As I finish building our new La Crescent-Hokah school website,I sit back and consider where communication has moved to in our digital world. There is more information available at the tips of our fingers than ever before. However, we seem to be less informed in many ways. Parents complain because they didn't know this or that. It is all on the website but there is so much information--where do you begin? Are we in such an informational overload that we turn it all off?

The move to 1:1 is very exciting. Can you imagine each students having a device with him to access the huge knowledge base out there called the Internet? Now to teach them to use it educationally and not just for fun. How do we turn their entertainment use of media to an educational use? So much to teach and so much to learn.

MOOCs

It is difficult to open up a tech newsletter these days without finding something about MOOCs. This link brings up more things to consider: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/07/education/massive-open-online-courses-prove-popular-if-not-lucrative-yet.html?_r=0 Educators are still trying to figure out their take on MOOCs. Yes, we agree education should be available to everyone regardless of their ability to pay. On the student end of things, we see how difficult it is to pay the cost of a college education. However, as educators who have chosen teaching as a career, we also need to be able to earn a living. What is the solution to this problem? How do we open up educational opportunities and still support our educators? The next couple of years will be critical in the MOOC movement.

Twitter finds

Twitter is the one tool I have the hardest time taking the time to use. Not sure why as I always find great resources there when I do get on. Here is the blog of a recent twitter account I found: http://tech4teaching.org/wpblog/ She has some great things to share.

Infographics

Here is yet another great site, http://visual.ly/ where you can create an infographic. What is an infographic? It is the new way to organize and show data visually. These are very cool ways to illustrate a point. Here is an example of one: http://www.business2community.com/infographics/how-to-tell-a-good-story-infographic-0363026

Quote to guide today's educators

2013 promises to be a year of more changes in technology. Will it ever stop--I don't think so. This is never-ending field of change. How do we as educators provide the best education we can using the tech tools when they change so fast? Here is a quote I read recently in the Born in a Another Time, a recent report from the National Association of State Boards of Education. The quote is: “Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.” —Hebrew Proverb Wow--that says it all, doesn't it? We must move beyond our desks all in a row with the teacher at the front mentality. Students want to learn individually and technology makes that possible. We need to move into their time and see how they learn--then we can adjust how we teach to become more effective in delivering content. Here is the link to the full report: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/NASBE.pdf

Technology Glitches

The only thing totally dependable about technology is that there will be glitches! I couldn't respond to my own discussion board in Blackboard. Well, after a wonderful technician helped me, turns out it was Skype that was blocking it. Who would have thought? Glad he was there to help.