Tod+Baker

Roughly three years ago, two events changed my thinking about teaching and learning with technology. They both showed me that technology can be more than a tool for personal productivity.

I've just begun my fourth year at International School of Tianjin (IST) and my second as the NPK-12 IT Coordinator. During my first two years at IST I was one of two grade 5 homeroom teachers. It was then that conversations with Beth Gourley, our school librarian, started to reshape my thinking about teaching and learning. Beth showed me that using tech for productivity is not the same as using it for learning. From our conversations emerged one guiding idea that I cling to today. It's not about technology and productivity. It's about learning. And when a conversation about teaching and learning gets fixated on tech tools I use this guiding idea to bring it back to where it belongs. It's not about tools. It's about literacy.

The Learning 2.0 conference in Shanghai turned out to be the second event. Beth, by the way, encouraged me to present at this conference. And I did share how our grade 5 teachers and students used technology during the grade 5 exhibition to help build a community of learners. Although that was a scary and very educational experience for me, it was not the event that influenced me the most. Actually, it was the people at Learning 2.0. At this conference many people influenced my thinking including Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach who gave me words of encouragement after one of the un-conference presentations hosted by Will Richardson (I'm sure Sheryl doesn't remember but she said, "It sounds like your school is doing wonderful things. Keep it up.") And I also credit (maybe I should blame) Jeff Utecht, Kim Cofino, Clay Burell, Wesley Fryer, Gary Stager, Alan November and Chris Smith for helping me think about teaching with technology in different ways. They continue to shape my thinking today. Most notably, I took away from that conference the idea that we need to use technology to do what we could not otherwise do. This idea continues to influence my decisions and conversations about technology in teaching.

So it all started for me with Beth and Learning 2.0. But I have been in awe over the power technology gives us for a long time. I still remember the excitement I felt the first time I sat down at a computer in a lab at the University of Minnesota and used Gopher to find information and share what I had learned. It gave me unprecedented access to information and a level of accountability (an audience) that I found exhilarating. That was back in 1995 and I'm still feeling it today. These days I keep Watch Your Bobber as my place to think about work-related ideas. I use todbaker.com for personal reflections. For me these places are essential for sharpening, organizing, and discussing my ideas and experiences with others. My personal online spaces help transform my teaching and learning. If they can transform an old learner like myself, just imagine what they can do for a young learner.