K12 Webcast: "Nurturing the 21st Century History Teacher"

One of the online conferences that I attended was hosted by Tom Daccord, a high school history teacher.  His webinar was entitled "Nurturing the 21st Century History Teacher" found at http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=512. 

Good Thoughts and Lessons:
--I appreciate that much of what Daccord says is backed up by evidence and serious study.  He integrates the research done by professionals in the field so what he says holds credibility. 

--A good question was raised that stimulates me to think about how I am currently teaching and how I plan to teach in the future: Are we teaching students for their future or our past?

--“The heart of a historian’s task is to analyze primary sources” – how many primary sources are available in multi-media? A lot – therefore, we should use it!

--Students read more online than in print. Technology is prevalent in teenagers’ lives, but irrelevant in classrooms.
-- Students should use technology to be creative and get connected.

--Right brain skills are extremely important for surviving to the demands of the modern workplace (Daniel Pink).

--Complex communication is essential for 21st Century – must cultivate in the classroom.  I'm curious though, what constitutes complex communication?
--NCLB concerns: John Diamond in Chicago elementary school.
       -Students said teachers had greatest influence on how they were taught (vs. content, principal, testing)

How Daccord Uses Technology in his Class:
--Have students create videos “to go beyond what is mandated by a teacher”

--Wiki: Kids took ownership teacher other students about political issues – had to describe candidates.

--Online Ning social network – social issues

--“Day in the Life of a Hobo” – what it was like to be a teenager riding the rails
     -Creative fiction interdisciplinary unit: published on blog for public audience
     -One students' work had hundreds of readers and was eventually published in a book!

--Podcasts – newsflashes w/ studio effects (oral history)
     -This brings out the different intelligences in students

Daccord encouraged listeners to join a community, namely an online community such as NCSS.  This is something that I may consider because it is for Social Studies/History educators who talk about teaching methods, strategies, and of course, technology.

Evaluation of this Webcast:
Someone’s comment on the webcast created a reality check for me concerning the issues discussed. The commenter shared about her own school’s situation where students don’t have access to computers and thus, Daccord's suggestions are unrealistic for her class because they demand resources for each student.

This also taught me an important lesson about facing such realities as a teacher.  There are often times so many pieces of advice and strategies from other teachers that work in their context, but could not possibly be implemented in a setting where there are no technologies available.  In such cases, I think it's important for teachers to improvise.  If they at least have a computer lab that they could reserve once a month or a few times a year, they could make the most of the time and resources that they do have.