Teaching With Technology in APS

There is no doubt that technology has its own language.  Talk to anyone that works around computers and websites all day (like me on some days) and you may quickly feel lost and confused.  Examples of words that come up might include, but definitely aren’t limited to: web 2.0, blog, wiki, RSS, browser, podcast, etc.  You might have heard these words, and knew they had to do with technology, but that’s where your knowledge ended.  If you’re nodding your head right now I have the resource for you…It’s called Plain English.

I’ve run across their videos on YouTube a fair amount of times and have used it in many trainings as well.  All the authors have done is use a video camera, some really simple production work, and some paper and markers to help explain all these new words in “Plain English.”  All of the videos are housed on their site, which is called Commoncraft. They say it best when they describe what they do, “We make complex ideas easy to understand using short and simple videos.”

Here’s an example of what really helped set the stage at a podcast training I facilitated at the beginning of this school year:

So check these videos out.  Then next time your friends start throwing around those newfangled techie words and ideas you can actually join in the conversation instead of trying to quickly change the subject.  And please don’t try to tell me you haven’t ever done that!

I ran across this on one of my new favorite blogs the other day and knew it needed to be shared.  The blog is called “Dangerously Irrelevant” and I’m really loving the posts and the comments.  I know you’ll love it too, so definitely check it out.

The post that sparked my interest had to do with our students delivering professional development to our teachers.  This builds on a previous thought that we’ve heard from Alan November before…always include students in training and conferences.  There is absolutely no reason why this idea shouldn’t be a way larger part of what we do.  As the posts says, when it quotes Tapscott & Williams’ Wikinomics (2006), “this is the first time in human history when children are authorities on something really important (p. 47).”  I don’t care who you are, what you do or teach in your school district, how long you’ve been teaching, or whatever other issue you have with this point…it’s true…period.  The post I’m talking about is here.

As the post says as well, getting over the fear/anxiety/denial/etc. that your students may know more about a certain subject (in this case technology) is a tough step as a professional, but it’s a crucial one.  As the post says, “All we have to do is walk away from our egos and our fear and embrace our mission statements, the ones that say that we all should be learners and say nothing about from whom we must learn.”

Do the right thing and let the real experts teach.  You might just be surprised at what you learn and how that affects your learning environment.  Just see where things go from there…