Email is a great, convenient way to communicate. In many ways it can be exciting, similar to how we used to wait for the postman to deliver us that special letter that we had been waiting for. While there are similarities, there are a whole lot of frustrations around email to the point that some... Continue Reading →
I recently attended a very intriguing keynote presentation from Dr. Catherine Steiner-Adair titled: Lost in Connection: How The Tech Effect Puts Children’s Development at Risk I was preparing to listen to more information about how children are using technology and the negative effect of this on their development. Certainly, this would fit with some of... Continue Reading →
I finally did it, having spent 18 months using Twitter regularly to support my professional learning, sharing ideas and resources with fellow educators, I participated in a Twitter chat. Having seen these chats advertised by some of the wonderful educators in my professional learning network, getting a sense of what they are and the possible... Continue Reading →
The use of video is an excellent way to support teacher coaching and improvement. In John Hattie’s meta analysis of factors influencing effective teaching, micro teaching (video recording lessons) was in the top 10 strategies used by teachers that have the biggest impact on student learning. Yet despite this evidence plus better and more affordable... Continue Reading →
Most teachers that I meet want to incorporate technology to support and enhance student learning. One conversation particularly stuck in my mind when the teacher said: "Yes, I would like to have my students be more creative with technology, I only wish I knew how to use it [technology] better myself." A number of teachers... Continue Reading →
Many schools employ technology coaches / integrators, though the role they undertake is wide-ranging and differs greatly from school to school. Like many new positions that are created in schools the role evolves as the landscape shifts, particularly with the rapid development of new and different technologies. While this can be difficult to plan for... Continue Reading →
One of the greatest aspects of teaching is that there is a fair bit of freedom for teachers to choose their avenues for professional growth. With the increased availability of information there is greater opportunity for teachers to engage in their own DIY professional development in addition to attending online and offline workshops and conferences.... Continue Reading →
I would probably make a guess that Microsoft Word is the most heavily used piece of software used by teachers yet, from my experience, very few schools give their teachers much training in how to use the application. Given its use in helping teachers and education leaders prepare worksheets, booklets, newsletters and reports, it is... Continue Reading →
In his article for On the Horizon back in 2001, Marc Prensky coined the terms digital native and digital immigrant. Prensky refers to our students as Digital Natives - "all “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet." Digital immigrants, on the other hand, are referred to as "those of... Continue Reading →
