On 01/21/2011 08:54 AM, Dr. Gerald Ardito wrote originally about
something else, but said there:
I have been participating in this community for about 2 years. I have
received much help and support and encouragement for which I am
grateful. But I have been reluctant to have my fellow teachers (who
are less technically inclined) to participate because of the
frequently highly technical and operational nature of many conversations.
I am lost for words. So totally lost for words.
What kind of a community you would *not* feel reluctant to have your
teachers participate?
IAEP is as "common ground" as you possibly can get. Or are you talking
about the support gang? There I can understand sort of maybe, though
all kinds of people can benefit to lurk there, and even contribute -
maybe they just need to be given a chance, and they will flourish!
Of course there is a continuum for the choices an education
administrator can make, from wholesale advocacy for participating in all
and every community (probably not wise), to a complete ban and
prohibition leading to termination for those caught connecting with
strangers.
Somewhere along the middle I suspect most deployments just do not
encourage enough nor their leaders model participation (the later not
your case, Gerald, you do participate generously of your time and
experience).
I am amazed that, for example, Ceibal has over 14.000 teachers with
connectivity, and apparently less than 3% have ever signed up to a list
or open forum. Peru's emails set up for their project often returned a
"box full" error.
I am convinced that one of the the main lessons to be learned through
this Education Project is precisely about remote collaboration. It
hasn't taken off yet, and I wonder how we can help it happen. How can
we bridge real issues like fear of reprisals, fear to seem dumb? Lack of
time (real, or imagined for people that otherwise spend hours by the TV
or Faisbuk)? Relevant, interesting communication? The next step: kids
collaborating beyond their bailiwick?
Yama
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