, websites and tools, then forget it. This is not an area that can wisely be left to others, no matter how much that method appeals.

On mobiles and mlearning: The mobile phone in all it new forms and with all the potential for valid, engaging and fulfilling learning must be used by educators for 24/7 learning. Laptops, netbooks, notebooks, it's just marking time and delaying the inevitable.

Signup, login: What are the implications for us and our students if we are guiding them to signup for accounts at multiple web sites? Are we asking parents for permission? The situation is critical for under 13 and not without danger for under 18.

New tools, applications: Have you seen or used this ....? I still read this frequently on Twitter and I am occasionally still tempted. But, I have concluded enough is enough. I cannot adequately attend to my presence on any more networks. I have accounts and abandoned "real estate" on so many networks, I sometimes worry about squatters.

Widgets: Why do we need them? When I first started my "digital learning journey", I set up an igoogle page as my lanuchpad. I enjoyed exploring and changing the widgets and gadgets on my pages. If I were still a classroom teacher, I would continue to identify practical learning uses for these little apps. I can see now it is easy to be distracted by them too. You will see the gadgets I have limited myself to on this blog.

I will be back to complete the rest ...
participation
expectations
guest11111111
no picture
protected content
teens skills and getting their attention

Infinite Thinking Machine

Infinite Thinking Machine: "Released at NECC 2009 are a new series of education friendly lessons .

Lucy Gray wrote:
Looking for something? First stop might be the Google search box. Becoming a skillful searcher is an essential skill for teachers and students in our media rich environments. The search box provides abundant amounts of information quickly at our fingertips. So, how do you use the Google search box to get just the right amount of information, analyze it for authenticity, and get it quickly? The new Google Search Lessons are aimed at helping teachers and students learn the inside scoop about skillful searching."

Subscribe to her blog, read the full post and check the lessons.
Follow her on Twitter @elemenous
You will be kept up to date with many aspects of social media learning.

NSW Secondary Principals' Council- DER Update from the President

Jim McAlpine, President of the NSWSPC wrote 1 July 2009, in the SPC Bulletin, these comments about DIGITAL EDUCATION REVOLUTION (DERNSW:

"This is about to change the landscape of all of our schools from the start of next term, and a huge amount of time, energy and expertise have been expended this year in gearing up for it. Nearly all regional directors have arranged for briefings with their principals this term in anticipation of what will be one of the greatest challenges and one of the greatest opportunities that most principals will ever face.
I know that there were some well-intended criticisms of the SPC by some of our members early last year when we put our support into this program, and no doubt as difficulties emerge I will be reminded of these, but with a positive outlook by principals and teachers, this program should be a great educational benefit for our children, our schools and our educators.
I was given a laptop by our Chief Education Officer Stephen Wilson yesterday so that I can take it to meetings with principals around the state and explore its potential with colleagues. Congratulations to all who have been involved with this program, especially the SPC Digital Revolution Task Force, Stephen Wilson, Dianne Marshall, Terry O’Brien and Barbara Bober. There are many others in DET, including those in Bridge Street, in PLLD, in Curriculum and in CLI who have contributed and who will continue to contribute to make this a success!

My comments: I have also been following NSW public school teachers' comments on Twitter. Essentially, these are thrilling times for teaching and learning. Hasten slowly, but do not waste any opportunities to improve student engagement and learning.