Organic Learning

I have to admit that I’m always amazed that I am learning something new each and every day about how to use all the new collaborative Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. I just became a Google Certified Teacher last week, and already, my mind is filled to the brim with ideas about how we can use these tools in the classroom. Being able to be in contact with so many outstanding educators who are thinking and collaborating together in Google groups through this academy is opening my mind to new ideas and possibilities every day. Add to that the reality of our district going to Google Apps for Educators next year, and I am energized with thinking about the possibilities. I’ll share ideas here as I think about these possibilities.

I’m currently teaching an online course on the Read/Write Web. Teachers new to all these tools express frustration at information overload yet exhilaration about the possibilities of all the new tools they are learning about, including blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, RSS, and podcasts. I understand the feeling, because when you are thinking and learning in this educational technology/Web 2.0 environment, everyday is like that!