Last week, a teacher came up to me and asked what she should do to develop the 21st century skills I was talking about. But it’s a hard thing to explain in two minutes off the top of my head — and it’s not the first time we’ve heard that question. It would be nice if I could point them to an online course that I’m managing or some other billable offering. But that’s simply not what I do — nor can I say, “Buy my book!“
So, I tell them to do what I’ve done — read blogs. Find some people who are talking about what you want to learn, and from them, you’ll learn of others with ideas and practices to share.
Then it occurred to me that it might be useful to have a set of suggested steps that I can point folks to. So here it is. It’s not complete nor is it in any way definitive. ..and I’m looking forward to your suggestions.
A Path to Becoming a 21st Century Literate Educator — Self Development
- Find two or more other educators in your school who are interested in learning and using emerging information and communication technologies. It would be of enormous advantage if you can include your schools library media specialist.
- Identify the appropriate person in your school or district who can provide technical support and configuration for your increasingly utilized computers and network. Bake them some chocolate chip cookies.
- Identify some edu-bloggers who are talking about the emerging ICTs you are considering. See the Bloggers to Learn From wiki, contributed to by a world community of educators.
- Delegate! Assign each member of your team some of the selected blogs to follow, and share specific posts with each other.
- Read, study, and discuss books about teaching and learning and the world we’re doing it in. See the Books to Learn From. wiki, contributed to by a world community of educators.
- Schedule regular meetings (once or twice a month) at a local restaurant, coffee shop, or pizzeria (preferably with WiFi). Meet and discuss what you’ve learned and what you want to learn.
- Start a group del.icio.us (A social bookmarks service) account for organizing and sharing web resources.
- Start a wiki for posting notes, links, and step-by-step instructions.
- Join one or more of the Ning social networks, such as: School 2.0, Library 2.0, Classroom 2.0.
- Start your own blogs for sharing your reflections on what you are learning and how you are learning it.
- Start experimenting in your class and share the results.
- Share your results with other teachers in your school and Invite them into your conversation.
Start to model, in your job as a teacher, the practice of being a master learner.
Image Citation:
Plott, Wendi. “Day 15- Jan. 15, 2008- Ever wonder what teachers do after work? Here’s a hint:).” Shining Superstar’s Photostream. 15 Jan 2008. 10 Feb 2008 <http://flickr.com/photos/10932478>.
David,
I think that I’ve heard that you are not a great fan of social network sites. However, I have started a new social network site designed for content area teachers. My hope is that content area teachers will discuss specific ideas related to teaching and learning, such as content area standards that they are required to teach. However, hopefully rather than just discussing these standards on the social network site they will consider how technology can meaningfully enhance this teaching and learning. (I think I’m actually going to post your list on this site.)
I think it would be great if we could all encourage content area teachers to join this site. If you are a technology teacher, you are welcome to join. But if you are a content area teacher you’re even more welcome.
The address is http://www.teachingcontent.ning.com.
Thanks,
Andy
Warlick,
Great advice for a start. I always recommend teachers to join the learningwithcomputers group. Educators there are always willing to tutor newcomers and start from the very basics. Also, it’s a place where you’ll easily find partners for international projects with learners.
Thanks for sharing the question that we are asked all the time and there’s no simple answer with one way to do it!
I’ve been podcasting the last few days on just this thing… “Where do I get started?” If anyone is interested it’s called “Teacher 2.0” and is available on iTunes or at http://thecleversheep.libsyn.com/
A superb hint David- I may add : Try to join all type of online events – I’ve been doing that and discovered a whole new world despite being a teacher blogger for quite a time – I virtually attended all K12 Online 07
presentations http://english_studio.blogspot.com/search/label/K12Online07
and I am now taking part in EVO 2008 -SMiELT
http://arinformes.wordpress.com/
Your can learn a lot from those sort of events- They are advertised in most blogs /websites related to Education and technology.
All the best.
David,
I like the resources you’ve built to support this post. (and that you referred people to their librarians 🙂
I think the first step is to just get started–to try something out and to carve out time for your own learning.
I think as a profession we feel terminally guilty about spending time on our own learning and spend most of our time supporting others.
I think we need to think of the time we spend learning as an investment in both ourselves and our students, ultimately.
I did a similar post a few months ago because I do think it’s really important to break things down into more concrete steps so people feel like they can begin when they don’t really know where or how to begin.
Thanks!
David,
This is great. I would add that teachers need to attend prof. development workshops when available… and participate actively in them. Better yet, conduct sessions when the opportunity arises.
I think another list that would be great is how administrators can become literate…. it would follow much the same as you have done, but it would then require them to go a step further by offering sessions at school, providing prof. time for their teachers, requiring them to do certain things (like have a blog, use a wiki in class, etc.). Through my experience, true change is not going to happen across the board unless it is top-down – required and expected of teachers (along with the creation of opportunities) by their administrators who also understand what it means to be a “literate educator”.
Keep up the great work! Stewart
Hello David:
Thank you for this fabulous list! It’s just the thing I need to take with me to tomorrow’s technology meeting at our school. I hope you don’t mind that I added the list to my blog (with all credit given to you, of course!)
Thanks!
A superb hint David- I may add : Try to join all type of online events – I’ve been doing that and discovered a whole new world despite being a teacher blogger for quite a time – I virtually attended all K12 Online 07
presentations http://english_studio.blogspot.com/search/label/K12Online07
and I am now taking part in EVO 2008 -SMiELT
http://arinformes.wordpress.com/
Your can learn a lot from those sort of events- They are advertised in most blogs /websites related to Education and technology.
All the best.
David, This is such great practical advice! I especially like the top two suggestions because I have recommended those myself. Feed your techies!! Love them, appreciate them, bring them gifts and show them what you are doing in your classroom with your students. Often they feel excluded from the educational process and disconnected from how teachers are really using the technology in the classroom. They really do get excited about students learning too!
Find a like-minded friend in your area (if not your school) with whom you can share and mutually encourage. I finally found a friend or two who really understood the potential of web 2.0 in my educational context and it made all the difference.
Thanks for sharing so many great tips and you can be sure I will be passing them on!
I think that the biggest key is to just start. Figure it out as you go. Learn from others. I get so stressed thinking about how to start that I don’t start. I must say that it is pretty intimidating as an educator to see so many experts in so many different fields. But what you don’t see is an expert in everything. Pick your interest and move with it. I like to blog and podcast. but, there are certain things that I could do without. One other thing to consider is the term emerging. It doesn’t imply “Poof, here it is”. David, I am really motivated by what you said in your keynote that the METC2008 conference.
I just introduced a group of new teachers to the possibilities of technology in education. I’ve been slowly blogging about the class. I wish I had your list last week. I’m going to tag it in the delicious account I created for the class and hope some of the teachers view it.
I will definitely include the ideas in next year’s class.
A self-development plan is essential. There is no one route to becoming literate in 21st century skills. Also, you do not have to have tons of expensive equipment to make it happen. A desire to learn is essential.
Ann
This is a great list for people looking to start off on the edtech journey, but don’t know where to start. Thanks for summarizing & sharing!
In my experience, reading other educators’ blogs has been the greatest boon to my knowledge base.
David,
The steps that you have created for becoming a literate educator appear to be very helpful. I am a college student right now, but within the next few years I will be entering a career as an educator. I am currently working on becoming more technologically savvy and I have already done some of the things that you have suggested. When I become a teacher I feel that it will be very important for find others who have similar goals and establish relationships with them so that we can accomplish our goals together. In my opinion it is much easier to learn how to use new types of technology when there is someone available to guide you, rather than learn it all yourself. I also like how you suggest to experiment with your students. It can be risky to try new things, but along with the risks there is also potential for great learning. Thanks a lot for the advice.
Great list! What strikes me most is that it is a collaborative endeavor, “find two other people in your school.” web2 is all about the collaboration 🙂
I really like the ideas that you have listed in this post. I am a college student right now, and one of my classes I am currently taking is a technology based course. I have always been interested in technology, but it has always been harder for me to learn by just reading directions. I have found that by finding people who know more about technology, such as my current teacher, it is easier to learn how to use all these new things that we have available to us. I have also found that wiki posts are very useful for group projects. I really enjoyed all these ideas in this list, especially the first couple of few. I think that if people took the time to get help from others and then share the information they have learned about technology, others will be more willing to try new things. Thanks for the great list and good advice!
Thanks for the practical suggestions! Sometimes, with an older staff, it is difficult to find the “movers and the shakers.” With a younger staff, they may feel overwhelmed just to get through the day with several preps and coaching and with NCLB and state standards, well…the question is TIME and where to find it. I know this relates to priorities but your list above suggests time that many educators don’t have. I agree it is essential to network, not only to share the wealth but also to share the work and, as you mentioned, to know the right people and influence them by bribes (i.e. cookies ?). I know that viewing blogs, using wikis, and nings will need to become part of the educators repertoire, but to get to that point requires a new method of planning, and how does an educator make that transition and keep it up (in order to gain new knowledge to educate the future)?