A dazzling display of teaching and technology.

This week I got a little bit of a gift (in keeping with the season I suppose), because I had the privlege of watching several very high quality people give presentations on the different methods of employing technology in education they had practiced themselves. I was dully ipressed with the broad array of lessons and projects the students undertook. They used technology in a variety of ways and found so many special tool that I wished I made notes of all of them. I thought everyone who presented did an incredible job, and i really wish they had been alloted more time so I could have heard more from all of them. I was especially interested in the different methods the presenter had found to encourage students to interact or communicate in new ways. The ideas presented varied from an online international poetry guild to a large scale role play exercise meant to generate debate and conversation on a number of controversial issues. Those who used these applications seemed to find the level of enthusiasm from the students quite high, and their investment in the work they put into it just as high. It made me think that it seems to be a common misconception that web creations are some how not as "real" as corporeal items. A website isn't as good as magazine article. Wikipedia isn't as good as the Encyclopedia Britanica. I think this has commonly translated into a resistance to web based lessons by older generations of teachers, because they never felt the material was as serious once you involved the Internet. For the students I heard about, and those I have seen in my own experience, the work they create on the web is every bit a significant a that which they turn in on paper. I felt encouraged by these presentations. They seemed to confirm my longstanding theory that computers can model anything, and that a good teacher can draw a lesson from anything. I want to extend my thanks here to all who presented and to those who organized the event. I had a great time, and I feel I learned something too.