RSSMaking Connections
Dec 7th, 2006 | By Eric Hoefler | Category: Education/LiteracyI had a great time listening in (and adding a few words) to the Skypecast tonight on EdTechTalk.com. (You can read background information and grab podcasts from TeachersTeachingTeachers.org). I was greatful to be invited into the conversation and my head’s still swimming with ideas from tonight’s talk.
The subject for the evening revolved around best practices for using blogs and related technologies in the classroom. Specifically, the concern is not about what tools we use, but how we’re using them: whether or not the tools are merely “taking the place of” conventional methods of teaching rather than bringing genuine change to how students learn. In other words, these technologies offer the chance for something significantly different to happen, well beyond just “tech-ing up” the same old things.
Thanks to everyone who joined the conversation tonight, particularly to Paul Allison, Troy Hicks, and Clarence Fisher for their thoughts.
What I’ll be taking away from this conversation immediately is a sharper awareness of the potential for extension and connections beyond the classroom that blogs and other technologies bring. I’m sure I’ll be processing the ideas for a while, but for now, I’m getting my head around some of them by clarifying what tools I’m currently using with the students and how they can be used most effectively. You can keep track, if you’d like, on this page of the wiki.
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