Teaching in a networked world

I can honestly say, I would not want to teach my students any other way than with technology and the Web 2.0 tools I have discovered. (If you can tell by many previous posts) I enjoy using Moodle with my students and would love to venture "outside" of the "walled garden" as some of the online teachers I have met, call it! I want to use wiki's and blogs. I want to use ning and epals to show the kids different cultures that exist beyond their small community. I want to podcast and share the kids voices with others to show them we are really making a lot of progress with 21st century tools. We are collaborating and working well with online learning projects. (PBL - Project Based Learning) All the while we are learning, we are meeting literacy goals, we are working together to accomplish tasks! Wow! Isn't that what we want to teach the youth of today?

What I question at times, is my delivery, my expectations as well as the time I have in my short 12 weeks with my students to create such an atmosphere in the classroom. Where project based learning and teaching is based on such high expectations and organization, which must then be communicated to the students, how is it teachers accomplish these tasks? I guess a lot of this technology is targeted to be used within the core classes. This is what our eportfolio model is based upon here in NH. It is meant to incorporate technology into the core disciplines.

Who is going to teach the teachers and prepare them to bring all of this networked world into the classroom? The teachers (most of them, I have encountered) are not concerned with this 21st century tool kit they are being given. They have a lot of other things on their minds right now.

The networked world as I see it, is vast and filled with endless opportunity for teachers (professional development opportunities) as well as for the students. It all depends on how your administration will allow you to utilize all of those tools within the classroom. Hopefully they are open-minded, but that is not always the case. So, little by little we will introduce the tools and hopefully by showing that the students are meeting educational standards, as well as meeting the technology standards. It is sometimes an uphill battle, and others are fortunate. Why must it be difficult? We are in this for the same reason, putting kids first!