Day One

Yesterday was very informative. Our presenter, Bernajean Porter, is certainly one of the most enthusiastic individuals I have met. She has an energy that is infectious, causing her audience to become motivated and inspired simply by being in the room near her. Most of the morning was devoted to convincing us that the world is drastically changing and we, as educators, must drastically change our teaching styles as well. I found the ShiftHappens video (at Shifthappens.wikispaces.com) incredibly eye-opening. The statistics were shocking. Did you know that by the time a student graduates from high school he or she has read more than 250,000 e-mails? Wow! We also discussed various modes for projects, from docu-dramas to participatory activities. Although I had witnessed and worked with digital storytelling in the past, the emphasis on the story rather than the bells and whistles was a novel idea for me. We were introduced to wikis (something I definitely want to try in my classroom), blogs, graphic search engines, Ms. Dewey, comic hero creating programs, and delicious.com. It was definitely a worthwhile day, and I am looking forward to "doubling" my information base today!