Week 3 Post 2 Technology in Learning

This Web 2.0 course has really enlightened me to the resources available not only to learners and educators, but also to the entire world. Tools like Diigo can be used to save links to articles and resources related to almost anything, or even nothing at all. And that smart phone that I use primarily for answering e mail, watching the weather, taking pictures, texting and playing on facebook? I can learn languages, work on my math skills, create content, and quite possibly even bring about world peace if I am determined to do so.

I have several friends who are teachers- damn good teachers that lose sleep over the well being of their students and the state of education today. Teachers who are dismayed and discouraged that they have to teach to either inexplicible standards or a test rather than make sure their students learn, comprehend and understand. Teachers who are disgusted that their recent professional development has been limited to helping their districts achieve what they believe to be outrageous and ridiculous common core benchmarks.

Many complain that the fun has been leached out of teaching. That the intrinsic rewards are disappearing. That they miss watching students have that a-HA moment when everything finally clicks. Perhaps this relatively short presentation about integrating technology into learning will help them to find some fun in teaching- and bring some fun in learning to their students again.