Building on Face-to-Face

A lot of teachers feel they either lack the time or skills to really use technology to it’s fullest extent. This combined with the fact that user-generated video production still has technical challenges may be a factor in teachers picking up the video camera themselves.

After meeting with teachers and ICT Coordinators I have found myself thinking how would you get a good user-generated video based community started. I started thinking about the fact that for teachers, at least in NSW, there is an established method of communicating information. Most schools have ICT coordinators, these ICT co-ordinators attend face-to-face meetings to discuss implementing technology in the classroom. The ICT coordinators then inservice the teachers at their school.

Usually the ICT coordinators both at the district and school level have a greater interest in technology and greater skills in using technology. By giving ICT educators the tools to provide more resources to the teachers they work with we can really take advantage of this kind of community based knowledge. They could do things like:

• Make video recordings of their inservices for reference
• Create software demonstrations and post them online
• Create their own video blogs on new technology or programs that are being reviewed
• Record best practices with teachers in classrooms

This way they can make the most out of the little time and resources they have to spend with classroom teachers.