One of the highlights of any conference is meeting people that you have only met through the virtual world. You should see Melanie as she walks around in paradise rubbing elbows with the who's who. It is magical. One of the best days for me was meeting Cheryl Capozzoli, Instructional Technology Specialist of the Susquehanna Township School District in Harrisburg, Pa.
She is a little dynamo that has such an enthusiasm for technology and helping teachers, I immediately connected with her. After we met briefly she presented and it was a whirlwind. Just the few moments before her presentation were so telling of her philosophies and passion I just couldn’t believe it. Then the real work began as she quickly and I mean quickly took us on a tour of her wiki site.
http://web20guru.wikispaces.com/
Once you link to her site you will understand why I am so excited. Don’t be afraid of the strange vocabulary, just roll with it and try to digest everything in little bites.
Take a quick look at her vision.
She is a little dynamo that has such an enthusiasm for technology and helping teachers, I immediately connected with her. After we met briefly she presented and it was a whirlwind. Just the few moments before her presentation were so telling of her philosophies and passion I just couldn’t believe it. Then the real work began as she quickly and I mean quickly took us on a tour of her wiki site.
http://web20guru.wikispaces.com/
Once you link to her site you will understand why I am so excited. Don’t be afraid of the strange vocabulary, just roll with it and try to digest everything in little bites.
Take a quick look at her vision.
Cheryl’s Vision
It would be advantageous for schools to begin evaluating their fiscal spending in regards to instructional tools and support. I would love to see the following in classrooms all over the world.
Instructional technology support through specialists and mentors
Professional development that encompasses demonstrations and time to practice new instructional skills
Paperless classroom environments
Digital Text books - NO MORE HEAVY BOOKS!! - Get Amazon's KINDLE!!!
Laptops - one/child PC's and Mac - both environments to ensure more tech platform literate students
Interactive white boards/LCD projecors
Free Web 2.0 Alternatives to expensive site liscense softwares - Google Aps, Zoho, Drawanywhere, Splashup
Student Email - ePals, gaggle, Google for Schools email
Cell Phone use - they use them anyway, get them to use them constructively Mobile networks and technology continue advancing
Nintedo DS or Palm pilots - great for group work and communication
GPS gadgets - geocahing is the bomb
Online interactive classroom environments - Moodle, Learnhub, Yacapaca, Visionlearning
Classroom social learning networks - ning, wikis, blogs
Classroom global communications - ePals, Taking IT Global, Skype, ooVoo, Vawkr, Palbee
Student Peer Trainers - online live help - ustream.tv, WizIQ, liveperson, vawkr
Microphones/speakers - tape audio for podcasts
Digital still and video cameras - demos, digital story telling
Now I know that was a little overwhelming but you have to admit, she's got the right stuff.
So I thought if you want to just bite a little off of her wiki, start with the Best Practices link on left of the page, you will be wowed with the 2.0 web tools.
My favorite word that she uses alot is FREE.
I can't wait to share more.
5 comments:
Obviously I need a lot more professional development to even understand that list! The exciting part is that it's FREE. I guess one of the barriers to making this a reality is time - to learn the "how to" - and the money to provide the tools. It just seems to be coming so fast... whether we're ready or not! dayle
I am having a hard time finding the words. It seems overwhelming but exciting at the same time. I think we all need to hold hands!!
Debby
I was delighted to see http://yacapaca/ in that list, as we have really found it difficult to impinge on US educators' consciousness in the same we have in the rest of the world.
So thanks to Cheryl. I have not come across her before but I certainly appreciate the mention!
I agree with Debbie, my head is spinning. I am excited about all this technology (yacapaca is incredible) and resources. But am I going to be leaving some of my students behind because they don't have access to a computer? Has anyone found a way to solve this problem?
-Cheryl
Cheryl, If you will collaborate with me when they come to media I will make it happen. Let's just plan on doing it together. Whatcha think?
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