Summer Is Definitely Not Slow Time
Boy, that’s a lot of empty space!
Summer is not a quiet time when your job is focused on teacher training. This summer I taught or co-taught three Photoshop classes, one class on weblogs and podcasts, a week-long multimedia projects class, a four-day digital storytelling class, and three Digital Photography Bootcamps. And somewhere in there I actually took some vacation, too.
Despite the hectic pace of it all, it was a great summer. It was really exciting to me to see what teachers can do when they are given the opportunity to really, deeply explore the use of digital tools such as PowerPoint, iMovie, Photostory 3. Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, weblogs, podcasting and digital cameras. It recharges my batteries to see teachers get excited about what they can do and create, and start thinking about how they can take these tools back into their schools.
My only worry is the question Can they? Can they take what they learn here back to the classroom? I’m not questioning the capabilities of the workshop participants; I’m worried about the flexibility in their schools to make room in the curriculum for the time and effort to use these tools and resources or to provide the technological support to use them. I’ve seen the deeply meaningful learning that many of my participants have experienced reflected in the multimedia projects they have created in our workshops. I really want to see students have that same opportunity.