At the end of week 2 I’ve decided that my key word to describe the week is going to be “exposure.”

Where I was:

Like many of us have mentioned, I felt like I had a decent grasp on technology and even said in one of my postings that I wasn’t afraid of technology when I started this course. That still holds true today but I was frankly exhausted last week. I had fallen to over-exposure and that’s not a bad thing. It actually represents the reality in which we all live given the multitude of information available to us and thrown at us at every turn. We  looked at social media resources, Web 2.0 resources, we gathered, we searched, we created discussion forums and we tweeted loud and clear. It was kind of frantic and invigorating all at the same time. Bottom line is that I felt submerged in information overload. But, I was trusting the process.

Where I’m at:

Now my head is filled with lots of wordy terms I’ve been exposed to and they hold meaning to me although I probably won’t be rolling “sociocultural homeostasis” and “institutional isomorphism” off my tongue at any given time with ease. The lectures, the Mindmeisters we built together, the discussion forums we all contributed to, the 10 Minutes of Fame presentations and most importantly, the face to face collaborative work in our inquiry groups represent where I am at today. Everything we have discussed, built and mulled over this week has made me feel truly connected. Truly connected to an inspiring and forward thinking group of people who are not afraid. I am even starting to believe that “we are all leaders” and as I write this I see Jenny holding her arms up in the air. She is our biggest cheerleader.

Right now, I feel ok about having been exposed to so much in such a short period of time. Jorden said it today when she mentioned that there were certain social media or online resources shared in class that she knows she simply won’t use. We can’t possibly do it all. What is important is that we remain open to exploring and we embrace the resources we feel can work for us and we know why we are using what we are using.

Where I am going:

First of all, I am preparing to expose my classmates to yet another online resource which they may or may not find relevant to their particular context. The inner workings of setting up a class website/blog are definitely going to become a reality for me and I’m excited about that. The collaboration I will embark on with my inquiry group has me totally psyched to forge ahead and discover, learn and build. I am looking forward to creating and contributing!

(Thank you Naomi, for helping me figure out how to embed this infographic in my post.)

I didn’t really think of it today when we were in the throes of searching for websites that could be relevant to world libraries but then I realized that I am always the “searcher” and rarely the one contributing to those who are searching the world wide web. So today really opened my eyes up to these three things:

• access to technology (the internet ) should be a basic human right for without it we cannot fully participate in nor take advantage of the opportunities and knowledge provided by our global online world
• access to the internet is a privilege, as is contribution, and we should partake of both
• access and contribution to “world libraries” needs to be integrated into my class website/blog and our library website

There is a lot to sink one’s teeth into. The great thing about today’s search on world libraries is that it brought about a deep awareness, for me, of social injustice with regards to those “who have” and those “who don’t have” free access to the internet. Examples of organizations fighting to change that are the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, IREX and Beyond Access.

As a leader of cultural change, I can seek ways to get my school community to contribute to the fight and bring about change. We can contribute to the global voice by partnering with other schools and with public libraries to build initiatives that would create opportunities for “have not” communities to gain free access to computers and the internet. This sounds like the beginnings of a school club where we could look for ways to fundraise for a particular community to bring technology and training to them.

This course has forced me to be a daily contributor to an entity that lives forever, in a digital format, that the world could potentially have access to. It has taken me some time to get used to this daily online participation as face to face settings are more my comfort zone when it comes to interacting with people. I have definitely been more of a voyeur in the online world yet if I am to be a part of this global community and world library, I feel I should be able to freely access its offerings but should also provide worthy contributions. What those contributions could be are still unclear but things that come to mind are sharing lesson/unit/project plans that I/my colleagues/our students have created and developing partnerships with other schools and school libraries to create a buddy system where students and teachers mentor those who may just be entering the world of technology.

The class website/blog and our library website need to be interactive and collaborative. I want an abundance of information to be available for the accessing but want to ensure that opportunities to contribute in a meaningful way exist as well.

What stood out for me the most today was the examination of the linguistic cognitive domain. These are the notes I took today on that particular topic:

Linguistic cognitive domain

We link to each other and to ourselves through language. We explain things to ourselves through language. We use language to explain to somebody what we need them to understand. Recognize the impact our words have on others. Our words really matter. Even when we say nothing we are making a non-contribution.

We can be conscious of our language and how it influences things. When supporting teachers’ ICT – our language will make teachers feel comfortable and want to participate in the discussion or not. Go from what could be a confrontation to collaboration. We need the connection. Remember to meet their needs for safety and trust and bring your colleagues on the journey along with you.

How will my final project connect with the people I want to connect with?

My thoughts on my notes:

I recognize that I have a strong desire to be one of the leaders in my school when it comes to ICT development but I also realize that I sometimes feel intimidated to take on that role. We have over 100 teachers in our school so you can well imagine that there is great variation in where everyone is at when it comes to ICT. The one thing I do know is that we are super fortunate to have a very collaborative environment in our school (at least from my perspective and personal experience). As mentioned previously, we have teachers who embrace ICT whole heartedly and generously give of their time and expertise to those of us request their assistance. And like many other school environments, we have colleagues who hesitate to take the plunge into ICT.

Where do I situate myself amongst my colleagues? It reminds me of our first day in this class when I put myself right in the middle of the pack to show where I felt I stood when it came to technology. I believe I have accurately positioned myself. As a teacher-librarian and classroom teacher I find myself leading somewhat to those who feel even less confident about technology than I do but I also feel fortunate to be led by others. I am speaking honestly when I say that I am part of a very collaborative environment. People have been extraordinarily good to me and I hope that part of the reason for that is that I have been able to meet my colleagues where they are at and they have been able to do likewise with me. Here is where I feel that my attitude, the way I communicate or don’t communicate, and the words I choose are instrumental in the relationships I have developed and will contribute greatly to the ICT development journey that I and my colleagues are on.

Other class notes:

• leading cultural change in schools
• incorporating cultural change into inquiry design

Autopoesis – self creating

living organism – ecological beings – connected – we cannot disconnect

Structural coupling

How we connect to our environment. Goes on continuously. Environment constantly changing and we are constantly modifying our connections. In human beings this is always happening cognitively, culturally and technologically.

Our need, in order to exist, to initiate and sustain connections.

A lot of “orphan projects” created by teachers live out there.

Lots of food for thought after today’s analysis of a few wordy terms:

• Institutional Isomorphism
• Sociocultural Homeostasis
• Conservative Dynamicism

I wasn’t sure where it was all going at first but as Jenny brought these terms to life and then back to relatable, real life situations, certain statements had me thinking.

The institution within which we work is constantly shaping us. There is no doubt that we have to adapt to the environment we work in each and every day. But how much does this environment push us to move forward or hold us back? Perhaps we are surrounded by a lot of “Debbie Downers” who throw their hands up in frustration at the first sign of technological dysfunction. If we allow ourselves to be “shaped” by this socio cultural environment then, we too, have the potential to fall into a state of paralysis where we no longer seek change or fight for the basic minimum (I’m speaking in terms of technology here) to allow us to flourish in our professional lives.

So I left today’s class thinking about my school and how I might be influenced or influence the members of my school community when it comes to using technology. I was on the Technology Committee last year and that was really a great way to tap into what the challenges were, what resources students and teachers had access to, what resources were lacking and what plans the VSB had in store to attempt to meet the needs of our so-called 21st century schools and their learners.

As one of three teacher-librarians in my school, I deal with technology and with teachers’ successes and frustrations with technology on a daily basis. I always feel super motivated by the teachers who are on the leading edge of technology as they are seemingly unafraid to incorporate it at every possible turn and seem so comfortable (how do they do that?). I also encounter many teachers who are super resistant to relying on technology in any way shape or form. So one of the key things I walked away with today was to be aware of the influences within my institution. I think I have a natural tendency to lean towards my colleagues who embrace technology wholeheartedly because I know I can learn so much from them and embark on some pretty extraordinary collaboration. And when it comes to the “Negative Nancys”…I am going to think positive, display an upbeat attitude towards technology (even if I might be feeling super frustrated too) and be that person who is fiercely advocating for improvements in this area. So does that make me an Ambitious Anne-Marie? Nothing wrong with ambition, is there?

Create your own mind maps at MindMeister

Today’s class was all about collaborative groups and sharing. We first started as one big group with full attention devoted to one another as we shared where we were at (right now) and shared what topic/issue/concern was really weighing on our minds. This would serve as the foundation upon which we would begin to build our inquiry project for this week. Listening to the journeys that everyone in the class had embarked on was insightful and inspiring not to mention eye opening.

We then went from this big group to smaller group discussion and I landed in an energetic inquiry group that was focusing on creating a website and/or blog for the classroom or the library. Reaching out to the school community via our library website has been on my mind constantly ever since I took on the TL position in my high school. To be quite honest, I don’t think anyone even looks at our website unless we guide/force our students to access databases or selected websites that are linked through the library home page. This needs to change and we are working on it although I am less than certain that the platform we are using (Sharepoint) is really working out for us. The bottom line is that the library website is not an interactive, attractive, collaborative or “go to” place for the majority of those who frequent the space both virtually and physically. My colleagues and I are hoping to change that come the fall.

In September, I will become a classroom teacher in addition to my part time role as a TL. I know that a class website needs to be an essential part of my practice for many reasons: transparency, communication, collaboration, paperless environment and a storage unit for rubrics, information on assignments/projects etc. Again, I believe I would like this website to be a collaborative and interactive “go to” spot but like many of my classmates, I am not entirely sure of how to go about getting it set up.

Our group brainstormed the many website platforms we had heard about or had had experience using: Weebly, Google sites, WordPress, Blogger, Kidsblog and the list could go on. It seems that all these resources could serve us well but how exactly do we set things up? Who has access and how much access? Can every student set up their own blog? The way the site would be used depends very much on the age range of our students. Do we want parents to be able to constantly question or comment on our every move? Can we as teachers make it part of our daily routine to keep the website updated? Should the website be solely informational or should it be an interactive blog where students can comment on others’ work and ask the teacher questions?

In an elementary classroom where the teacher sees the same 24 – 30 students every day we felt that the format of our class blog for this course could work well. We like that the class list of blogs can be easily accessed from our main class blog. In a secondary environment, a teacher has 7 different classes so how could the website be set up to allow for this collaborative and communicative approach within each class? Perhaps a different page for each class could be the answer with links to each student’s blog? The initial set up would be laborious and the management of so many blogs seems daunting.

So many thoughts still…..