It was interesting to discover in my VITTA session yesterday ‘Harnessing the Power of the Internet’, that even the higher end users have an interest in a fairly fundamental introduction to Internet tools. One of the interesting aspects of my current role, is that I am not so much a technology expert, as someone who will experiment, find a new tool/site at short notice etc.  I rarely get time to really look at new tools and software in depth, unless I am using them for something specific (like using Joomla to run our project website). What I do get to do is explore what’s out there, dabble in something new that may be useful for a specific teacher or project, and then move on. I get a broad overview, but not always detailed knowledge.  My Internet session is a bit like that.  I jump around the net, showcasing useful tools and resources for teachers, and it always gets a good reception. But my audience is generally teachers starting out with technology, rather than experienced users.

I usually start this session with a brief online survey just to get a feel for the experience of the participants, and to demonstrate an online survey.  At VITTA, for the first time, the mix was 50/50, with some more experienced Web 2.0 users in the mix. That was to be expected, as VITTA is an organisation for IT teachers. But the organisers felt that teachers would still benefit from a hands on session about Internet tools, and the fact that the session booked out early confirmed that. It was still pleasing to note that although the teachers had more knowledge than some of my audiences, their experiences were only in some of the areas I covered.  Everyone seemed to learn something new, and the feedback was very positive.

When I return to the classroom next year, it will be an interesting change to make choices of what tools I think will work most effectively in my curriculum, and then explore them in depth with my class.  I expect the broad overview I currently have will definitely help me in selecting those tools, as will the network I am developing of Education Technologists around the world.