You say you want a revolution...

This is not my first blog attempt. I find that I do much better blogging about topics that can be covered in a few sentences. I'm a high level writer. My knitting blog is easy because I just post pics of projects and brief comments about them. Professional blogs have been associated with specific projects like my students' collaborative blog with preservice teachers from the University of Florida. I ran out of content for my geocaching blog when I ran out of time to geocache. It takes time to maintain a blog. So, why start again with Teach Web 2.0?

Recently, a number of events have converged to light a fire under my keyboard.

• I just completed an Ed.S in Ed Tech from UF. I tend to get reflective upon completing a major goal (maybe because I actually have a minute to think). I've been contemplating what is really important to me personally and professionally.
  
• I learned about and became very interested in the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program. I realized that children in third world countries will be using Web 2.0 tools to learn. Yet, even the most technologically progressive schools in America remain chained to textbooks and industrial age methods of instruction.
  
• After reconnecting with some old corporate friends, I remembered my day-to-day activities...web conferencing, teleconferencing, instant messaging, emailing, collaborating in online workrooms (think wiki). My 13-year old does all of these things...at home... and virtually none of them at school. Is that a good thing? Just about the time I was thinking this, I read Alan November's "Banning Student Containers". Not every social networking tool is appropriate for school. But, many of them could be. Ten years ago my students were creating web pages. Why haven't things changed more quickly?
• I started an instructional design course toward my Ph.D and recruited a colleague to join me. Two heads are definitely better than one when it comes to strategies for change.

I hope to use this blog for three primary purposes:

1. Share ideas for teaching for the future.
2. Share brainstorms and Web 2.0 projects that I'm doing with my own students.
3. Post papers and assignments related to ed tech.

Here goes...