Wiki feedback for a podcast on technology leadership

By Wesley Fryer On October 2, 2007 · · Add Comment

Louis Loeffler is the instructor for Cardinal Stritch University’s “Technology Leadership I” course. I received an email recently from Louis that he was having trouble accessing the podcast interview I posted last May with Dr. Scott Mcleod (“Podcast151: Dr. Scott McLeod on Administrator Idea-Sharing via Blogs, Digital Social Networking, and Educating Others for the Transition to 21st Century Schools”) and needed assistance. It turns out when I fixed my podcast web feed several weeks back, I did not go back and fix ALL the past episodes to include the direct mp3 links to the podcasts. (PodPress broke on me and I couldn’t fix its errors.) I fixed the link to my interview with Dr. Mcleod, and Louis emailed me today with a link to a wiki page his students have used to reflect on the podcast. Here are some comments from students which stood out for me.

Some students realized, after listening to the podcast, they need to PERSONALLY use web 2.0 tools and technologies. This was one of the strongest themes, incidentally, shared by both Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Will Richardson at the Learning 2.0 Conference in Shanghai. It’s good to see educators in Wisconsin “getting” this message also. Rosanda Green wrote about her need to SUPERSIZE her technology skills:

It is my responsibility as an educator to prepare our students to implement these communication tools effectively and efficiently. As inexperienced as I am with these “newer” technology tools, I am still considered a technology “geek” in my building. Upon reflection, this expertise that I seemingly hold has to do with information/data systems and productivity and presentation software. While I am proud of my skills, I realize the importance of supersizing my skills. This podcast has inspired me to move beyond the Practice Phase. Given the dynamic and rapidly changing nature of technology, we as instructional technology teachers must move to affect change in our classrooms, schools, districts, and maybe even beyond. We can begin with ourselves! If we can achieve this 1 class at a time, what a difference we can make!

Daniel Simonson closed his reflection with a strong restatement of one of Dr. Mcleod’s main points in the podcast. Daniel wrote:

What type of world are we preparing our students for? A world of needless facts or a world of communication? We have the power to change and change we must.

It is inspiring to me, personally, to read Rosanda and Daniel’s words and think about the impact which Dr. Mcleod has had on their educational experiences this term, via the vehicle of my blog and podcast. Yes, we DO have to commit to become the change we want to see in the world. Ghandi said that, and now these students in Wisconsin have, in paraphrased forms. I’m inspired.

As a final comment, in his reflection Daniel also wrote:

If anyone has ideas on how to implement a blog or a wiki with 130 students your advice would be greatly appreciated.

My suggestions along these lines are:

For blogging, break students up into groups of 20 or 30 students, it may be natural to have a separate blog for each class. In K-12 settings, my top recommendation for a class blogging tool is Class Blogmeister. Blogger can work well too, but it takes some tweaking to set up comment moderation, comment captchas, and no anonymous commenting. Both are free.
For more ideas and guidance on using blogs and wikis in the classroom with students, from the 2006 K-12 Online Conference presentation list I’d recommend checking out Vicki Davis’ “Wiki Collaboration Across the Curriculum” and Mark Wagner’s “Blog if You Love Learning: An Introduction to Weblogs in Education (Basic)” presentations.
I have more resources related to classroom blogging available on teachdigital.pbwiki.com/blogging.

Good luck to Daniel, Rosanda, and all the other students in Louis Loeffler’s “Technology Leadership I” course this semester! You’re all fortunate to be learning with an instructor who is “plugged in” to our global virtual learning community!

I hope to see you all in and around sessions for the 2007 K-12 Online Conference, starting on October 8th!

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