Posted 6:30 PM by George Siemens
Net savvy students to teachers: You just don't get it!
Quote: "The only answer is more teachers like Diane Teal who recognize that the revolution has begun, and that it can't be stopped. So rather than being beaten down by the technology, teachers must use it, use it, use it, and use it again to do what school is supposed to be about – learning about life and the world around us."

Comment: The article mainly focuses on the usual "teachers aren't ready for tomorrow's student" theme. I think administrators and instructors need to take a "long view" on integrating technology. Foster an environment where experimentation is encouraged...an then support instructional staff. Let instructors integrate technology where they are most comfortable...and use low threshold activities (LTAs) to build confidence. Start small and grow.

Posted 7:53 AM by George Siemens
10 Secrets to a Shared Purpose via Column Two
Comment: Translates to teaching (or at least collaborating) online.

Back to Basics and the Next Big Thing
Quote: "His students were among his harshest critics. They blamed him for their frustration at having assignments crunched by bit-stream bandits who stole files that were submitted, or simply when the system wouldn't open the work that was planned for a given seminar. It wasn’t a pretty picture. His course evaluations suffered accordingly...Too often our use of technology can stand apart from our consideration of good teaching."

Comment: Wow...can I ever relate. I've found teaching online makes me (the instructor) the scape goat for everything that goes wrong - slow connections, lost documents, student errors - you name it - it's my fault. Most students are fairly understanding (as I discovered during a course taught this spring using streaming video), and they'll offer comments for improvements. That's great. My concern still always is - how does this impact evaluations? What does the organization think of a drop in student satisfaction as expressed in my evaluations? When it comes to experimentation, everyone needs to be committed to the process - student, instructor, organization. There needs to be tolerance for painful growth...and experiementation needs to be valued for it's role in innovation.