Nocking the Arrow

Our digital footprints should not be left to chance. Will Richardson recommends that all students become " well-googled " by high school graduation. As the accompanying graphic suggests, students should build a positive digital footprint as they progress in their education. My contention is this is sound advice for all educational stakeholders. As our lives become more digitized, more connected, and more cloud-based, where should we be keeping our evidence of learning? Where should we be keeping our evidence of professional growth? "One answer is digital portfolios."   Learners of any age need a place where curated information can get chewed up, broken down, and reassembled into new artifacts of learning. When our children were younger, the refrigerator, their bedroom cork boards, and our under-bed bins, were the final resting places for their shining examples of creativity and learning. To quote Dr. Helen Barrett, "we collect and share what we v...

Almost two months later, the I STE  2013 Conference still resonates in my mind and in social media.  I have seen some terrific "take-aways" in the blogosphere - here's my perspective on the prevailing themes from our time in San Antonio. First, the statistical breakdown of the conference from ISTE. Over 13,000 participants 74 countries represented by 1,855 international attendees 373  Access ISTE  participants (our new, one-day virtual conference) Over 4,500 exhibitor personnel 499 educational technology companies represented Over 1,200 volunteers, and nearly 1,100 presenters More than 50,000 tweets using the official #iste13 hashtag making it one of the top trends on Twitter during the conference More than half a million pieces of digital content were created during ISTE 2013 14,000 downloads and activations of the conference app with 178,000 opens and 18,000 hours of combined use. Here are a few other "take-aways" and related "tweets...

Congratulations on considering student ePortfolios as part of your transformative learning package. Electronic Portfolios are, in my opinion, the most effective way for students to authentically document and share their learning with an authentic audience. My suggestion is that you recommend one of these three platforms to your students as they begin creating their positive digital footprints: Google Sites , Evernote , and my personal choice,  Blogger . Fresh off an outstanding ePortfolio workshop presented by Dr. Helen Barrett , I became motivated to share some thoughts, and a few resources on this topic. What, how, and why are certainly important questions to address new or improved learning opportunities. My hope is that your focus will be on the " WHY ", as the "what" and "how" can, and should, be left to student research and development. Although it may not be appropriate in some cases, I would let the students experiment, and then choose th...

Thanks to  +Pernille Ripp  for putting words to a question that had been brewing in my mind for roughly the past year. It was about a year ago that I decided to make a concerted effort to strengthening my PLN. Fresh off of feeling the buzz from connecting and learning with others, I tried to persuade some of my favorite colleagues to join me in the waters of the world-wide classroom. On came the familiar excuses that included thoughts of fear, apprehension, apathy, and the ever-present, lack of time. Pernille Ripp's post, " Do you have to be connected to be a great teacher? " clearly and concisely raises an interesting question. I especially appreciate the thoughtful string of comments that follow her post. In speaking with several of my tech savvy, connected colleagues, their responses were very similar to the comments found at the end of Ripp's post, with some passionate arguments being voiced on both sides of the fence. It is my opinion, and I am admitte...