Confessions of an EC&I 831 Addict: Part 2

Now What?

Okay, I can admit when I have a problem but I find it a little easier to live in denial. I keep telling myself it’s been good for me because my learning curve has been massive. I’m networked around the globe with teachers who are incorporating technology throughout their teaching practice. My network is also available for assistance, resources and support. I use Twitter frequently to stay in touch with my network. I use weblogs as a host for my professional blog and use bloglines to subscribe to blogs about the use of technology in the classroom. I’m even starting to introduce more Web 2.0 tools such as VoiceThread and JumpCut to my students. Am I now pushing technology for Couros? It’s spiraling out of control and affecting my work.

What’s the Future Hold?

I’m currently moving all of the unit plans, lessons, resources and assignments for all subject areas to wikispaces. I’m also planning a collaborative Holocaust project for the fall. I’m also designing a global collaborative project based on the environment and global issues. I hope that the global issue project will run throughout the school year engaging many students. I’ve started a class blog with our grade 2&3 teacher. I’ve also connected her with other blogging partners to collaborative with students in Tokyo and Quebec.

Thank goodness Rob Wall has started a twelve step program for EC&I 831 alumnus. Rob’s calling it Sk. Educators for Learning with Technology Enhanced Resources (Skelter) but I think it’s really a support group for all of us who will be going through withdrawal now that EC&I supply line has dried up. If you’re like me you’ll need to visit regularly as we wean ourselves off Couros’ little web treats. Now, don’t tell anyone but I’ll keep scanning for the next class Couros teaches. I’ll try to be a bit more careful next time I’ll look for a hidden agenda but anything can happen.

Confessions of an EC&I 831 Addict: Part 1

Hi, my name is Kimberly and I’m an addict.

Not of the drug, alcohol or gambling type but of technology and Web 2.0. When we started our adventure called Education Curriculum & Instruction 831 in January 2008 I was a fairly regular grade 6 & 7 teacher who was using blogging in Language Arts, Social Studies & Science. I had begun using a class blog in February, 2007 and loved the learning potential I saw. I used classblogmeister because as the teacher I was able to moderate blog posts, comments and all content posted on the site. In the fall of 2007 I had started to use wikispaces to host some Science and Math activities. At the beginning of my class Alec Couros, my professor, started dishing out little tidbits of technology to us. He said start a blog, so I did. He suggested using Twitter, so I did. It was so innocent at first. I didn’t notice until it was too late that I was hooked. By this point Alec had us using the heavy stuff like Ustream, Skype and entering the dark recesses known as backchannelling.

At that point I couldn’t stop. I was using classblogmeister to publish writing, contact other classrooms, share thoughts and ideas with our blog partners. Wikispaces was being used for global collaborative projects, collaborative story writing, curriculum content, weekly math problems and literature circles. In January I also started a “Thinwalled Classroom” project with Connaught School in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada. Each Friday Jim Ellis and I alternated assigning writing assignments for our classrooms. I kept looking for more opportunities to feed my need of technology and keep the addiction going.

Each week as I settled onto my couch with my trusty laptop I looked forward to Tuesday evening’s guest speakers but I knew that it was affecting my family. Little did I know that Alec Couros had a master plan. Get all of the students hooked on his little web treats so that we would keep coming back for more. The weekly speakers challenged us to reach beyond our comfort zone and try new techniques, web tools and ideologies with our teaching but it also meant that we were moving up Couros’ supply chain and getting a little closer to Mr. Big. Some speakers also challenged us with their view of the world or their knowledge of technology. Our quest was to step up and try to embrace these new ideas. Our speakers provided insight, background and resources in such areas as integrated learning, connectivism, the classroom as a learning studio, global collaboration, inquiry based learning, system design and teaching with Web 2.0 tools. Our trip into Second Life was like giving us crack cocaine. We kept wanting more. Dare I say it? I think Couros is a pusher. A sneaky, technologically enhanced pusher.

Part 2 will discuss how I will overcome my addiction and move on. If you were in my class please comment and tell me how you’re going to deal with the pain of withdrawal.