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A
Progress Report on the ABPC 21st Century Learning Initiative
August
2006
The
Alabama Best Practices Center is gearing up for a busy second
year of our professional development program that encourages
powerful conversations and practice around 21st Century teaching
and learning.
Last
year, with support from the Microsoft Partners in Learning grants
program, ABPC recruited small teams from 20 forward-thinking
schools across Alabama to participate in a professional development
program we call “Keeping Up with the Net Generation.”
A second cadre of schools will be selected for Year Two of the
project.
“The
21st Century Schools initiative is a response to an urgent need
for schools in Alabama and across the U.S. to meet global challenges,"
says ABPC Director Cathy Gassenheimer. "The challenge is
much bigger than technology. It’s really about redefining
what it means to be educated in a knowledge-based digital age.”
Educators in Year One’s participating schools
and districts say our curriculum and related activities
have heightened their sense of urgency about preparing students
for success in a global, digital-based society.
The
invaluable technological knowledge gained from this experience
is the most important aspect of the program. With this knowledge,
I am now able to engage students and expand their technological
literacy as well.
Amy
Lowe
George Hall Elementary
The
professional dialogue that evolved from the sessions has been
very purposeful. Also, the sharing of tools and how different
teachers have used them has helped us to determine our growth
goals.
Dottie
Montgomery
Winterboro School
This
experience has helped me grow more professionally than just
about anything I have experienced in a very long time. I feel
more confident about myself and more inspired. I have been teaching
many years. Though I considered myself an excellent teacher,
I have not been where I should be in regards to moving forward
in this 21st Century. I now feel as if I am on my way!!
Charlotte
Wilson
Vestavia Hills Elementary East
We designed our curriculum to establish a context
for why schools need to rethink and redesign themselves to prepare
students for the 21st Century. Our participants are learning
about web-based tools and other strategies that can be used
to help students become critical thinkers, collaborators, adaptive
experts, and knowledge creators who are able to embrace ambiguity
and thrive in the uncertain future.
Participating
schools now have a higher level of comfort with virtual learning
and are role models for the type of effective professional development
that can be delivered without requiring educators to travel
away from their building. They are also helping colleagues capitalize
on free Internet tools (blogs, wikis, podcasts and more) and
Internet strategies like Webquests to actively engage their
students. For many participants, this immersion in 21st Century
learning has revolutionized their teaching.
“Through
this program, I have been exposed to technology that I never
would have dreamed of 15 years ago,” wrote project participant
and high school chemistry teacher Juliana Coleman. "Interactive
web tools, including blogs, offer creative teachers unique opportunities
to set up problem-solving scenarios, while at the same creating
an environment that promotes individual and group learning experiences.
This project has helped me not only broaden but deepen my teaching.”
Here's
what some other participants had to say:
The
best part of the probram was definitely the exposure to concepts
of 21st century learning that we knew nothing about. The feeling
of collaboration with others and listening to "live"
discussions caused an excitement with our Auburn group. We know
we are just at the tip of the "iceburg" right now
and are excited over more integration of technology into our
daily instruction.
Lynda
Tremaine, Principal
Wrights Mill Road Elementary
“It
made me get "outside of my box" technology wise. It
stretched my mind in ways I did not know I could go. I never
dreamed I would be creating a blog with my second graders.”
Lisa
Greer
Chestnut Grove Elementary
Year
One was an introduction to a lot of neat tools. Being involved
with the other three middle schools was great!
Patti
McKoy
Cedar Ridge Middle School
Two
elements of this professional development program really stand
out for me: the collaboration with like-minded teachers, and
the opportunity to learn about so many new sources and uses
for technology in the classroom.
Randy
Fullington
Greenville High School
ABPC 21st Century Fellow
Year Two of our ABPC 21st Century project promises to
be just as exciting! We'll begin with a "21st
Century OctoberFest" — a face-to-face conference
in Birmingham where our 21st Century Teacher Fellows and many
of last year's participants will help bring our new school teams
up to speed. During the Fall semester, our new teams will also
participate in an online curriculum that has been polished and
fine-tuned, based on feedback from Year One teachers and principals.
Meanwhile, our returning teachers will engage in an advanced
curriculum strand, culminating in an Alabama 21st Century Fair
attended by state leaders.
We'll
be contacting all schools in the Powerful Conversations Network
soon to invite them to apply for this important work. Twenty
schools will be accepted for Fall 2006 based on their readiness
to join this remarkable journey into the future.
We'll
close with these comments from Connie Stigler, Technology Teacher
at Vestavia Hills Elementary East:
Our
participation in the ABPC work gave us such renewed excitement
in using technology in the classrooms. Our excitement has radiated
throughout the building and is definitely catching everyone
by surprise. I can't begin to list all the positives we have
received by being accepted for this wonderful opportunity. The
tools you all have shown us and ways to use these tools has
been eye-opening. We are just really pumped! Technology in our
school has definitely turned the corner!
For
more information about ABPC’s 21st Century Learning
project, contact Cathy Gassenheimer at cathy@aplusala.org
or (334) 279-1886.
To
see some examples of Alabama teachers using 21st Century
tools in their classrooms, visit: http://del.icio.us/abpcjohn |
