Seventeen Things to Chew On is a program where teachers try to use web 2.0 products in their classroom. Web 2.0 tool’s main theme is to use the three C’s: Collaborate Communicate and Create. Some of the tools used included blogs, Twitter, wikis, creating websites, cloud computing, and social networking.
This is the first year that RB has done this program. Media specialist Alicia Duell brought this idea to RB from Helene Blowers learning 2.0. This program kicked off November of this year and went all the way to March. There were fifty staff members to start, but only eleven finished. These staff members are: Daniel Mancoff, Jessica Mauritzen, Brigit Riordan, Bridget Wilmot, Melissa Gordon, Patty Sarkady, Kellie Dean, Kristi Sterling, Allison Cabaj, Doreen Fritz, and Deb Friedman. All of these eleven finishers received an MP3 player, but one of them won an additional Sony e-reader. Daniel Mancoff was the winner of this prize and is very pleased with it.
Duell is very happy with this year’s outcome with this program. She said,”17 things to Chew On was a great way for teachers to learn new technology to help their students excel in the 21st century”, She wants this program to be continued out through years of RB. Different staff members will join each time to learn how to incorporate these tools in their everyday teaching.
Participant Patty Sarkady said,” I loved it! This program was offered to us in a creative way that allowed us to tackle these tools with our busy schedules. There is no way I would have put aside time to find these tools or explore tools I already knew about on my own. Because there was a set structure, I was able to learn about them at any hour of the day.”
If you have noticed one of your teachers using new tools in class, now you know why, RB is trying to take a step into the use of newer technology to benefit students learning. Web 2.0 tools are a way to be interactive in the classroom. If you are interested more in these tools, you can contact Dull through the RB library one of our RB librarians.
