RSS Reader - Having the Technology Work for You

I have been using an RSS Reader for quite a few years. Ever since I started using an RSS reader, I have realized how the technology was "working" for me. The power of the RSS Reader is it allows you to "mine the Internet" for information on topics your are interested.

I am able to "follow" many different educational blogs without having to type in the URL and visit the blog everyday. Whenever someone posts something new to their blog I automatically get notification of it in my RSS reader. I do not know why anyone would not use an RSS reader. I would never survive and stay on top of the latest trends in education without using an RSS reader.

For anyone who is new to RSS readers, my words of wisdom are that you will soon understand the power of RSS. Many people ask me to explain what RSS is. My best explanation is that "you just have to use one to really understand". So, if you are not using an RSS reader learn about how to setup and use an RSS reader here. Once you start using one you will never go back.

The PLP Journey Begins

When I learned this past summer that Power Learning Practice (PLP) was trying to get groups of schools or districts to form a Canadian cohort I was really excited. I immediately e-mailed my superintendent and encouraged him to allow our school district to send a team to be a part of the PLP cohort. After a few weeks, the superintendent gave me the thumbs up to put together a team of educators from the Northern Lights School Division for this cohort team.

Just last week we finalized the 5 members of our team. During this process of putting together our team, I was invited by the people at PLP to be a "fellow" for the Canadian cohort. I was honored to be invited to take on this role. So, I will not only be working with the team from my own school district but I will also be working with one other team from another school division. I am excited about this as it will enable me to make connections with other like minded educators in another school division.

As I sit here waiting for our Canadian Cohort to officially begin I do have a few questions:

1. Are all of the other participants as excited about this opportunity to work with PLP as I am?
2. Will our team in Northern Lights School Division be able to use this year to start a "technology momentum" in our division?
3. Is 1 year enough time to develop a team of technology experts for our school division?

I am sure that as time goes along these questions will be answered. However, I know I will have many more questions I need to try to answer. I can hardly wait for our PLP journey to begin.

4 Days of Training

We have just finished 4 days of training with an awesome trainer from Apple by the name of John Maschak. We looked at blogs, wikis, RSS, iWeb, Garageband, Flickr, Nings and many other Web 2.0 tools. The staff has come out of this training excited and energized about integrating technology into their classrooms.

Now all I need to do is sustain this excitement as we move forward!!!!

The Beginning of our Journey

On Tuesday Dec.16, 2008 we rolled out our laptops to our teaching staff at GCHS. This begins our school's journey toward implementing a 1-to-1 laptop program next September. Some of the teaching staff are excited while others are not sure where we are headed.

Stay tuned over the coming months as we journey through professional development on our Macbook computers and on Web 2.0 tools.