Who inspires you?

March 22, 2009 at 10:29 pm | Posted in Blogging, Conference, games, Games-based learning, Links, Podcasts, Presentations, Professional Development, Resources, Web2.0 | 4 Comments
Tags: Bit by Bit, blogs, Chris Chater, Ewan McIntosh, games, Guitar Hero, inspiration, Julie Lindsay, Kim Cofino, London ECIS IT conf09, Myst, Nintendogs, Podcasts, Seedlings, Silvia Tolisano

After Ewan McIntosh‘s keynote at the London ECIS IT conference I attended recently, I decided to attend all his workshops. His views on the use of technology make so much sense to me- we have these technological advancements in our world and why not harness their power to create better schools and communities? In my notes from one of his workshops I wrote a quote, “It’s not about technology, it’s about changing someone’s life a bit.” That really summed it up for me. It’s all about joining the conversation, contributing, engaging our students in meaningful learning experiences.

Here are a few inspiring examples from Ewan:

• Tim Ryland teaches writing through use of PC game, Myst
• GuitarHero across the curriculum and throughout the school
• Nintendogs project– collaboration, cross-curricular activities
• Punctuation Pyramid, Wordle and Visuwords

Most of what I’ve learned and applied regarding tech use in education are from these sources of inspiration:

Bit by Bit and Seedlings blog and podcasts:
After my first taste of digital audio recording and editing for publication, I found Bob Sprankle’s class blog and podcasts. I’ve been following Bob, Alice and Cheryl ever since.

Chris Chater– Elementary music teacher extraordinaire and very nice guy. We connected years ago and collaborate and have become friends over the years.

Kim Cofino, Siliva Tolisano and Julie Lindsay– Tech Educators who inspire me. I think they are super-human as they seem to have more hours in the day than the rest of us based on their capacity to share and organize collaborations.

Who inspires you?