Wow...10 weeks is up? I have enjoyed this journey more than ANY other professional development...HANDS DOWN! I have walked away with so much knowledge...the kind of knowledge that leaves you wanting more - which is the knowledge (as educators) always strive to give to young minds. 23 Things has done that. I want more. I want version 2.0..is there one? Could there be one? I started out on this journey thinking - ok...I will learn a few cool things, but now I have set up some amazing tools that I can use personally, professionally, anything.
When I started I assumed that a lot of the blog "stuff" was for Star Trek lovers (please no offense was meant), but now I'm trying to talk my parents into some of this stuff. I show everyone I can about RSS feeds and how much time they can save you, I tell everyone about my wiki site - that I made and that people can change! It does lend it self to rethinking the whole "mine" mentality. Once it's out there it is no longer "mine". It takes us back to the days in preschool when we were learning to share. If I have something that someone wants, we need to shart it.
I want to digitize everything I do in the classroom. Well, maybe not everything, but a good majority of how I give information. I have already uploaded many forms that I pass out. Now instead of recopying things over and over, I tell the students where to get them from. Hopefully it's saving a little paper, but also helping students who may have forgotten their folder at school. The information is accessible all the time...how crazy is that? I teach fine art, traditional non digital art. There are things that I can't make digital, like the way students turn in their artwork, or actually showing someone where they could improve on something. But there are so many possibilites where I can add technology in the way I present something, or help when they need help on Sunday night. I can upload videos for the students, I can list the project requirements online, I could ask them for an opinion about an article I read from the New York times on Sunday afternoon. It's truly endless.
As I have stated before, this experience has left me wanting more. I don't want to just stop here. I want to expand this knowledge into more avenues and areas of my life. I'm not exactly sure how I will do this, but 23 Things has taught me to keep an open mind about all sorts of technology.
My biggest "takeaway" is the wiki. I have said this every chance I get...it has given me a forum to place MANY of the projects I have been working on. It's the ultimate collaboration tool for me. The ultimate. I have used my wiki many, many times already and will continue to improve upon it and share it with more people.
Thank you putting together an amazing program and allowing me the opportunity to use it.
We have lots of math and science and language arts teachers take this course, but not many art teachers. It was great to hear your unique perspective and ideas in this course.
ReplyDeleteWe have had lots of requests for The Next 23 Things, but haven't had time to develop it yet. We hope to do that soon. Meanwhile, you're well on your way and I'm sure you'll continue to explore new tools. Congratulations on your successful completion of 23 Things!