The New Professional Development

Professional development used to involve taking classes, reading journal articles, and discussing issues at conferences.  Although there was a time lag between new innovations for the library and classroom, and personal knowledge and implementation of those developments, I was appreciative of the knowledge for knowledge’s sake.  But with Twitter, that time delay has disappeared.  Twitter has become my most important professional development tool.  It has put me in contact with the best of educational professionals, and has provided me with news of the most recent educational innovations.  I have been advised of tools that work well in the classroom, and those that are problematic.  I’ve compiled lists of “the best” in every possible category, thanks to a learning network that prides itself in collaboration.  Methods and resources that would have alluded me for months are now transmitted daily.  And all this I have attributed to Twitter.

But today, while I was talking to students about Twitter, one made a comment that made me rethink this attitude.  He asked if I talked about what I ate, and read about what movies people watched — the typical stereotype of Twitter use.  It was then that I realized that Twitter is only the method by which these ideas are transmitted.  It is a communication tool, and while it does provide immediacy, the value of the information hinges on the users.  It is ultimately the teaching community and it’s search for best methodology that lifts the tool above a mere communication vehicle.  These professionals have provided me more information in several months than I would have garnered in a several years. And while Twitter gets the credit, it is their knowledge that is responsible.

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Inspired by New Technology?

Sometimes convincing others to use the technology you find so beneficial is not easy.  Enthusiasm, presentations, and demonstrations can only go so far in changing a mindset that has become ingrained.  Because, like all professionals, teachers can get in a rut.  Sometimes it’s simpler to do just what you’ve been doing for years.  After all, it worked before, can’t it work again? Why do we have to learn something new, something that will take more time, especially at first?  Because, as educators, our goal should be to best educate our students.  Teaching is not about what’s easy, but how to best prepare students for the world, a world which is increasingly entwined with technology. 

I was inspired by “A Vision of K-12 Learners“, which emphasizes the difference between students of today and the students and teachers of the past.  It shows that today’s students share information using  a myriad of technologies, technologies that will only continue to advance.  As teachers, we must engage these students, using wikis and blogs to collaborate, and digital tools to encourage the creative process.  The film’s statistics of teachers failing to revise their thinking are staggering, but its message is challenging and inspiring.  If this vision doesn’t move us to make an effort to change our methodology to address the changing needs of today’s students, what will? And if it doesn’t, maybe we should reevaluate why we call ourselves educators.

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Stage 3 of PLN Adoption

After reading Jeff Utecht’s article on the stages of PLN adoption, I realize, embarrassingly enough, that I have only reached Stage 3: Know it All. For those of you not familiar with the post, it is not an egocentric state of mind, but a feeling of total inadequacy.  Once you become involved in discussions online with the myriad of gifted educators, librarians, and technology coordinators, you come to grips with a very depressing reality: you don’t know much of anything, and have very far to go.  This feeling has led me to try to read every tip, try every website, reply to every enlightening post, evaluate and revise my curriculum, and share these new ideas with my faculty.  Needless to say, I’m exhausted.  I can’t sleep, because I’m afraid I might miss a great blog post or the best new resource on the web.  What about that fantastically motivating quotation that was posted at midnight yesterday?  Did I miss a new “10 Best” list? So, I was relieved to read that Stage 4 of PLN Adoption is Perspective.  I’ve actually spent time this past week with my family and friends.  I’ve been working setting up my library for the beginning of school.  I watched television. Am I still drawn to a logged in computer just to check the latest Twitter updates?  Yes.  But like all recovering addicts, I’m taking one step at a time. I think there’s hope for me yet. Stage 5, here I come!

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Increasing Use of Technology Does Not Equal Effective Use

I recently read “Effective Use of Technology” posted at the Elevated Formation Blog. In it, the author points out that technology can be used three ways in education: one great, one neutral, and one horrible.  He made an interesting distinction here, that I think is often ignored — that is, technology in itself is not great, and use of that technology is not necessarily improving the educational process.  Some educators who have been reluctant adopters of educational technology have felt themselves caught up in a wave a change, and so have been forced to integrate technology into the classroom.  Many times, their familiarity with, and use of, technology is so limited that its integration does not improve the educational process, but is a detriment. Taking class time to set up a simple viewing of a web app on a Smartboard does not necessarily advance the education of students.  To suggest web pages for student research that have not been evaluated actually does students a disservice by providing incorrect information.  To provide a class web page that does little more than provide a schedule of events and is rarely updated undermines the purpose of communication via the web.  Are we willing to accept these “baby steps” by educators because they indicate a willingness to try to change, or should we have higher expectations?  If our goal is to provide the best education possible, then I think we should hold our peers to higher standards.  The use of technology has a purpose — it is not an end in itself.  To use technology merely as a tool to achieve the same end is much like choosing to use a different color chalk to write on the board.  It might look a little different, but nothing’s changed. Let’s use that chalk to create something new, to explore the educational possibilities.  Only then will the results will be great.

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Today’s School Library

Photograph courtesy of Darlene Fichter, University of Saskatchewan

Once upon a time, a library was a place for quiet place for reading and research, where the librarian easily maintained total control with a “shhh”.  Today, a library is an active place where students are involved in multiple processes with many tools once thought verboten.  They gather information from multiple sources: YouTube, Twitter, Wallwisher, GoogleDocs, Wikis, etc.  These sources were once banned from school use by many Acceptable Use Policies because of horror stories of student misuse.  But today, participation and sharing via these Web 2.0 tools is essential for the full spectrum of learning to take place.  Just think how restrictive a project would be if source information was limited to books and selected websites. 

But it isn’t easy for educators to loosen the reigns of control.  Students’ safety has always been an concern, and rightly so.  This philosophy of student protection resulted in overly protective and limiting AUP’s.  But recently, a member of my PLN sent a quote that I found enlightening.  “Don’t condemn the source of information, but its improper use.”  This made me look at the school AUP again, and begin to consider an alternate approach: one where ethics of information use were stressed, rather than a list of approved and banned sites.  This requires a radical trust by teachers and librarians to allow students to use sites that may have questionable material, for directed research and information sharing.  Students must be given the skills to make the decisions to find the information they need.  That is an integral part of the research process.  By limiting sources, we are also limiting student’s growth.  It’s time for a major leap of faith.

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