I'm asking the good Lutheran question in this post -- What Does This Mean?

As you may know, I posted the slides from my presentation on "Preparing the 21st Century Student" on SlideShare prior to the LEA Convocation. The purpose in doing that is to make the information available for those who were unable to attend the sectional, or even unable to attend the Convocation. Of course, this slide show is publicly available to anyone through this site. Consequently, I received the following email this morning:

Many of you know that I presented at the LEA Convocation this past week on the 21st century skill set our students will need for their future success. That presentation, in my mind, is just a beginning step in the discussion in which all educators should be participating as together we try to make sense of these emerging technologies and apply them to education and ministry in God-pleasing ways. Interestingly, already today I've come across an article that also relates to these skills, and no doubt many more will follow.

As I was sharing my presentation on Preparing the 21st Century Student at the LEA Convocation on Friday, a comment from a participant prompted me to recognize that I missed an opportunity related to technology and education on my recent trip with our 8th grade trip to Washington DC. What I should have done is brought along my mp3 player, which also has a digital recorder. Then I could have recorded the immediate reactions of students to the sites we were viewing and comments on what they were learning. The students could have then edited these comments into a podcast and shared them with the school, their parents, and other interested listeners.

Well....at least this post was live when it was written!

I've found a wifi hotspot here in the Minneapolis Convention Center, so it is time to post a few reactions from this year's LEA Convocation. It has been great meeting so many new people and connecting with old friends and colleagues. I'm thankful that my presentations on Preparing the 21st Century Student and Multi-Class Wikis have all gone well, for which I'm thankful. I know these presentations are not about me but rather about helping our teachers better prepare students for their future, yet it is still nice to have the feeling that the sessions went well and smoothly.

I am sitting at the Denver airport awaiting my flight to Minneapolis for the LEA Convocation. I am thankful for the free wifi here in the gate area for it allows me to pass the time productively.

I will be a part of the Technology Share-a-Thon at the pre-conference technology session on Thursday morning. I will be introducing our multi-class wiki and discussing how wikis might be used in education. There is such potential for using this tool for collaboration in bringing Lutheran schools and our students together. In case you are interested and not able to attend the Convocation, or if you are not able to attend this session, presentation slides and notes may be found here.

Lately I've been talking and writing more about PLNs -- Personal Learning Networks -- and how they are necessary for me to be able to sort through the challenges we face in education, ministry, and society due to the proliferation of new technologies. This weekend I was working on a presentation and I needed to save a YouTube video but couldn't remember the online conversion tool needed to download the video. So I shared a post on Twitter, which quickly went out to those educators in my network. Within two minutes I had my answer. It was Zamzar I was seeking. With that information, I quickly converted the video and integrated it into my presentation.

How long might I have spent searching for that tool if I did not have my network? I might have found Zamzar quickly, but it also might have ended up being a much longer search. The key with a network such as this is to give as well as get. I make it a point to respond to as many queries from others as possible. We all need help from time to time, but we all have something to share. Connecting with a network is a great way to build your professionalism as well as to add value to the ministry of another.

(By the way, here is a link to my Twitter ID, in case you are interested in becoming part of a network yourself.)

Lately blogging has become more of a chore than a joy. I'm wondering if that is a natural result of constantly being on the lookout for new ideas, sources, etc. to share with others. Or is it a bit of laziness that is creeping into my routine? Perhaps part of it is a sense of being overwhelmed by all the new technologies and ideas to be used and embraced. Whatever the reason, it has been difficult for me to discipline myself to sit down and formulate some coherent thoughts for these posts.