Moving Forward

As I haven’t been here in a while I’ve been thinking much about the tools of the web and how we use them. To an entire generation iPods, netbooks, DVD, Google and the Internet are all part of daily life. To another generation they have no idea what these might be or what social networking entails.

Here’s an example: I got  an email from a retired teacher who asked about posting material on a website. She complained about all the tabs that appeared with each link. So has she been on the web very much? No, for tabbed browsing is not new.

So those of us in this other generation who do use the web and understand current tools and terminology must help any generation to learn new things. So learning is a life time event. We have all learned from others at one time or another. That was our community of learners. This community exists on the web for the generation of today. Their community becomes an informal social network where learning takes places. This learning usually takes place outside the classroom.

So the generations of educators in k-12 and higher ed must convert to this new world of learning and meet the students in their world if education and real deep learning move students from 5 to 80 from one level to another. One is never too old to learn. But one must be open to learning, have experiences that help with new learning and have a community or network where learning can take place.

Now that I have retired from public education and have a new role, I begin to see things from a much larger perspective. All educators must help colleagues as well as students learn new things. In my new role as Communications Services Administrator of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, an honor society for women educators, I  see many adults who don’t have a presence on the web. Learning has forever changed. The tools will evolve again but connecting and learning from others in other places has changed the map of learning. I’ve been doing much reading lately as I continue to work on my dissertation. I’m looking at social networks and how participant can change practice, specifically the practice of k-12 teachers. Michael Dulworth states, “The world is globalizing, and distance is no longer the same factor it was in making and maintaining contact with others even a decade ago.”

Tomorrow I have the privilege of teaching someone something that will be very new for her…adding links to a blog post. I’m so excited for she is now senior in age and is a retired community college administrator. She worked with students and understands the needs of the typical college student somewhere in their 20’s. Two months ago, I nudged a little about starting a blog. Her goal was to post once a month. That’s a big goal for one who doesn’t text or twitter. I’m very excited for she is the international president of DKG and is open to learning new things especially in the world of Facebook and LinkedIN and social networking. If only a third of the country’s working k-16 educators has her enthusiasm, classrooms would be exciting places.