In which best practices lead the way
Posted By Barbara Lindsey on December 31, 2008
CC License: Old Man Time by Mr. Greenjeans
As the Gregorian calendar year of 2008 draws to a close, I wanted to share with all of you my baker’s dozen list of educators who have made an impact on me. These are folks whose online contributions have stretched my thinking, informed my teaching and contributed to my ongoing professional development as I continue my travels through web 2.0 territories.
Perhaps you will make your own connections with these educators as well.
Without further ado, in alphabetical order, are:
- Vicki Davis of the Cool Cat Teacher Blog
In 2006 Vicki Davis, a computer science teacher from Georgia, and Julie Lindsay, working at the time at an international school in Bangladesh, gave their students the opportunity to work collaboratively on a unique, student-centered, international and intercultural exploration of Thomas Friedman’s ten flatteners. If you are wondering just how and why you should use web 2.0 technologies with your students, check out their Flat Classroom Project. Their work was recognized with the 2008 Edublog Award for best wiki. It is amazing how well this project aligns with the ACTFL standards. As with so many web 2.0 trailblazers, Vicki and Julie have generously shared all their work with us. I’ve been following Vicki on her blog and listening to her podcasts ever since.
- Wesley Fryer of Moving at the Speed of Creativity
If you are looking to incorporate blogs, podcasts, wikis or just about any web 2.0 collaborative environment in your courses you simply must subscribe to Wesley Freyer’s blog. His posts are just a delight to read—clear, informative and aesthetically pleasing. He has made navigating the many sections of his blog a breeze. A well-known and respected educator and presenter, Wesley practices what he preaches and makes his presentations and handouts available for use on his blog.
- Steve Hargadon of Classroom 2.0
In a previous post, I cited a portion of Steve’s reflections on the import of web 2.0 for education. It will be one of the required readings for my course next year. Steve is the founder of the Classroom 2.0 social network, which just won the 2008 Edublog Award for best educational use of a social network. There are over 15,400 members of Classroom 2.0! It’s a great way to connect with educators who share similar interests as one of our GAs, who was teaching a course on sorcery in France, recently discovered.
- Isabelle Jones of My Languages and Mrs. Jones’ Language Resources
Isabelle Jones is a French and Spanish teacher based in England. Her blogs give me insight into the interests and perspectives of European language educators as they explore and integrate mediated technologies into their teaching. Isabelle created the Resources for Languages Diigo Group, which at this writing has amassed over 2600 bookmarks and lists almost 200 members.
- Jess McCulloch of technoLanguages
I ‘discovered’ Jess McCulloch this past summer courtesy of a teacher of Chinese who posted this video to the professional development ning of which we were members. As you can see, Jess has great energy and brings that enthusiasm to her blog and podcast. Jess also set up a Ning for language educators. She’s a great read and I’m always learning something new from her.
- Mark Pesce of the human network
My favorite Mark Pesce contributions:
Mark is a social media expert who writes and talks about emerging technologies and their impact on society and education. Mark’s four recommendations for educators?
- Capture everything
- Share everything
- Open everything
- Tear down the walls
- José Picardo of Box of Tricks
José is a teacher of Spanish based in England who always shares great finds with language educators. He has created some excellent lesson plans—check out his post on using Animoto to promote speaking in the foreign language and the recap of his Animoto challenge.
- Will Richardson of weblogg-ed
Will is a K-12 educator who writes eloquently, convincingly and, at times, controversially, about mediated technologies as powerful personal learning network environments for teachers as well as students. His posts are deep reflections, engaging conversations and open challenges.
- Barbara Sawhill of language lab unleashed
As director of Oberlin College’s Cooper International Learning Center, president of IALLT and a Spanish teacher, Barbara understands the needs of language educators and the challenges they face in our hyperconnected world. This lead article, co-authored with Barbara Ganley, charts their own “metamorphosis of the learning experience”.
- Silvia Tolisano of Langwitches
Take a look at Silvia’s blogging unit plan, her guide to using your own icons on google maps or earth and her videoconferencing with elementary school students post. Wow.
- Jeff Utecht of The Thinking Stick and U Tech Tips
What I appreciate most about Jeff’s U Tech Tips are the varied perspectives and wide-ranging interests of his co-bloggers. As an international educator currently based in Bangkok, Jeff shows us how students in these schools use the web to connect and collaborate with their cohorts all over the world.
- David Warlick of 2¢ Worth
A former middle school teacher, David Warlick is an expert in the field of educational technology and the author of Class Blogmeister, a blogging interface designed specifically for teachers, and Citation Machine, a quick and easy way to properly reference sources. I’m a big fan of his podcast, Connect Learning, which are often recordings of his post workshop/keynote Q & A sessions. We are, as David points out, co-learners with our students and each other. Be sure to check out his conference presentation resources. And did you note that David received the well-deserved 2008 Edublog Lifetime Achievement Award?
- Michael Wesch of Digital Ethnography
I first became aware of the work of anthropology professor Michael Wesch in the summer of 2007 when I saw his YouTube video, The Machine is Us/ing Us, a fast-paced overview of Web 2.0 and what it means for all of us. It is the top rated, most favorited, and most viewed educational YouTube video of all time. Michael just received the 2008 outstanding doctoral and research universities professor of the year award. If you struggle with how to engage non-majors in large undergraduate courses, take a look at Michael Wesch’s World Sim project. As with the world sim project, I could see our graduate students and language majors exploring themes similar to those his graduate students documented in the digital ethnography of YouTube project.
So that’s my list for 2008. Who are some of the people who’ve guided you along your journeys through the web? We would love to add your picks to this list.
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In which best practices lead the way by Barbara Lindsey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
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