iTeacher

Schools are beginning to utilize an excellent teaching resource when designing their technology professional development program … their students! And why not? Students are generally tech savvy and often know more about information and communication technology than their teachers. Most students I know would jump at the opportunity to turn the tables and share their expertise with their students.

In an Edutopia article called Turning the Tables: Students Teach Teachers by Sara Armstrong, students in Olympia, Washington provide structured technology professional development workshops for their teachers. The program is a huge success. The teachers learn some excellent software skills, while the students feel empowered and appreciated for their knowledge. I can’t imagine such a professional development program would cost anything to the school district. It’s a win/win situation. I would love to see more school districts tapping into this excellent resource. Please share some success stories here if you have worked in a school district with a similar program.

I just discovered an excellent reference website that coins itself a “one-stop shop for 21st century skills-related information, resources and community tools.” Route 21 is an initiative of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. It is an invaluable resource for locating information, resources and examples of effective 21st century teaching. Be sure to visit Route 21 for some excellent teaching ideas.

The real power behind Web 2.0 tools is realized when regular, everyday classroom teachers begin embedding them into their teaching repertoire. Realistically, though, most teachers have barely heard of these technologies, let alone feel confident enough to go out on a limb and implement them.

It was the average, everyday teacher that I had in mind when I created a Web 2.0 tutorial on Wikispaces. I wanted to create an atmosphere where technology novices could get to know some of these new technologies without getting bogged down with computer jargon. I wanted to convey how easy it is to use these technologies, and how the Read/Write Web supports the values and goals of 21st century education.

This tutorial discusses blogs, wikis, RSS feeds and social bookmarking. It provides easy definitions, educational benefits, classroom applications, concerns and solutions, real-world examples from teachers and links to other useful sites. I also include links to more detailed “how-to” tutorials and helpful videos I have found along the way. This wiki is by no means finished, but it is finally in a presentable format. In the true spirit of a wiki, I encourage others to contribute. Feel free to add additional resources and insights. I hope you find this wiki useful in your school as part of a wider professional development program.

You can find the Web 2.0 tutorial at http://web2tutorial.wikispaces.com.

I am in the process of creating a Web 2.0 wiki for my staff. I want to introduce them to some of the powerful, new tools of the Internet, including blogs, RSS, wikis and social bookmarks. I’m amassing some resources to link to my wiki so teachers can benefit from what other people have created in the area of Web 2.0 professional development. I’m looking for resources that are written for a “beginners” audience who has not engaged with technology much in the classroom. I want my wiki to demonstrate how easy it is to use Web 2.0 tools to transform teaching and learning.

If you have any resources that you would like to share or any relevant links, I would greatly appreciate your contributions here. When my wiki is completed I will publish the link here and share it with any interested educators. Thanks.