Mar

2

On becoming a networked teacher

Filed Under Blogging in and out of the Classroom 

networked-teacherjpg.jpgI’m wanting way too much. I’m like a little kid in a candy store except my candy store is the World Wide Web, and the candy is all the exciting digital technology that’s out there, never mind all those interesting websites to read and podcasts to listen to . I ‘ve been so busy grabbing all that yummy candy and trying to unwrap it for my classroom blog it seems I’ve little time for anything else, including this blog. At least a regular candy store is closed some of the time unlike the WWW which is open all the time and will let me in at 8:00pm and let me stay until 1:30 am. No problem.

I do feel as if I’m making some headway though. Thanks to bloggers like Kevin, Sue, and Chrissy who’ve helped me unwrap some of the digital candy like like Voice Thread, and Voki, I’ve been able to create a classroom blog that engages my reluctant learners. I ‘ve learned so much in the last while that I’m starting to feel that I’m no longer a newly landed immigrant who has to constantly struggle to make her way through the digital technology. I keep telling myself that it took me years of practice to become a proficient gardener, seamstress and knitter. Why would it be any different with digital technology. I’m still learning new things about gardening, sewing and knitting. Things change over time. Come to think of it, teaching’s no different. It takes a long while to become proficient at it, and there’s always something new. Teachers are life long learners. Things change in teaching too.

Teachers are gradually moving toward becoming Networked Teachers. (Courosa’s graphic of “The Networked Teacher” that I uploaded from Flickr illustrates this very well.) Come to think of it, I’m well on my way to becoming a Networked Teacher myself . The Networked Teacher takes the curriculum documents which are a given for his or her subject areas and creates lesson plans that will deliver the curriculum by interacting with such things as popular media, print and digital resources, video conferences, social networking services, social bookmarking, digital photo sharing, wikis, podcasts and blogs as well as interacting with colleagues, students and their families and the local community. The Networked Teacher has new sets of tools to help engage her students and make their learning more relevant and meaningful. Of course, this presupposes that the curriculum the Networked Teacher is given is relevant and meaningful for students in the 21st century. I’m thinking there may have to be some changes in curriculum made- but that’s a whole other topic.

Just to get you thinking about the topic, I invite you to watch [youtube aPQlu5Vxm28]. Enjoy.

Comments

3 Responses to “On becoming a networked teacher”

  1. Chrissy H on March 2nd, 2008 4:15 am

    So glad that you are no longer feeling like a newly-landed immigrant. I adore my personal learning network and learn so much from it everyday. It’s also pleasure to pay it forward and help others too. You’re so right when you say that teachers are lifelong learners - and I don’t think I’d want to be anything else right now!

  2. Kevin on March 2nd, 2008 5:56 am

    I think patience and experimentation and openness to new ideas is the key here. And if you turn to the networks of people out there, who are so incredibly generous with time and advice, then you will be on the path that you seem to want to be on.

    Thanks for the video — I had not seen that one before, I don’t think.

    Have a great day
    Kevin

  3. Kate on August 1st, 2008 12:19 pm

    Due to circumstances beyond my control I am a networked teacher in yet another way. I rushed to send in my paperwork for teacher recertification just before the due date. Sadly, I received notice that I didn’t have as many credits as I thought. I frantically scoured the internet trying to find quick, inexpensive courses accepted by my state, Georgia. I happened across KDS (Knowledge Delivery Systems.) I was able to get the credits I needed from the comfort of my own home for only $60 a course. I watched an online video, took a quiz and proceeded on to the next lesson. At the end of the course I sent in a “final” exam and was awarded the credit for that course. I was able to get the credits needed for my recertification in the short amount of time I had. Check it out at http://www.kdsi.org.

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