My Goals

Some ideas have been floating around my head lately.

Sometimes I get too comfortable in my Learning Network that resides here online. I feel like everyone is talking about changing the system. Many people are practicing what they preach. Still on my side of the field, I see stagnate policy. I see technology talked about to the point of teachers not wanting to hear it anymore. I see a plethora of smartboards, digital clickers, LCD Projectors and other forms of computerized hardware, but with limited and pointless use. I have decided to take a more formal route to making the change.

I have come to the conclusion that I will begin to document the changes that I would like to see happen on my side of the field. I have narrowed it down to 2 initiatives that I would like to see become policy.

1. One laptop per child

2. 21st Century Literacy Class

I believe that focusing on these two initiatives first, will give our district a step to get to where we should be. Right now, I am debating how I will go about informing and initiating.

My goal is to provide students a link to learning networks and to move forward to a paperless classroom. However, first I believe it is important to educate. We need to provide tools in which the students can use to create their own networks. We need to teach etiquette, editing and usage before the students will have a chance in the digital world.

Right now, I see a great disconnect between the haves and the have nots. I have students that can thrive in a digital world. I also have students that can't use a mouse properly. Even the students that have internet connection at home need a digital education. The power of publishing is still not tapped.

21st Century Literacy will be a course that covers the network aspect of the internet. Right now I see the internet being used as a resource for teachers and students. It's like the publishing and sharing aspect of the internet net is not tapped in my district. I posted about this a while back. I think the units of this course should be as follows...

-Social Networks vs. Learning Networks
-Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants
-Digital Publishing
-Information Editing
-21st Century Communication
-Having your voice heard
-Global Culture