ISTE Connects - Educational Technology

Your Brain on E-Books

2009-11-16T15:07:33Z

Working with books, I’m very curious about people’s interest in e-books. I like to take informal polls whenever the subject comes up, and I usually ask the simple question, “Do you want a Kindle?” It’s enough to spark quite a conversation. I enjoy hearing the reasons people do or do not want an e-reader. There are people who would love to download whatever book they want whenever they way, or they really like the idea of carrying a light-weight digital device when they travel rather than lugging around a number of heavy books. There are also people that aren’t quite sold yet. They often say that they can’t imagine snuggling up to an e-reader to read a novel. And there are people who are not sure, but curious and want to try it before they decide.

The responses I get are usually based on reading preferences and lifestyles. I don’t usually hear about how e-books affect the way our brain reads and processes information, which is why I was intrigued by an New York Times blog post, “Does the Brian like E-Books?”

The Room for Debate article was made up of contributions from five experts: an English professor, an author, a professor of child development, a computer scientist and a professor of informatics. A common thread through each opinion was that e-books are different than traditional books and we read them differently. With e-books come more distractions such as hyperlinks and advertisements. In addition, we read with speed in mind. We download quickly and get the information we want with the click of a mouse and it raises the question of whether or not we still have time to think, process and analyze what we’re reading.

E-books are a relatively new technology and we can assume there is a lot of research to come on how they may affect us as readers, especially those that learn to read with e-books. While the research is conducted and debates are held, I think that it’s important to remember that we have control over how books (electronic or otherwise) are consumed, taught, and written. We may have to work harder to get distracted, and we may have to spend more time teaching our students the importance of analyzing what an author has written, but we shouldn’t let extra effort keep us from all the advantages of this technology or any technology. I think this is summed up nicely by one of the blog contributor’s, David Gelernter, “The tools (as usual) are neutral. It’s up to us to insist that onscreen reading enhance, not replace, traditional book reading.”

Remembering a Passionate and Wonderful Community Manager

2009-11-14T12:53:23Z

This past week, ISTE and the ISTE Connects community lost a dear friend and invaluable member of our team. Kaya Hardin passed away last Monday, which came as a tremendous shock to us all. She was a young, vibrant Social Media Strategist and she cared deeply about her role as a connector. Kaya will be missed, but her mission to drive innovation and equity through social media will not be forgotten, and will not stop.

Why the Read/Write Web is Essential in Schools

2009-11-07T00:08:40Z

In his book, RSS for Educators: Blogs, Newsfeeds, Podcasts, and Wikis in the Classroom, John G. Hendron discusses the importance of using the Read/Write Web, or Web 2.0, in education. He says:

What if a school’s success hinged on its ability to prepare students for an evolving, global society that demanded openness, peering, sharing, and acting globally? The culture that created the Read/Write Web is the same culture that favors openness and sharing, and is best typified by the open-source software movement. Volunteer programmers that created the Linux operating system worked together, piece-by-piece — each volunteer with a different and varied experience, and each in a different location across the world. This culture would do well to find a home in today’s schools, in order for our students to find success today and in the future.

The Read/Write Web ought to have a place in schools for a variety of reasons. For one, the Read/Write Web is where both business and society have turned to grow and learn. Whether our tool of choice is Google, Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org), or Ask Metafilter (http://ask.metafilter.com), we have access to a staggering amount of information online. The Read/Write Web is also a place where people make a living. “About one million of the most active traders on eBay have quit their day jobs and now make their living selling new and used goods full-time” (Tapscott & Williams, 2006, p. 100). “Lifelong learning” is frequently in the mission statements of schools and districts the country-over. During their school years and beyond, students will engage in endless opportunities to learn on their own. Teaching students how to self-educate using the Read/Write Web is an important new skill.

Students also deserve the experience of developing information and media literacies. The Center for Media Literacy (www.medialit.org) offers teachers resources for developing students’ media literacy, which now includes, among others, both traditional media (e.g., commercials on television) and the nontraditional Read/Write Web variety (bias in blog entries, YouTube videos, etc.). The American Association of School Librarians provides resources for addressing information literacy (www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslissues/aaslinfolit/informationliteracy1.htm), and AT&T provides information on “21st Century Literacies” (www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/21stcent/), broken into four areas: information, visual, cultural, and media.

Another reason to embrace the Read/Write Web? “Young People Urgently Need New Skills to Succeed in the Global Economy,” reads the title of a report from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id=276&Itemid=64). The report cites 70% of human resource officials feel that high school graduates fall short in critical-thinking skills, and 81% of human resource officials believe high school graduates are deficient in written communications. The good news is that by applying the Read/Write Web into the curriculum, teachers can provide students with opportunities to improve critical thinking, as well as both written and verbal communication. Beyond that, students can creatively explore other forms of communication, including film, music, and visual art. A podcast, for instance, requires planning, storyboarding, and writing before the podcast is published.

(pic from flickr.com/photos/dbdbrobot)

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills also calls for using “21st Century Assessments.” The Read/Write Web can make an excellent medium for assessing student learning beyond the now-popular standardized test. Student blogs can become student digital portfolios. Student video projects can reveal, among many things, the student’s attainment of critical-thinking skills. Collaborative, student-centered projects promote interaction with students from faraway schools, testing a student’s progress in working with peers.

I agree with John. It’s vital for our students to be able to use Web 2.0 if they want a successful future. I’d be interested in hearing other arguments for the Read/Write Web. Why do you find it critical that your students know how to use Web 2.0 tools and take part generating information through blogs, podcasts, wikis, and more?

Copyright 2008, ISTE ® (International Society for Technology in Education), RSS for Educators, John G. Hendron. 1.800.336.5191 or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l), iste@iste.org, www.iste.org. All rights reserved. Distribution and copying of this excerpt is allowed for educational purposes and use with full attribution to ISTE.

Join New Ning for ISTE 2010 Conference & Expo

2009-11-04T22:13:00Z

Our past conference Nings have been very popular and a great way for educators to build their networks, learn about sessions, and get started discussing conference-related topics before the event. We’ve just migrated last year’s conference Ning over to the new ISTE 2010 Ning, so please join us now!

Ponchos, Pisco Sours and Panpipes but no broadband or wireless

2009-11-03T23:56:04Z

As teachers at the so called ‘chalk face’ or these days the ‘smart board’ we continually strive to prepare our students with the knowledge, skills, attributes and life experiences that will make them effective life-long learners in the 21^st century. But what if you have no technology as such, no wireless or broadband, what if you don’t even have electricity? Do teachers in these particular situations still need to prepare their students like we would?

During August this year I was extremely honored to travel to the Amazon rainforest in Peru with a charity called Cool Earth as part of their new teacher fellowship which is about teachers experiencing the challenges of living in the rainforest and then taking this experience back into their classrooms and schools. For more information on this visit the education part of the Cool Earth website: http://www.coolearth.org/ (in fact they are now accepting applications from teachers for next year as you are reading this).

As part of the fellowship (no I promise it isn’t anything like lord of the rings although once or twice whilst wondering in the dense rainforest I thought I heard voices coming from the trees) we lived with the indigenous group called the Ashaninka people for ten days or so and experienced their lives of living in such an amazing environment, we learned about the challenges that they face living in the rainforest and how Cool Earth as a charity was making a real difference to the future of the rainforest and the people.

One of the most fantastic elements was spending time in local schools with local teachers and students discussing how they learn and the challenges that they face. For me a teacher who loves to use technology in innovative ways I was really interested to see what technology they had and how they used it. Obviously due to things such as infrastructure, logistics and finance the technology they had was pretty limited however how they made use of this was very impressive. For example we visited two primary schools and two secondary schools for around about 60 or so students in each. These schools are in very remote areas of the rainforest which are a short flight from one of the frontier towns on the edge of the rainforest followed by a two hour trek through the rainforest. These schools do not have regular electricity however do have some small solar power units which can power electricity for a couple of hours a day. Each school had probably at least one laptop each which were primarily shared between all the teachers within the school and a few of the students to prepare materials for lessons.

Obviously due to the limited time for electricity and the limited number of laptops this use of technology could only go so far. I spoke to the teachers about whether they really needed the technology. Were they preparing their students in the same way that I was and did they really need to? All of the teachers I spoke to made it clear that they did need the technology and probably even more than my students for several important reasons. The first is that it is extremely critical to educate the students their about the rainforest and how to conserve it. This is extremely important not just for them but because they have a responsibility to the entire world. As protecting the rainforest could be the single biggest influence in tackling climate change, the students will need technology to help them communicate this to the wider world and to future generations.

The next reason is that the world is changing at a rapid rate for these students it is even quicker they will fall even further behind other young people their age if we don’t begin to educate them about the potential of technology. This soon will be an issue for them as the Peruvian government plan to build a road to one of their villages in the next 5 years opening up access to the outside world. Will they be ready for what they will have to face? Technology will be the key to their survival and the future of their race. I saw an example of this while I was there visiting technology like for all of us can opens doors, one girl who had more access to technology as she was studying ended up gaining a scholarship to become a doctor and was undergoing her training at University in Cuba with a view to returning with the right medical training back to her village. Technology definitely helped her in making a success and raising her own aspirations. Finally technology has the X factor the students were in awe and wonder and using it engaged them I could see that just by the way their faces had the biggest smiles in the world and the laughter whilst they used it.

So where now and what can we do? Let’s not forget that it isn’t just about the technology the teachers in the schools often have to pay using their own money for materials like books and pencils, in some of the schools the students have little food and are hungry so what can we do to help? Well you can help fundraise to help give these schools the materials, electricity and technology that they need. I am setting up a collaborative fundraising student project using edmodo in association with Cool Earth if you’re interested in getting involved or finding out more contact me on twitter @chickensaltash.

So do these teachers need to prepare their students for the 21^st Century as we are trying to? The answer is yes and in fact you could argue that they need to even more than we do but they have a much bigger challenge in doing this then we all do. I want the children from Peru to have the final word:

http://www.youtube.com/user/CoolEarthDotOrg#p/a

Crowdsourcing or Loudsourcing?

2009-11-03T22:01:23Z

Applause to my friends at ISTE for having the gumption to create a massive experiment in crowdsourcing with their ISTE 2010 keynote crowdsourcing forum. As I’ve put in my own suggestions and thoughts and sat back to watch the forum evolve since it was posted, a few things about crowds have come to mind as well as some questions that I think we must grapple with about the whole process of “crowdsourcing” if indeed it can be called that.

As of the writing of this post, the top item is Scott McLeod’s suggestion for Effective School Leadership for the Global, Digital Era. You can see when Scott suggested his post, that he asked the readers of his amazing blog to go over and vote. Kevin Honeycutt’s suggestion for Trends, Tools, and Tactics for 21st Century Learning is the second place suggestion, but somehow many of the people who are commenting on the post have the idea that they are voting ON Kevin Honeycutt despite Kevin’s objections otherwise. Although I put my suggestion in, it has languished at the bottom of the heap, which is certainly fine, as we’d like the best ideas to come to the top. But will they? Or will our opinions of the people suggesting them somehow influence the outcome?

(pic from flickr.com/photos/liberato)

Crowdsourcing Observation #1: Sometimes it is about the Loud in the Crowd

I find it quite interesting that two pretty popular online personalities are leading the top of this keynote suggestion. Both Scott and Kevin have a pretty significant digital footprint that allows them to reach many people in their network. It looks like they both personally are promoting their keynote suggestions in their various venues. For example, three days after Scott proposed his keynote suggestion, he wrote a blog post, The Gloves Are Off where Scott takes this “contest” of sorts as a personal objective:

“So the gloves are off, Kevin! I don’t know if I can pull this off, but I’m not going down without a fight. Thanks to everyone who already has voted for my topic and/or participated in the conversation. Any assistance that you can continue to lend me would be most appreciated; I need more people to vote for my suggestion and to spread the word about the contest. I’ve got an uphill battle and am going to need all of the help I can get!”

Kevin is a Plurk-er extraordinaire with a Plurk Karma of 100 (that is pretty high) and has his network there going for the keynote he has proposed. Each man is using his network to campaign for “his topic.” This week, Scott made his call again at My ISTE 2010 keynote topic suggestion just tipped 1,000 votes.

Now, I’m saying this not to point out Scott or Kevin to promote the merit of their topics but in this rumination on Crowdsourcing, you’ll notice that the top two votes are vociferous, well liked educational networkers with pretty good ideas. (I also have to wonder if somehow this is a contest between the power of Plurk and Twitter as Kevin is pretty focused on Plurk and Scott on Twitter? In the end will the difference be the footprint between these two men or the merits of their ideas?) They are both impassioned about their idea, willing to campaign for it by spending their social capital through their networks by asking for this, and do have ideas that have good merit. But is it more?

Crowdsourcing Observation #2: Merit Has a Place

I did suggest my own topic (which perhaps was too related to a particular presenter or group of presenters) and perhaps I didn’t campaign, but that is beside the point. In this model, the best ideas typically will move upwards and I think certainly that is what has happened. I say this to point out that it takes more than a good digital footprint, but the idea has to have merit with the crowd you’re talking to to rise to the top. It has to be a good idea that RESONATES with the crowd and then, having links to the crowd through a big NETWORK also will help once you’ve reached that thresh hold.

Crowdsourcing Observation #3: Do Focused Minorities Rule?

Niche crowds who will benefit from something always have the opportunity to work the system. I’m not saying this is happening now (to do this, one would have to look at the voters for niche topics and determine if some people have only voted for one topic.) I will tell you that in a small sample of users on Scott’s post including fisherpd, koverholt, and others who voted for Scott’s, out of the most recent ten voters, each of them voted for only one or two topics on the forum and did not use all of their 20 votes with only one, James Yap, actually using all of his votes.

I think perhaps the inherent flaw is this. Each person has 20 votes and may spend those votes as they wish. I think that some people will vote differently – is an administrator type more likely to use all 3 votes and then not vote for anything else in order to “Make” their votes count more as Scott’s topic is perhaps the only one targeted specifically at administrators? Could perhaps the methods being used FAVOR a niche group of people who will exclusively hit one topic versus others?

This is where many forums allow the ability to “vote something down” by using votes to go “against” a topic that would be one that you would not be interested in seeing. Of course, no voting mechanism is perfect, but you have to wonder if niche markets are somehow favored in the current voting schema. Again, this is just another rumination but a valid one to look at as you consider the applications of crowdsourcing and the fact that a focused minority can indeed tip the scale if they are willing to all pool their votes.

Crowdsourcing Observation #4: The Early Proposal Gets the Vote

By showing topics with the highest ranked first, it quickly has become a race between the top ranked. There is an inherent bias when you see the ranks and see the votes to think that your three votes don’t count. When one is participating in a crowdsourcing forum, it is vital to be early with your proposal. I’ve been checking since this opened and with the exception of the first week, the suggestions on the first page have stayed the suggestions on the first page. So, is there a bias to those that are early? Does an idea from lower in the rankings truly have the opportunity to bubble up, particularly if proposed by those who are less connected than others?

Perhaps if there was to be less bias, there would be a suggestion phase of about a week and then a voting phase would open.

Crowdsourcing Observation #5: What if the crowd stays home?

And then as I watched this happen, wondering the outcome, I came across Miguel Guhlin’s post: Need for a Radical Reboot: Dismissing the ISTE Keynote where Miguel says:

“This will sound a bit curmudgeony, but so what? I’m not going to be attending ISTE 2010 since, to be blunt, I feel like attending too many conferences puts you on the “conference circuit.” (it’s also out of state during a tough economy).

Once you’re on that train, you’re focused on discussions that capture people’s attention, engage folks, but DON’T MAKE A DARN DIFFERENCE when people get back to their schools and classrooms. Yes, I’m saying, all this talk about leadership and research is too doggone confusing for the majority of K-12 teachers. . .yes, yes, I know YOU are different. I’m talking about trying to make a steak while juggling eggs, washing dishes, taking care of two toddlers at the same time that you just throw up your hands and let the dishes pile up until later, put the eggs down, and focus on cooking and ensuring your toddlers don’t over-run you. There’s only so much multi-tasking possible, isn’t there?!?”

Miguel goes on to outline what he’d like to see in a keynote, but he doesn’t seem to feel comfortable going over to the forum and proposing one himself and then adds an update a little later that says:

“Update 12:07 PM: And, if you must vote for something, try Brian Crosby’s suggestion.”

So, not only is Miguel staying home but for some reason, he seems to to be disengaging – to exclude himself from the crowd? Why do people say, “I’m not voting?” “I’m not participating?” “I don’t want to be a part?”

Those who look to crowdsourcing to sometimes have the perfect answer need to understand this: NOT EVERYONE IN THE CROWD PARTICIPATES.

What you can hope for at best is a semi-democratic, somewhat loud-in-the-crowd influenced idea that will be a pretty good one that you still may have to tweak to appeal to everyone.

Crowdsourcing Observation #6: Crowdsourcing isn’t Crowdsourcing… Yet

I applaud ISTE, I really do! If we didn’t have this going on, we couldn’t ask these questions. We couldn’t experience this sort of thing first hand! We couldn’t grapple with the strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes. We couldn’t even start.

By pushing us to participate in this crowdsourced keynote, we truly become an experiment in ourselves. This is pushing us to understand crowdsourcing and dare I say it… perhaps refine the issues and look at actually doing some massive STUDENTSOURCING of ideas. (Dare we consider it?)

It is like a rocket which cannot be guided until the rocket has been launched. We cannot work with something that has not been launched and they have launched in a gutsy, all out there kind of way that is bound to have good results no matter what. Truthfully, all of the ideas on the front page that I’ve read would make a great keynote and a lot will depend on the speaker but they are good starts. Hey, at least people will attend to hear what the ruckus is about!

Crowdsourcing Observation #7: Crowdsourcing isn’t Crowdsourcing without YOU.

If I could give any message to you, the reader, it is to go vote, take part, be heard.

Sure, the process is not perfect but it will never be perfect if you just talk about it and do not act upon it! We can use the Internet to harness the opinions and preferences of massive numbers of people to improve things.

Crowdsourcing Observation #8: The Lone Leader

When I see my students tomorrow and they are planning their Digital Citizenship project for this semester’s Digiteen project, I will give them a talk that will go something like this:

“You can make a difference. Each of you have a circle of influence that includes people I cannot reach. Each of you have people who look up to you who will change their lives for the better because you suggested it. When we agree together on the ways that we want to improve the digital world and behaviors that surround us, we can make a difference. When you reach out and do something, though, understand this… the only people who do not receive criticism are those who do NOTHING who say NOTHING who think NOTHING. But those people are also those who have NOTHING as a purpose or as a passion. As you come to the cusp of change and leadership you will find that criticism may increase but so does the rewards of making a difference. (The kids saw this last year with their Google Lively protest.) You make a difference because you educate yourself, research, draw your conclusions and then add to that what you THINK SHOULD HAPPEN to improve the situation. And then, the most important step is, you don’t just talk about it, but we will take steps to ACT UPON IT.”

Thomas Cahill has a phenomenal series of books about the “Hinges of History.” Truly we are at a hinge of history at this moment as our society globalizes, shifts, and struggles with economic upheaval. History’s most challenging moments have caused such great leaders as Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill to emerge to lead the crowds to overcome the adversity and struggle before them. These men were very alone in their vision, their struggle, and yet, they were able to harness the crowds of their day.

There is always a place for wise, visionary men and women of character and in this day of crowdsourcing we cannot ever overlook the power and need for individuals among us to use their talents to lead and inspire us.

Vicki Davis is a teacher, blogger at the Cool Cat Teacher Blog, and co-founder of the award winning Flat Classroom projects. Twitter: @coolcatteacher

Where in the World Is ISTE?

2009-11-03T00:08:55Z

“If students need new skills, then teachers need new capacities as well,” said ISTE CEO Don Knezek in his opening keynote to a 21st Century Learning conference being held October 31–November 4 near Shanghai, China. Knezek detailed ISTE’s vision for transformed learning and teaching, challenging the assembled educators to “study digital age learners and what engages them, foster creative and inventive thinking … and prepare to contribute in an increasingly multicultural setting.” ISTE member and 21st Century Learning conference presenter, Wes Fryer, is live-blogging conference sessions, including Knezek’s keynote. Read more here.

Have You Voted Yet? The Top ISTE10 Keynote Topics So Far:

2009-10-30T01:03:48Z

So far there have been more than 100 topic suggestions for the ISTE 2010 keynote! While many are noteworthy, the two that have made their way to the top of the list have done so by a large margin. The top two choices are:

Effective School Leadership for the Digital, Global Era: (924 at last count)

Schools MUST have effective leaders that can facilitate their transformation from an industrial-age orientation. Unfortunately, the people in charge of leading schools into the 21st century often are the least knowledgeable about the 21st century. What does effective leadership of digital, global learning organizations look like? The answer to this question is critical for the future of schools because if the leaders don’t get it, it’s not going to happen.

Trends, Tools and Tactics for 21st Century Learning: (819 at last count)

Today’s educators have amazing tools, nearly at their fingertips. How do we put them in the hands of learners so they’ll be ready for the world that awaits?

The third topic is Universal Design for Learning, with 383 votes.

Both of the top topics emphasize the need to be prepared for a digital future. Do you think these two choices illustrate a lack of preparedness for what the 21st century will require from learners? What questions does this bring up for you? If you were able to ask the ISTE10 keynote speaker to address one specific concern under these topics – what would it be?

If you haven’t voted yet, you can do it here: http://iste2010.uservoice.com/pages/30480-iste-2010-conference-keynote-topic-suggestions

Crowdsourcing ISTE 2010 Keynote

2009-10-28T23:39:17Z

Check out the topic suggestions, votes and comments as hundreds of Ed Tech community members help decide a keynote speaker for ISTE 2010 in Denver!

Here’s the blog post outlining the project: Schooling Together

And here’s where you can see the current vote status: Keynote Topic Suggestions

The Changing Nature of Professional Development

2009-10-27T20:33:57Z

This post is cross-posted here.

I love my new job for many reasons.

One of the cool things that I have seen in the few months of my new role is how social tools have the potential to cause an amazing change in the nature of how Professional Development is accessed and delivered. And the really cool thing for me in this new position, is I get to see others come to a new understanding of this shift in professional learning.

The first instance was almost a month ago when I partnered up a new teacher at our school with a teacher at a private school 1000 kilometers away. While this in itself is interesting, what really struck me was the fact that these two teachers were both teaching grade 8 philosophy.

Why does the subject matter?

It struck me that this is an application of the “long tail” theory applied to Professional Development. If you’re not familiar with the notion of the long tail, it is an idea related to internet business models put forth in 2004 by Chris Anderson. The basic idea is that due to a number of innovations in technology, niche markets (in books, music, PD, etc) now have a voice and a demand that was impossible even 10 years ago.

Here’s a typical graph demonstrating the frequency of distribution of a particular item. Let’s say for discussion that the graph demonstrates the number of teachers of a particular subject matter. At the far left of the graph are high numbers of teachers, teaching the few number of core subjects (math for example). This means that accessing math PD is not that hard – there’s a wide range of books, workshops, conferences, etc on math education. (Right now I’m not judging the quality of the PD opportunities, just the quantity).

But what happens if you teach a ‘niche’ subject – like grade 8 philosophy? How many grade 8 philosophy teachers are there? Is there a conference you can go to in order to meet other grade 8 philosophy teachers? In the past, these niche subjects would have been beyond the line between green and yellow on the graph – where there was not enough of a market to drive professional development materials.

However, now due to social tools, teachers in niche subject can find other like minded niche teachers, and begin to build networks around their interests. This is where my grade 8 philosophy teacher comes back in. Dave knew no one who taught philosophy. This was his first time trying, and he was struggling to find resources – wanting desperately to find someone to help him build the course program and support with resources.

Luckily one day on twitter I begin chatting with Brad. Brad has taught philosophy at a private school for a number of years, and has built up expert knowledge and great resources over that time. I set up Dave and Brad on Skype – and before long – Dave has a mentor in teaching philosophy and the students in both schools are sharing their philosophical writing on a shared Ning site.

I see this as a great example of how the ‘long tail’ can have a significant impact on professional development. No longer are we tied to large, homogeneous, subject-matter conferences. Through social tools we can find, collaborate, mentor and be mentored by other teachers in the niche subjects we are about.

Here’s another example from the other side of the tail.

One day I see kids in our school doing a really cool looking art project. I ask the teacher what they’re doing, and it turns into a great blog post. Some teachers in another school read the blog post, and would love to know how the project is put together. Through Skype, we’re able to have the three teachers have a 15 minute chat, and everyone goes away amazed by the possibilities of these new tools.

Five minutes after the Skype chat, our art teacher sends me an email. She’s amazed by the possibilities. She’s amazed that someone would read her blog post. She’s amazed that other teachers would want to try her project. And most of all, she’s amazed that she was able to mentor and provide support to other teachers in ways she had never dreamed.

Here’s the last few lines of her email:

I’m still totally amazed that people are reading about my project and doing it….so cool. Now I’m really curious about who is out there that I could connect with for my First Nations art class. The world just got a bit smaller and the potential larger….hmmmmm.

The Long Tail. Teachers able to meet up – share project ideas and mentor each other on specific projects.

I love my job.