Personalizing the Story
Questions:
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What aspects of technology (online/offline, computers/cell phones, etc.) make it possible for more people to take control of the tools and create their own content?
First, tech newbies need a mentor and time. They need to know that time is carved out by just diving in and learning "just in time." They need a short project to accomplish quickly, one by themselves and one with students. A google presentation is a great way to start. Here's how I started:
Google Apps Presentation Collaboration
The Presentation Thank You
They also need to know about Creative Commons, reSearch strategies (including citations and validity), which can be learned and taught "just in time."
I mention and suggest Google Apps because they are free with any gmail account. Before we were a Google Apps school, I would create five generic email accounts for students to login to collaborate and create. I would log in and the students could access and collaborate. Most of the educators I work with use Google accounts for collaboration and forms for gathering information. Cost and access are iimpediments.
Get started with Twitter. Let them lurk. Then retweet. Then join the conversation. Ten minutes a day.
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What is it about that technology that might hold them back? (ie, limitations)
Cost and access are impediments; many free tools are available.
Time is always an issue; "just in time" must be a mantra.
Pedagogy and mindsets prevent beginners from starting. We don't learn the tools first and then do a project. The project (topic, audience, purpose) determnes the tool and we learn as we go.
IT departments cringe at techy teachers; be sure a teacher is part of the IT department so that the tools can be adopted and accessed, not closed. At our school, I'm the Technology Director; I teach all day and I know what could work and try it. I ask the IT to help me make it happen with their filters and codes and firewalls. I thank the foresight of our Superintendent for making this happen, the bridge between teaching pedagogy and IT mindsets.
Age has nothing to do with it (my twitter is @grammasheri because that's who I am).
"Old Guard" has nothing to do with it; I've been teaching for twenty-six years.
Passion has everything to do with progress.
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What are your impressions of the Gary Hayes image about the “myth of participation"? And where are you on the chart?
I like the participation chart at first glance. It' a start. I think "The Creators" will be updated to include personal, local, global, and activist, or something like that.
I fit in "The Sharers" and "The Editors." Although I do comment on blogs. I'm not a creator, usually, although I am creative.
And that brings me back to television and lurkers. I think that television can inspire original thought and ideas, just as lurking can. People need information to grow their brains.
So, to finish the story...
Here's a slight modification of my presentation to the school board about digital literacy, complete with an ePub: Digital Literacy, today and onward... I presented it on iPads.
How did this happen?
The Tech that Made It Possible
Connection: Twitter; Social groups (P2PU), Slideshare subsrcription alerts, Flickr, Google Search, YouTube
We're struggling with the cost of technology and the question, "Is it necessary?" This conversation and others I've followed helped me "edit" others' work to create the presentation. Its a remix and mashup of others' and my own ideas. I'm passionate about closing the knowledge and digital gap for my students. All educators need to know how important it is.
Creation: Mac, Pages, Flickr, YouTube, Google Search, iPhoto, SnagIt, YouTube embeds
I used Pages on my Mac using the ePub template from Apple. I chose ePub instead of iBook Author becausethe document can be easily placed in my Public Dropbox for others to download; other devices (not the Kindle) can also read it. It allows for videos and links and automattically creates the format when opened in iBooks. I wanted it in a form that demonstrates the power of mobile and desktop technology.
Connection: F2F, Dropbox, Posterous Blog, Google Site, Creative Commons, Twitter
The information seemed pertinent to other educators' issues, so, to share, I blogged it and made the ePub available as Creative Commons. I tweeted.
Tech Limitations
What if I didn't have the computer and it's software, the interment connection, and the knowledge to search, connect, and find answers? What if I weren't willing to share?
Myth of Participation Chart
My granddaughter joined Twitter in 2009, so I did to keep up with her. I haven't stopped; I've learned so much and met so many fantastic educators who have inspired me to continue the journey. Web 2.0 allows this, and we need to help others get to the sharing, editing, and creating. But start small. It's 2012, and the technology in the cloud now allows everyone to participate if they have access, which should be a right of all people, in my mind because Web 2.0 opens up all the opportunities: research, resources, jobs, etc.
So, have I made it to editor? I'm not the creators as you all are, but I am an example of an elder willing to grow and learn, and passionate that my students have the same access to these opportunities.