With the Best Intensions

So as an educator there were several new things that I wanted to try out this year - a structured word study program, using Flickr to share photos with parents, completing my Certificate of Educational Technology and Information Literacy, starting a masters, and maintaining a class blog. Well I will say that I did try all of these things and some are going quite well, while others are getting the better of me. On the good side are the word study and completing my certificate (this is my last required post). On the more challenging side are Fliker, the masters, and the class blog.

I started off full speed in the fall uploading pictures to Flickr and posting weekly to the class blog. Then when the December break came around I just couldn't get myself started again. The excuses are many and I'm not going to go into all of those. Instead I'm going to decide how to make next year's class blog more manageable and sustainable for me. I will start by choosing a blog format that better fits my vision. This year there were things that I wanted to do that my blog wouldn't support and I found that quite frustrating. I am a big list and schedule person so next year I will have a list and schedule to make sure that all of the curriculum areas get equal coverage on the class blog. When I was posting this year, I tried to have a post done every Friday. I think for me a better day would be on Wednesday because by Friday afternoon I'm pretty much done. Ultimately I would like to be able to post events quickly and on the same day, but I'm not sure I'm quite there yet. I think it will be worth it for me to invest in my own Flickr account next year. Just so that it is easier to manipulate the organize my photos.

The class blog experience this year wasn't all bad though. I did manage to keep the posts all about the kids and not use them as a notice boards. Also, because I wanted the blog to be something that parents looked at with their children, I always shared posts with the class before I published them. That was also a great way to proof read the posts to make sure they were mechanically correct and said what I wanted them to say.

For next year I'm going to try to remember what I have said many times in many of my posts to this blog - less is more & keep it simple.

***I do want to say a big "THANK YOU!" to the wonderful Tech-Team that we have at ISB. Without the support and encouragement of Kim, Jeff, and Dennis I would never even have attempted to use Flickr or start a class blog. You all ROCK!!!!!***

Partners Flying Across the Curriculum Together

In an earlier post I described how my college, Susi, and I introduced a plan to help our students work more effectively in partnerships. The idea was that one is the pilot and the other is the co-pilot. The pilot is in charge of whatever the task is and the co-pilot is there to verbally help or guide. The roles are then reversed to allow each child to be a pilot and co-pilot.

The project was originally designed to help the students when working with technology tools. I have used the Pilot/Co-Pilot model in all curriculum areas with my very active, energetic kindergarten students and it works like magic. They are taking turns without conflict, they are using words to help each other instead of taking over, they are learning from each, they are doing it with little or no teacher direction, and best of all they can verbalize what they are doing to others.

Here are some examples of the model in action:

These are reading partners. The pilot's job is to choose the book and read & talk about the book with the co-pilot. The co-pilot's job is to listen, ask questions, and remind the pilot what good readers do to become better readers.

These students are writing partners working together during our How-To writing unit. In this partnership the pilot is sharing his how to book by reading the steps to the co-pilot. The co-pilot is following the oral instructions and illustrations to draw a jet.

Here, math partners a playing a game called Fill the Hexagons. The pilot rolled a die and is deciding where to place a pattern block on the playing board. The co-pilot is waiting for the pilot to finish her turn and say "You're the pilot." before he rolls the dice and takes his turn.

I highly recommend trying this Pilot/Co-Pilot model with all ages of students to help them become more effective, cooperative, and helpful partnerships no matter what the topic or medium. I think you might be pleasantly surprised. I know I was!

One Size Does Not Fit All

During the second Coetail course some of my colleges and I worked on the Acceptable Use Policy for the Elementary School at ISB. As a group we agreed that one existing document was not going to be developmentally appropriate for students aged four to eleven. So we initially we decided that there needed to be a Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 2 AUP and a Grade 3 to Grade 5 AUP. After working on it for a while we soon found that even that split wasn't enough. In the end we ended up with three separate AUP's: Pre-K to Grade 1 / Grade 2 and Grade 3 / Grade 4 and Grade 5. I think the evolution of these documents is the perfect example of "one size does not fit all".

Staying in the area of technology standards I think Kim and I have found another item where one size does not fit all. As Kim and I were going over the Observation Rubric after my lesson for Course Five: Alive in the Classroom: Applied Web 2.0 Technology for Learning we discovered that while most of the criteria on the rubric could be used to score a range of grade levels one was very difficult to score in an early childhood setting. Ironically the area was "Use of Technology".
Here are the levels and descriptors for the Use of Technology standard:

Substitution: Technology acts as a direct tool substitute, with no functional improvement.
Augmentation: Technology acts as a direct tool substitute, with functional improvement.
Modification: Technology use allows for significant redesign of learning experiences.
Redefinition: Technology use allows for the creation of new learning experiences, made possible by current technology (previously not possible)

My lesson allowed the students to meet the objective of applying turn-taking strategies on a computer while working in a partnership to provide fairness and sharing of tasks. For the lesson I used the Pilot/Co-Pilot Project that Susi and I submitted for our course 4 project. Pairs of students worked together on one computer to complete patten block puzzles. The students were able to not only demonstrate this but many were able to verbalize how they were sharing and why it was important when learning. But it didn't score well on the Use of Technology Standard. It was a challenge for Kim and I to come up with ideas of how to move into the modification or redefinition descriptors for Use of Technology while keeping the tasks child-centered, developmentally appropriate, and manageable for the teacher. Any ideas would be welcome.

So maybe this part of the rubric needs to be looked at and redesigned to better "fit" young learners and those who work with them.

LESS IS MORE

I have just completed my fifth move in Thailand since arriving here less than four years ago. You would think that after that many moves I would have already weeded out and gotten rid of the things that I don't really need. But my pack-rat tendencies have kept me from doing that. So ove the past week I have opened, unpacked, given away, thrown away, and tried to organize the contents of countless boxes. As I was doing this I had an "ah-ha" moment: I am not only a pack-rat of "stuff" at home, I am a total pack-rat of "stuff" on my computer. Deleting a document for me is like donating that shirt that I know I'm going to wear again someday - even though I haven't worn it in years and it is older than my teenage children! I did a couple of quick searches on my school laptop and discovered that I have over 1,000 .doc files, almost 2,000 pdf files, and over 400 Notebook files. To many people, those numbers may not seem like a lot but, what the numbers mean to me is that I now know why I am often pushed to my frustration level when trying to find documents on my computer. I then began to go through files on my computer using the "cover flow" view on my Mac (which I absolutely love) and discovered that many of the documents are completely useless for the students I teach and the methods I use. So now my next big project will be to purge my computer files so that I only have what I really and truly need - and get them organized so that I can find them when I do need them. I'm hoping that if I have less stuff to go through on the computer I will have more time to do something more productive than swear at my computer!

Photo Attributions: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottawastorage/4226385486/sizes/o/

Kindergarten Partnerships Flying High

The question: How to teach young, egocentric kindergartners how to be effective learning partners?????

The answer: Easy - Make them "Pilots" and "Co-Pilots"!!!!!

Susi and I have been working together to carry out our Pilot/Co-Pilot Project that was developed during course 4 of our CoTails Program. As it pertains to technology we wanted to use it as a way to teach children to share technology tools, specifically desktop and laptop computers, when working together on a cooperative project. Our bigger goal was to create a partnership model that could be used across the curriculum. In this post I'm going to explain how we introduced the concept, what I have done with it so far, and the impact that it has had on my class.

The idea was first introduced to students by showing them a picture similar to this one . . .

picture credit

. . . and then asking students "What do you notice?" From the discussion we got the ideas that they were pilots, they were flying the plane, they were working together, they were helping each other. We led the children to the terms pilot and co-pilot and the understanding of what each of their jobs are and how important they are. For our purposes it was important that the students understand that the pilot is the one that is flying the plane and touching the controls and that the c0-pilot is there to help the pilot by talking to him but not by touching the controls and taking over. To simplify the ideas "Pilot" means "hands on" and "Co-Pilot" means "hands off".

When it was introduced in late January, during Reading Workshop, it only took a few lessons for most of the students to latch on to the pilot/co-pilot model. I could see improvement in the effectiveness of the learning partnerships in my class immediately. Students were using the words and showing respect for each other by taking turns and helping each other. I now use the terminology in my class when the students are doing any type of partner work. We have moved on from the "hands on" - "hands off" descriptions and I now give them clear and specific jobs for the pilot and the co-pilot for any given partnership activity. I have found it extremely effective in math partnerships where students are often engaged in partnership games or activities with shared materials. It really has made the job of classroom management during partnerships easier for me!

My class has not used the pilot/co-pilot model with technology at this point but there is a portion of our math program which integrates technology and is the perfect platform for sharing computers. So that is coming soon!

Pleased with Periferals

The one technology peripheral that my students and I use on a regular basis is my Smartboard, usually several times a day. I love it and they love it more. Using the Smartboard, along with the Notebook program, allows me to grab the attention of my students and really get them involved in the teaching and learning. It is great for modeling and even better for guided practice. Using the Smartboard with Notebook my students have sorted word families, illustrated poems, identified high frequency and rhyming words, played math games, dramatized stories, and experimented with how to manipulate the tools and settings on Notebook. It is the magic I use when I need to really capture my students' attention and actively engage even the most active student. To manage its use my students know how the Smartboard works with all of the essential elements - computer, software, projector - and they know the proper use of the tools - pens and erasers. I only wish that they didn't have to remember that only one person can work on it at a time. Maybe one day I'll have the new model that allows the Smartboard to be used by two people simultaneously. A girl can dream! And while I'm at it I would also like a Smart Slate. Like my dad always said, "If you are going to dream, you might as well dream big!"

I am usually in control of most of the other peripherals that I use in class - digital cameras, document camera, ipod, external mikes, flip camera - most of which are used weekly if not daily. I manage them by keeping most of the peripherals and their corresponding cords in one place very near my laptop. My school is great about providing a variety of technology peripherals to its teachers but, I feel that they have over looked one important one that has made my life sooooo much easier - - the usb hub. I use a usb hub to keep everything plugged in so that I only have to plug one cable into my laptop every morning and I'm not constantly plugging and unplugging things that I want to use. It sounds like a silly thing but it's the little things that make life easier.

Next semester I would like to put digital cameras in the hands of my students. Much like the management of laptops, my management of digital cameras will include starting with the basics and keeping things simple. I'm sure the students would be thrilled to see some pictures that they have taken on our class blog.

Laptops and Young Learners

To be totally honest I have not used laptops with my kindergartners this year. So I don't have a management plan for the use of laptops with my students. As I am thinking about developing a plan I am remembering to keep things simple and basic and to think about each individual task that is required to safely and effectively use a laptop.

So, when I decide that it is time to begin using laptops with my young learners my management plan will begin by answering guiding my students while we answer the following questions together:

How do you hold and carry a laptop?
How do you open and close the screen on a laptop?
What is the correct way to turn the laptop on and off?
What do you do if you want to move to a different place with the laptop?
How do you get a laptop and put a laptop away?

Of course as we answer the questions there will be lots of modeling and guided practice for each one.

There will always be one important question that I will need to answer before any screens are opened: Are the laptops the best way to enhance the learning of my students?

My partner in crime, in kindergarten and the Certificate of Educational Technology and Information Literacy, Susi and I are going to be working with computer partnerships and sharing while implementing our final project for this course. So next semester I think we might want to explore the use of laptops with our students. Our first questions will be: Which department will let us use 8 laptops from their already overbooked laptop carts? Wish us luck!

The Verbs Say It All

So the question is "How relevant are the NETs for Teachers and Administrators to being a "Good Educator" today?"

The standards use verbs like inspire, model, learn, facilitate, encourage, evaluate, communicate, design, develop, engage, create, promote, reflect, respect, collaborate, transfer, provide, customize, personalize, adapt, pursue, participate, support, ensure, lead, establish, maintain, and contribute along with many others.

When we think of "Good Educators", aren't those the words that we think of? When we discuss "Best Practices", aren't those the words we hear? When we talk about our students and what they need to be successful in the future, aren't those the words we use? My answer is "yes" to all of those questions.

So after looking at the standards, while thinking about technology specifically and education in general, I would have to say that they are very relevant to being a "Good Educator" for administrators, teachers, and anyone involved in the education of children.

Now How?

In my previous blog post I stated who I thought was responsible for teaching students technology and information literacy standards so now it's time to let you know how I think it might be done.

I think that in order for schools and teachers to even attempt to ensure that their students are learning what they need when it comes to Technology and Information Literacy they need to:

1. Create and maintain an atmosphere of safety where students and teachers are encouraged and willing to take chances and try new things.
2. Develop a clear set of standards so that everyone has the same understanding of the expectations.
4. Make the technology and information literacy content or skills meaningful and useful for teachers and students.
5. Seek and provide constant and current training and support for teachers and school personnel in an attempt to keep up with the rapid changes in technology.
6. Provide extra support for those teachers that are trying to catch up to the technological knowledge and skills that their students may already have.
7. Provide students with a variety hardware and software items so that they can use the best tools for the job they are doing.

So that's it in my humble opinion.

It Starts At the Top

We were asked: Whose job is it to teach the NETs and AASL standards to students?

I believe that it is a school’s job to insure that students are experiencing and benefiting from the standards. But, when I us the word “school” I am talking about the entire school community - the school board, the administration, curriculum coaches and specialists, the classroom teachers, the support teachers, the specialist teachers, instructional assistants, parent organizations and committees, and anyone else who has a hand in what happens at a school.

I believe that before a school’s instructional staff can teach the NET’s and AASL standards to its students, the governing board and administrators at the school needs to give the teachers the training, tools, and most of all the prep-time to be able to do it correctly.

The members of our COTAIL courses are voluntarily trying to get the training that we need and want but, what about all of the other staff members that need it and rightfully don’t want to give up their “own time”. Whose responsibility is it to ensure that school personnel have the understandings, skill sets, and time that they need to teach and meet the standards?

Schools also need to be willing to provide the tools that are needed. It isn’t enough to have a variety of tools. Schools must have an abundance of those tools. So that teachers have them when they need them. A teacher’s instructional schedule should not be held hostage by the availability of the tools they need to get the job done. Schedules are already dictated too heavily by bus schedules, playground schedules, cafeteria schedules, special classes, support staff schedules, etc. Along with the printed teaching resources that are given to teachers to keep at their fingertips in the classroom, there should be a set of tech tools that are issued to every teacher or in the very least to each grade level and department so that they have them when they need them.

O.k. I have put enough of the burden on schools. There are parts of the standards that must be delivered and monitored by both the school and the parents. Those are the parts that deal with online responsibility. Including etiquette, safety, and respect for others online. At my own home we have recently had a few conversations about appropriate and inappropriate content of one’s Face Book Page. Needless to say there was some un-joining of groups and some deleting of posted comments. Schools can only deliver that message and teach what it means parents need to be the monitors and reinforces when students are away from school.

So in my humble opinion the responsibility for teaching the NET’s and AASL standards to the students belongs to schools but needs to start at the top.

Reading Workshop Goes Digital

With the help of a few friends (not just teachers & colleges), my students, and a variety of technology tools, I now have a digital representation of what Kindergarten Reading Buddies do when they are in their partnerships. I used the video as a mini-lesson to reinforce what the students have already learned and again during the same Reading Workshop time to wrap-it up, evaluate, and share.

Have a look:



You can see the Kindergarten Reading Buddies project page on the COETAIL wiki - just click here. Attached to the project page is the digital storyboard that was used during the planning and creation of the video, along with a list of the tools that were used.

Screencasting

I have just been playing with Jing, which is a tool to create screencasts.

So now the question is: How can screencasts be used for me professionally?

I have been thinking about this for a couple of weeks now, which is why I have waited until the last minute to do this blog post. I think screencasts are great tools to show how-to for older students and adults, but I don't really see using a screencast with my young students, 5 and 6 year olds. Maybe as I start the list of my ideas for use with colleges, parents, and older students, something will come to me?

Screencasts could be made:

- to help teachers and/or students navigate and use PantherNet, ISB's moodle. (I know that I would benefit from one on how to upload - only because I don't use it often enough.)

- to help teachers and/or students share what they know about how to use various educational technology tools that are available with others.

- to take parents and/or students on virtual tours of class or students blogs so that they can make the most of the blogs.

I truly believe in the power of showing and telling how to do something simultaneously and that screencasting is the perfect tool to use that power to show how to get the most from the technology that is available. I also see screencasting as a lasting non-threatening way for people to get help when and where they want it.

So - I love the idea, but I'm still waiting for inspiration to create a screencast for/or with my young students. I when I find the right idea I know I will follow the KISS model: keep it super simple (or something like that).

Any ideas?

Value of Video

So the saying is "A picture is worth a thousand words." So that must mean that a video has to be exponentially more valuable.

I think that web based video has changed teaching because it can bring things alive and into the classroom, it gives classes & teachers a way to share globally, and it allows them to experience a variety of perspectives on single concepts or ideas. For me I feel that it can be especially powerful as a tool to share with my students' parents what is happening at school through a video rather than with just words on a page.

Here is my adventures in web based video last week:

Last week my class was working with the nursery rhyme "Little Miss Muffet". I thought it would be a good idea to find a dramatization of it so we could better understand some of the vocabulary and concepts. So I went to YouTube and searched for "Little Miss Muffet" - instantly the search came back with 455 hits. There were animations, songs, and recitations. Of course there were many that weren't what I was looking for. But, it only took me a minute to find a few that would be good to use. The students were then able to see the actions of "Little Miss Muffet", which added to their understanding.

Showing my students the web based videos was valuable for them but not as valuable as what I discovered while looking for a good video to use. I discovered that I could make a video that would do everything that I wanted it to do instead of trying to find something that would just "do". So after taking still pictures of my students dramatizing "Little Miss Muffet" and recording their adorable, precious voices I created our "Little Miss Muffet":



And here is another one:



Hope you enjoyed watching them as much as I enjoyed making them.

Another First

Here is a look at my first YouTube upload:



Originally I used the pictures in this video on the SmartBoard to present and review the Roll & Record game to and with my students. So turning it into a video was the next step and it really wasn't that hard. The hardest part was actually convincing my daughter to do the voice directions for me. It did take longer than I anticipated but then again most of my projects do.

I'm not sure my "How To" video counts as a digital story but I used a variety of tools to get it done:

* digital camera for stills & video;
* ipod with a Belkin TuneTalk for the audio;
* iphoto, itunes, and imovie to edit, organize, and create;
* and of course YouTube to upload and embed the video into this blog.

Hopefully by varying the format and delivery of the activity I will reach a few more students.

Digital stories are the perfect medium for me to use with my young students. We all know that seeing is more powerful than hearing. It is also good to vary delivery techniques. My students love to watch videos where they are the stars. So - I can see that it would be highly motivational to use my students in the pictures and their voices to narrate. (A little hint of how my final project will differ from this one.)

Now with the young students it is finding the balance of their part and my part while trying to make the most of student contact time and preserving my own personal time.

Making a More Powerful Presentation

Two years ago when I started teaching at ISB I used Power Point for the first time to help me get through Back to School Night. (It's not my favorite part of teaching.) In all honesty I did not even create the Power Point. It was given to me by a fellow teacher and I modified to to fit my presentation. I used the format for two years and I was happy with it. Now as I look at it again it has many characteristics of an ineffective presentation. I had lots of words and during the presentation I spent most of the time reading what was on the screen. If I printed out the slides it gave all the information that I covered during my speaking. I did do a couple of things right there were pictures of the kids (although most of them were probably too small) and the color scheme seemed to work.

This year (before the current COETAIL course started) I decided to change my presentation and use only titles and pictures for my presentation. The visual definitely showed what my students do instead of telling what they do. I also changed the program that I used. I used Smart Notebook this year rather than Power Point. I am more familiar with Notebook and it was easier to get the look that I wanted. So this years visual presentation was better than that of the previous years but it still wasn't exactly right. Now after watching the videos and reading the assignments for the COETAIL program there are even more improvements that I can make. I would like to highlight more of the processes that my students go through during the day as we follow a Workshop Model. I think that showing parents the Workshop Model by using images of their children would help many parents understand how their child is being educated.

So I guess now that the presentation is cleaner I need to change the message and content to make it more effective. I can't believe that I'm going to say this but I think I'm actually looking forward to designing and delivering my presentation for Back to School Night next year.

Using Visual Imagery

I thought this assignment would be easy: Find an image using Creative Commons and share how you plan to use it in class. I teach kindergarten so I had a million ideas when searching on Creative Commons. I searched city blocks, to look for letters and words. Then I thought about using a picture of clouds and having students interpret the images that they see. Next I thought about colors, shapes or maybe numbers. There were actually too many choices. After a dozen or so searches and viewing 40+ pages of photos I narrowed it down to ten pictures. The picture that I eventually choose came from the search: geometric shapes. The picture was taken by T Hoffarth and posted on Flickr. The title of the picture is Power Lines. I will use this picture with my kindergartners to reinforce the idea that triangles have three sides and three points and that this means even when you change the dimensions (angles and/or size) of a triangle it is still a triangle. When the image is placed on the Smartboard students will be able to use the Smartboard markers to identify and outline various triangles in the image. I may also print the image out and give it to partners with the same task of outlining triangles in the photo.

Changes BIG & small

* My students see me using my laptop to find the perfect song on iTunes, when they need to get up and move;
* My students know that I communicate with their parents by sending "letters" on the computer (e-mail as described by a 5 year old);
* My students know that when the laptop, projector, and smartboard are all turned on, connected, and working together, whatever they see on my laptop is what they see on the smartboard (and they are fascinated by it!);
* My laptop is located in a place where I can easily get to it while I am working with my students so that I can access anything that I need without turning my back to them or loosing their attention.
* We have watched Eric Carle read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" on You Tube.
* We have experienced "The Little Red Hen" on Speakaboos.

So those are the small changes in my teaching this year because of the courses so far in the COETAIL program.

And now for the BIG change -

* I am in the process of setting up a classroom blog to help me share and communicate with the parents of the students in my class. I feel the need to send something more exciting than the standard weekly newsletter. I want to be able to show parents what we are doing not just try to explain it in words. I want to include the kids in what is posted on the blog. I'm not quite ready to launch this endeavor and share it with the world but I will be soon. I'm still trying to find the perfect visual set-up for the blog. I know it is a lame excuse but after looking at several other classroom blogs and starting the Visual Literacy Course: Effective Communicators and Creators I need to find the perfect visual set-up for the blog. I want it to be more than a screen full of words. I want it to be inviting and friendly so that my students and parents want to be a part of it. I'm very excited about it but nervous at the same time. My goal is to have it ready to share by next week.
Wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!!

The changes that I have made don't seem very substantial but I'm not a huge risk taker and since my students are young, baby steps are the best fit for all of us.

Working Together in Different Places

For our last assignment for Course 2 a group of elementary teachers decided to take on the AUP for the Elementary School at ISB. We decided to create a google doc with the original document so that we could all have input and make changes without physically being in the same place. Which was good because one of the members of the group was in Japan and not Thailand where the rest of us were. We all agreed that the language in the original document would be difficult for students to understand and since it is a document that students are supposed to understand and follow that didn't seem right.

As the document began to evolve it was clear that it was going to be difficult to create one document that would be kid friendly and developmentally appropriate for six grade levels. One document became two: K-Grade 2 AUP & Grade3-5 AUP. Then after some more thought, two documents became three: Pre-K-Grade 1 AUP; Grade 2-3 AUP; & Grade 4-5 AUP. They all have the same concepts and ideas in them they are just each written to fit the appropriate audience as best we could. I don't think any of us think our finished product is perfect probably because we know that with a project like this it's really never finished. The AUP's will need to change, develop, and grow as the needs do.

I would always prefer to work in a group rather than by myself. The whole "two heads are better than one thing". The use of google doc made this possible because all of the group members had packed schedules so actual face-to-face meeting were near impossible. It was interesting to see the work evolve and change in the short amount of time that we had to work on it. I did meet with two of the group members individually at different times to do some work and I have to say that I found those two meetings more productive than when I was trying to work on the project alone. So I guess in the end for me I still need a little face to face and real talk but this first experience of collaborating on-line was a positive and valuable experience for me.

THANK YOU!!!!!
To all of the members of the ES AUP collaborative group.

Building Blocks of Collaboration

"Are we preparing our students for a world of mass collaboration?"
"How do we prepare our students for a world of mass collaboration?"

It has taken me weeks to figure out how to address these two questions for me personally as a teacher. The idea of mass collaboration with 5 to 7 year olds is a bit overwhelming for me - blogs, wikis, chats, etc. Then I decided that mass collaboration has developmental levels just like everything else. Sometime I need to remind myself that sometimes to reach an end goal you have to start small with block at a time. So with that in mind - I'm ready to answer the questions.

I do believe that I am preparing my students for a world of mass collaboration. I am doing that by giving my students the skills that they need to cooperate during face-to-face social and academic situations. My students work together in partnerships and small groups to inquire, discover, make choices, learn, and teach together. They are developing the skills needed to take turns, participate equally, listen to each other, and give feedback. In my eyes these are the skills they will need to become effective mass collaborators in their very near future.

In the beginning I think it is important for students to know how to cooperate & collaborate face-to-face with others before they are introduced to the multitude of tech tools that are available for them to use to mass collaborate with students in other class rooms, at other schools, and beyond.

**While searching for information about collaboration and cooperation in early childhood settings I found Stepping Forward: Personal and Digital Learning in the 21st Century a blog that is worth taking a look at if you have the time.**

It's All Just a Click Away

With just a click anyone can access, search, find, reach, look, view, contribute, collaborate, connect, communicate, comment, debate, blog, post, tweet, agree, disagree, read, review, research, create, shop, browse, buy, enjoy, interpret, learn, inquire, explore, change, discover, and . . . and . . . and . . .

Not only is everything a click away but over a billion people are also a click away. According to Internet World Stats, in December 2000 there were 360,955,492 Internet users world wide and as of March 31, 2009 the number was 1,596,270,108. That is an increase of over 300% in just 9 years. It is also over 23% of the total world population. So when you click the post button on your blog or social network your potential audience is over a billion. That number makes my head spin.

So - What makes the internet so powerful? I believe that the power of the internet comes from the activities it facilitates, the audience it reaches, and the people who choose to be active participants.

For all of the good things that the web facilitates we all know that there are just as many bad things that it also facilitates. There are times that the power of the internet can be harsh, as pointed out in Belloney's Blog post The Power of the Web. There are people that have to live with how devastating just one click can be.

Now the question is: How do we make sure that we teach our students to use their clicks to take advantage of the power of the web in a safe, positive, responsible, and productive way and not in a harmful, negative, and destructive way?