Comments on: NextGenTeachers

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 05:06:06 +0000

Chris,
I think you have a great vision. With this new technology and Web 2.0 tools why does everything have to be done as it was done in the past? I only hope that you are inclined to include us middle 30′s type people. I missed the dot.com boom because i didn’t know enough about the technololgy, I don’t want to miss the Web 2.0 boom in education because I am to old. I think that many of us who have been in education and are embracing web 2.0 could give you great insights. I hope that your group takes off and great ideas and reforms come out of it. The world is flat and it is going to take some forward thinking people to keep education from falling off the edge.
Brian

By: Mrs. W.

Mrs. W. — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 03:33:03 +0000

It doesn’t matter if you’re addressing “NextGen” teachers, “MidCareer” teachers, or “TheEndIsInSight” teachers. All of us have to learn how to teach with the amazing tools that technology is providing us. The majority of teachers are not technophiles. We need technology resources and support groups to encourage risk-taking but we need it in non-technical language. After unsuccessfully searching for a year for a resource for teaching with Open Source or learning with Linux I decided to create my own.

Check it out!

http://learningwithlinux.blogspot.com/

By: Alec Couros

Alec Couros — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 18:52:10 +0000

I’ve seen several posts on this, but still haven’t seen anything as to where to join, if there is a central community of “next gen” teachers, etc. How does one participate?

By: Heather Sullivan

Heather Sullivan — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 14:57:51 +0000

Best of Luck from a fellow Alternate Router!! I think you should do whatever your HEART TELLS You to do- otherwise, no matter what others think/say, you’re not really following your true calling, are you? We all know when our GUT tells us something we never really feel right about our decisions until we finally listen to it (one of those annoying little humanisms!!) So…you should start your “group”, or whatever you/others want to call it for no other reason than to help YOURSELF help The Rest of Us! If it doesn’t work out, oh well- The greatest risk is in never taking one at all…Who knows what your idea may spark?

One comment on the divisiveness issue, though. As a fellow Alternate Router, you know that many people don’t follow their calling as educators until later in life (later for me was 27) & their true passions even later (My “tech epiphany” came only recently- I’m 34 now). So, no matter your age (& I still consider my self “young” & part of the “next gen”), if you are new to education & technology, you ARE a Digital Immigrant. Generational tags can help categorize us by age, but not necessarily by state of mind. Please give serious consideration to defining your cause by age or generation because there are so many of us in the same boat, if not in the same age bracket.

Keep me posted!!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 00:05:56 +0000

Count me in — I want to know more.
JenniferW

By: Ewan McIntosh

Ewan McIntosh — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 12:35:06 +0000

It just strikes me that the ‘new’ group exists and has existed in good Local Authorities, good schools, good education systems etc. etc. etc. Will creating a small group in a small area of education make a big difference? Probably not. What will make a big difference is the continued growth of the masses using this technology in a way that suits their way of thinking. What tends to stop these newbies from grasping technology is sometimes that it appears to be the spawn of a geeky clique – creating branded groups of this nature would tend to exacerbate that, no?

By: Bud Hunt

Bud Hunt — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 06:03:35 +0000

I certainly think your goals are noble — as I’ve said to you previously. I even think I’d join your group, if you’d have me. I hope you “hear my heart,” too, as I ask these questions, not maliciously, but honestly.

By: Owen Bradley

Owen Bradley — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 02:24:50 +0000

There are a group of educators in Sarasota County, FL that have already taken the NeXt Generation leap. Our program is actually called NeXt Generation Educators- it was the “brainchild” of our Superintendent, Gary Norris two years ago after he was inspired by reading “The World is Flat”. There are about 50 of us “NeXt Gen’s” in the Sarasota County school district, and I am one of them. We are all implementing various technologies in our classrooms and are focusing on integrating Web 2.0 technologies.

It is so interesting as I read your blog entry that many of the things you talk about we have been studying and doing in our classes! If you are interested, I will forward more information about our program to you.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 01:11:41 +0000

Your heart comes through loud and clear, I think.

It is an interesting idea that you are promoting and one I would like to learn more about as things unfold. I think you pinpoint a real fissure happening in education — which is that as we come to slowly understand the nature and possibilities of tech tools for critical thinking and learning for our students (I teach sixth grade in Massachusetts and am 40, so I would skew your data), we encounter roadblocks along the way to actually using those tools for critical inquiry. Firewall blockades are just one, but there is plenty of skepticism from principals and others, too, about the nature of this technology beast.
I like the aspect of “no borders” and mentors, and promoting technology with the new generation of teachers.

Let’s just keep the hype of newness in perspective and focus on the students in the classroom, and think reflectively about our choices in practice as much as we can.

Good luck!
Kevin H.

By: Cathy Nelson

Cathy Nelson — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 23:12:06 +0000

Yes–fly with it! Be glad to soar along. As an LMS, I feel the need to constantly model, enlighten, lead, teach, and more–and I am feeling very limited right ow. But this could be the avenue to do more of just what Iike. Broaden the focus though, as there are many educators out there who DESPERATELY need this, yet they are VETERANS in the field. I don’t understand why so many stop learning once they have that certificate to teach. Anyway, even though I only have seven more years (if I quit at 28) Id be glad to participate and maybe mentor some myself. Tell me how to promote from my world.

This could be the beginnings of your next grad degree…I can see a thesis coming from this idea or concept.