ISACS

Comment

Comment by Dale Singer on January 29, 2009 at 5:39am

Thanks Connie,
for the words of encouragement and perseverance. We shall overcome!!
I am going to take Dave's suggestion and get one or two of my new teachers to really run with some things and then see if we can spread some knowledge to the rest of the staff. I will let you all know how it goes right here.
Dale

Comment by Connie Weber on January 29, 2009 at 4:16am

Hi Dale, David, A.J,

My experience is that bringing faculty members into a bigger world for discussion can be helpful--it gets us out of our nearby everyday concerns and into a much wider lens through which to view the issues and ideas of our little corner of the world. So I have a lot of faculty members who are part of a global "educational conversation" ning, http://firesidelearning.ning.com.

Colleagues report to me that they're learning like never before, really getting a new handle on what's going on in education overall--and the learning from that brings a fresh take on issues that loom large in one's own personal involvement in education. It's uplifting.

Sometimes we need to get outside of our smaller educational contexts in order to really "see" them.

Another thing: right now we're starting a school ning for the express purpose of sharing family history, family stories. The purpose should drive it forward; just getting ready to launch the project. I'll let you know what I discover.

Thanks--it's good to hear from you all. Keep in touch!

PS: David and Dale, I know what you mean about the faculty members who simply turn away; it's as if they've determined they'll not enter the digital world. Now that's a scary thought to me, people who can just turn away from learning something with vast powers to enrich lives--who can just turn away from the world as it IS for most students now. What a missed opportunity, what a Divide.

Go forth! Repair this problem and let us know of your struggles and successes!

Comment by David J Fremo on January 28, 2009 at 12:01pm

Dale,

I don't know if you have the potential for this in your school, but here's a thought.

At my school, the entire body (students, faculty, staff, admins) gather about 3 times every week. We are about 350 people. We have a common space equipped with multimedia which we use for announcements, presentations, prayer, etc. Often, students have opportunities to demonstrate things they are doing or have done. I am going to give one of my online classes which uses Ning a chance to show the whole school its functionality and potential. Riding the train of student leadership has been effective in the past.

It is hard to motivate colleagues, though. They tend to resent deeply when such things are required, even if the requirements are simple (like "create an account.") They tend to be courteously disinterested in suggestions.

One potential carrot to dangle would be to create some sort of "fun" yet practical competition in which using these tools is the means by which people participate. It need not be monetary. At SJP, we have created a new line of clothing which people are excited about. Maybe a gift certificate to your school's cafeteria or snack bar. It might sound silly, but people are silly and usually go these sorts of things. Maybe the goal is to start a discussion thread and invite others to participate, maybe to start a new site or use an existing, maybe to invite colleagues, etc.

Something like this is positive in that they use the tools to obtain something trivial but know how to use the tools in the end.

Good luck, I feel your pain.

Dave

Comment by Dale Singer on January 28, 2009 at 11:40am

Hi Dave,
It is very interesting isn't it, that kids have lead the teachers and push them to expand the teacher's scope. I also like the idea of creating nings or networks for some of our classrooms, but I have not found a teacher willing and able.
I have also invited our teachers to join 2.0, but I do not see any of them jumping at the opportunity.
I am continuing to offer suggestions, websites, and ideas. Do you think there are other things I could do to entice some of the staff to get on board?

Comment by David J Fremo on January 28, 2009 at 9:18am

Hi Dale,

When you say "network," I assume you mean a Ning site?

I have contemplated doing the same thing, but have refrained thus far. I have instead created several for courses I am teaching and I think they are superior to Moodle for the most part. Students are using them consistently and developing their own pages, etc. I've also created one for my family which streamlines information sharing, which led me to do the same for my church.

Why, then, have I not done so for my colleagues at school? I guess I see it as a greater obstacle to overcome for most of them. Our school is linked to St. John's University, located on the same campus, so we share IT services with them. We are really at the mercy of whatever the University makes available and promotes, so the culture here is such that something "homegrown" is of little value on an institutional level.

Were we independent of the University, I feel things might well be different.

To this point, I have invited my entire body of colleagues to join Classroom 2.0 on four separate occasions. Two of the 40+ people have done so. It's so uphill that I feel the only way I can overcome the culture is to utilize tools in the classroom that make a name for themselves and then hopefully "sell" the practice to my colleagues. Kids do talk, and their words often have far more influence than mine.

Dave

Comment by Dale Singer on January 28, 2009 at 8:06am

Hello,
I was wondering how some of you are doing with the networking aspect at your schools. We set up a teacher network, and it saw a small amount of activity, but seems to be slowing down. Is anyone getting better results or using networking in an ISACS school effectively??

Comment by Dale Singer on November 13, 2008 at 1:48pm

OK Hi everyone, I made my way here from the ning network. I am amazed at how much is going on out here. I have some support from our teachers to start a network or group, I am not sure which to do?? I am envisioning a homepage that would be available that could serve as a clrearinghouse for information during the day and free up time at our staff meetings to focus on student needs. What are you thinking of doing with a network?

Comment by A.J. Colianni on November 6, 2008 at 4:35pm

Very much enjoyed the presentations and discussion today Steve and Connie. Thank you.