tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5912277.post115110484431863587..comments2023-03-07T05:44:29.388-08:00Comments on Mark's edtechblog: Losing the Passion? - a responseMark Ahlnesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17272987393319865752noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5912277.post-1151164556376744402006-06-24T08:55:00.000-07:002006-06-24T08:55:00.000-07:00Graham, I'm with you 100%. I understand all too we...Graham, I'm with you 100%. I understand all too well the feeling of constantly having to rein in the enthusiasm for fear of alienating people even more. Wish I had an answer. What I have slowly settled into doing is being willing to "let it fly" a little more often. At my ripe old age, I figure what the heck. I've been quietly preaching for so long - with very little local impact - that I might as well not be so quiet. It boils down to style, personality, and so on.<BR/><BR/>Wow, an IWB! That would be very cool. My school is supposed to get "document cameras" in classrooms next school year - to replace those ancient overhead projectors. This will be exciting, using a new form of technology, but unless it is used in VERY new ways, teachers will be deluded into thinking they are using "the latest" - when, as you suggest, they are only continuing an outdated "traditional pedagogy".<BR/><BR/>All the best! - MarkMark Ahlnesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17272987393319865752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5912277.post-1151123733483197772006-06-23T21:35:00.000-07:002006-06-23T21:35:00.000-07:00My only problem (and it is my problem!) is that wh...My only problem (and it is my problem!) is that when my passion about blogging starts to flow, I think I leave the audience behind as I wax lyrical about global conversation, professional dialogue, our responsibility as teachers to embrace new ways of learning and the huge learning curve I've been on. I think that some feel overwhelmed and I think that my job description in the school actually hurts my cause. I'm the ICT Coordinator (as well as tandem teaching a class) so that sort of makes me the resident "expert" in most of my staff's eyes so naturally I should know all about this technical stuff and be forging ahead. My teachers will always throw the old "I don't have time" thing at me - maybe it's really how they see it or that's the standard line to get me to leave them alone. The ironic rub is that as we install more of these Interactive Whiteboards at my school, teachers are volunteering to go on a big technology learning curve of their own. They still look at me weirdly when I say that IWB's aren't the future of technology in education just a more up to date way of ingraining traditional pedagogy, and that discovering blogging and other Web 2.0 technologies is, in my humble opinion, way more important. At a presentation the other night at staff meeting, I was showing the bare bones of a IWB presentation my team are doing at a conference later this year. I was trying to weave in new stuff as well, showing them the presentation wiki, the <A HREF="http://www.activboarding.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">Activboarding blog</A> and at the end, my boss (who is pretty technology savvy) encouraged me to throw my blog up on the big screen and told everyone they should be checking it out. (That was great!) But even then, there were a few hecklers in the audience making a few wisecracks about me not having a life and so on - ironically, I think that some people tend to mock what they fear or can't understand. They actually still believe that school is going to continue in its current form (except with the occasional IWB) for the rest of their careers so ignore the guy frothing at the mouth, showing a bit of passion, at the front of the room. I think you're right though, passion isn't enough, teachers need to be shown the potential and the possibilities. Sorry, Mark, guess I had a little bit of a rant bottled up as well. Have a great break.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com