Thing 2

In education we have been working for the past 20 years or so under the assumption and belief that technology has the power to transform teaching and learning. It's been easy to find and highlight innovative teachers that have embraced technology and are highly successful. It hasn't been all that easy to replicate this success and we too often find classrooms not utilizing the wealth of resources they have.

Teachers often haven't had a vision for what's possible, feel they don't have time to devote to learning new skills, are under the pressure of high stakes testing, are afraid to step out of their comfort zone, and simply don't see the payoff. With Web 2.0 tools I see many more teachers catching the vision, understanding the payoff for their kids and more willing to spend time and energy acquiring new skills. These collaborative Web 2.0 tools are having a measurable impact on teaching and learning and this "23 Things" online course is a fantastic catalyst for this change.

In our Instructional Technology office we've become very comfortable with Google Docs and are using it as a way to plan meeting agendas, take shared notes during meetings and as a way to gather input form everyone on a variety of topics. It's become an extremely valuable tool for us. It has tremendous potential for the classroom but requires each user to have an email address which is a significant obstacle to over come.

Thing 1

With a background in education none of these 7.5 habits are new ideas to us. Most of them are an ingrained part of our every day professional and personal lives. It is however nice to review them and to use them as a measuring stick to see how we're doing.

Habits 1-7 will be a piece of cake. I've always had interests that allowed me to explore self directed learning. With the Internet and it's collaborative and social networking tools pursuing these interests and discovering new learning has never been easier or more accessible.

The habit I struggle with the most is the short little habit at the end - "Play". There are so many issues that need solutions and so many glitches that must be fixed that Play often gets squeezed out of the equation. Who has time for play?

Allowing myself the time to relax, Play and explore the possibilities is where I plan to focus.