this thing about technology...

Why am I constantly surprised about how many educators are NOT incorporating technology into teaching and educating? I just finished attending a three day conference in Denver as part of a national grant our community college. These are peer learning meetings where we share information with ten other colleges about what we are doing. I had suggested that instead of waiting for a twice a year meeting we might be able to use a wiki to share information. Nobody seemed to know what I was talking about. I was flabbergasted. Other college professionals wanted to get copies of my contextualized curriculum and powerpoints. Instead of emailing, I could easily post this information on a wiki. And vice versa. I could get up to date information from other colleagues instead of waiting six months.

Then the conference organizers struggled to use their powerpoint presentation. Well, I know that we all have trouble with equipment. At one time or another, we've all had this problem. And it is frustrating. But these are professionals (I thought). They need to have a back up plan when you are presenting at a national conference. Somehow we all got distracted and I couldn't tell you what her talk was all about.

I'm pushing forth a new plan of action for our new grant. Our community college will be targeting out of school youth (ages 16-20) to try to get them back in school (through Adult High School or GED) and then seamlessly transition them into community college. We need to show them the possibilities and benefits of post-secondary education. My strategy is to share information with the other colleges in the grant. I will personally set up a collaborative wiki and invite my North Carolina community colleagues to join me. We need to be proactive in collaboration instead of waiting around to see what others are doing. There is definitely a benefit when I can bounce off ideas on this wiki.

Stay tuned for Chapter Two of my "Wiki Goes National". I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop when some administrator who doesn't even know what a wiki is tells me that we can't do this free sharing of information because it is not "official".

Media Literacy, Gangs, andn Social Networks

This is a new article found through PBS and learning.now

It talks about how community technology centers are trying to combat gang recruitment of youth by offering computer lab time for at-risk kids. There have been reports that gangs are out there right now using social networks like MySpace to recruit middle-school age kids. But, in this article, the community technology centers (CTCs) are allowing kids to come in after school and hang out on the Internet in a safe way. It doesn't really explain how the CTC staff is policing these websites. But, they are trying to show these kids there is a "good" way to use the Internet and find positive things to do.

A very interesting take on social networking and gangs....

Let's Be Careful Out There

We don't want to be blogging too much.... here's an article from the New York Times about two recent bloggers who unexpectedly passed away. Is it too stressful???

A differing view of the use of technology today

This link to another blog takes a different view of all the technology that is available to our youth. As we have been exploring in our LIS class, not all technology is the absolute answer to teaching and engaging students. It's great to know what is out there and what's available, but we don't have to jump on the bandwagon every time the newest gadget rolls out.

Let's just keep it in perspective...

could it be more than your first life?

I've tried playing around with Second Life in my first life. I've heard lots of things about it -- good and bad -- and so it was time to see what's all the fuss about. I created my default avatar but soon discovered that she paled in comparison to all the other hotties on SL. What's an avatar to do? Now I have some cool clothes so that I fit in just perfectly. Luckily I had some friends along and they showed me how to teleport around SL so that I wasn't just swimming in the middle of the ocean.

What could we use SL for? SL is a place to meet up with friends or make new ones. Since being anti-social is high on my Myers-Briggs indicator, I decided that I had more fun hanging out with my good ol'friends (classmates). Much safer that way. We could talk (chat) and visit the Library of Congress. For some strange reason I found myself drawn to the solitary games that were available in the LOC. I wasn't too interested in talking to anyone. Hmmmm... maybe that's why I'm not so interested in this SL thing. I can play games elsewhere on the Internet.

Good things about SL -- this is a way to advertise and market your library. It would be easy to post things here and make them freely available (another portal to the library). Bad things --
there are some weird people out there, so everybody be careful!

Well, at least I gave it the old college try. I might not be heading back anytime soon, but if I'm out there and you are too, just look for me -- here's a clue to my name -- I'm a "flamboyant pianist" and a "basketball player from China".

Who else is using Second Life? In one week, it seemed like EVERYONE was on SL. Dwight Shrute from the Office was on his Second Second Life as himself -- very typical. He had fun just being himself. And on CSI:NY there was a murder of an avatar by a rabid fan of SL. She even had plastic surgery to look like her avatar!! And finally, at North Carolina State University, there was an open question posted on the university's discussion board -- would anyone be interested in meeting his or her advisor on Second Life for an advising session? The discussion showed that not too many students were interested and some of the students had no idea what SL was. It may be that SL is geared for an older crowd. Are we old?