ICTGuy-TL

  Who is my website for? Our school communities include a combination of learners, and everyone should be seen as a potential learner. Parents, teachers ... represent learners who are potentially seeking guidance and support. (Miller and Bass p. 20) Initially, my intent was to develop a website oriented just toward the teachers. While I understand that students and parents would benefit from access to resources, I was particularly focused on teachers, as this is a constituent that is often left to their own devices when it comes to finding and curating usable learning and teaching resources on-line. As I continued to reflect on who my audience would be, I thought of the support students receive through their teachers individual web presences. I also thought of the very limited support given to parents, as parents are often the ones given short shrift in digital supports at schools. Of the three groups, students generally get the most support in schools, followed by teachers and the...

 Future Vision Project - Design Modern librarians are curators of information, tools, and strategies... (Miller & Bass p.1) Over my years as a technology specialist I very much came to see myself as a curator of information, tools, and strategies related to the use and integration / infusion of technology into the pedagogy of myself and my peers. Because of this, the first thing I thought of for my final vision digital product is a website. I have seen a number of library website, and honestly I find them rather chaotic. My Vision Model for colleagues the identification, exploration, evaluation, curation and adoption of new digital resources and tools for learning. (ISTE Educator Standard 2.2.c) There are a lot of "old" and new tools out there for educators to consider for their lessons. By acting as a curator of resources, I can help my peers save time looking for tools and guides for those tools. And while some people only see the new and shiny digital resources as wort...

A picture from my parents dock Reflections on Blogging Reflecting is something I do all the time - but rarely "out loud". I reflect on all sort of things, but I don't often share those reflections. My favourite place to reflect was at the lake. I could sit, look out at the water and think "what will change here if I don't accomplish ______ (fill in blank)". The answer was usually the same - not much. It gave me peace and helped me "get my head on straight". So blogging is not something I was keen to do. I find getting started to be hard and often procrastinate - like I have been with this one. I often feel that I don't have much to share, or that no one will be interested. Who would read it anyway? I am not a TL, and I am currently not in a school, so I figured I wouldn't have much to add. I forgot that the skill set and experience I do have is not as common as I sometimes think it is. One of the most important adult relationships that libr...

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattcornock/16858344857 I have well over 300 books in my house, mostly in boxes or tucked in closets. Only some of our collection of books have made it onto shelves. I have so many books because I love reading. I also have an e-Reader. I actually don't know where it is, but I do know that using it I can carry around a LOT of books, way more than I could with physical books. To give you an idea, an 8GB Kindle can hold roughly 3100 regular plain text e-Books (Plant).  Given that my iPhone has 64GB it could hold over 24000 books if I didn't do anything else with it. Same would go for a basic tablet with similar capacity. So if I don't have Internet access, but I load books to my device, I can conceivable carry a small library with me anywhere I go. Libraries in Developing Nations As someone living a comfortable life in an urban center in a developed country I don't often give much thought to the material items I possess. I don't lo...

Public domain image What is the best way  to support fellow teachers in their ICT learning journey? This is a question I  struggled with for 13 years. While I don't have a definitive answer, I have worked with enough teachers to have some ideas on what works and what doesn't (or is less effective for the people I worked with). The thing is, helping teachers grow as technology users is super rewarding. Some Lessons Learned in Supporting Teachers #1 - Most teachers feel they have very little time to spare, so they want the time they do apply to learning ICT to be "meaningful". #2 - What works for one teacher may or may not work for another. We are all unique, and like our own students, our learning styles differ. #3 - Teachers would prefer small groups or individual instruction over large group instruction. Many teachers still feel the need to be the "expert", so a general "here is how tool X works" is not necessarily satisfying. Options for Teaching...

A Lego stop-motion animation I helped my son create for school. ISTE Standards for Education Leaders - Connected Learner:  Use technology to regularly engage in reflective practices that support personal and professional growth.  Miller & Bass p. 104 I was fortunate enough to spend 13 years as a Technology Teacher / Mentor at two different independent schools in Manitoba. In that role, I gave the ICT Professional Development as often as I attended it. Over that time period I was able to develop a number of different ways of supporting my own professional growth with ICT, which I highlight below. EXPERIMENTATION The best way to become comfortable with ICT is to use it! For myself, I need to have some comfort with an ICT tool in order to feel confident helping others become comfortable using it - be they students or teachers. To become comfortable with an ICT tool, and get an idea of how it might benefit teachers and students, I would "play" with the tool at home and during...