Last week I was tagged with this meme by fellow Elementary Instructional Technologist, Kevin Jarrett. I do have to say that this is the first time I’ve ever been tagged for a meme, so I feel quite honored! Thanks Kevin!! I’ve been a little delayed in responding, though. I was supposed to post a picture and tell what makes me passionate about teaching with technology, I actually had a hard time deciding on just ONE. There are so many reasons I love technology and what it can do…

I finally decided, though, on this picture (thanks to FlickrCC), which I will call, “Technology: A Key That Opens Many Doors.”

One of the things technology can do for students is to open doors: doors to new places, doors to new ways of thinking, doors to an entire community of learners and thinkers very different than themselves, but also very similar. It can broaden the meaning of community. It can allow students to see and listen and even talk to people in places across the globe and to learn empathy, understanding, and tolerating opposing points of view. It provides a means to teach students what it is like to stand in someone else’s shoes, and helps gives them an audience when they tell what it’s like to stand in their own place in the world. These skills are of utmost importance in the 21st century, as our world gets smaller and flatter…

I can quickly think to some of the projects I’ve seen in going on in our classrooms during the past couple of months, and I see where this is true…

• Third Graders exchanging brochures and letters with students around the world, thanks to Jennifer Wagners’ Technospud projects.
• Classrooms virtually traveling to underwater with Meg Swecker as she explored coral reefs thanks to VoiceThread.
• Students collaborating, writing and publishing their own podcasts, and the excitement and creativity that this medium inspires.
• The 4th Grade bloggers who now have a global audience for their writing, from Connecticut to Australia…and to hear them talk about the impact and motivation that audience has for them as they share their ideas.
• I could go on and on and on…

3 Simple Meme Rules:

• Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about…and give your picture a short title.
• Title your blog post “Meme: Passion Quilt” and link back to this blog entry.
• Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce.

So I’m tagging these 5 folks to keep this meme going…

• Amanda Gibson — http://agibson.edublogs.org/
• Meg Swecker — http://mswecker.edublogs.org/
• Sean Sharp — http://sharpsitrt.edublogs.org/
• Pam Elgin —http://pelgin.edublogs.org/
• Susan Roustan — http://beyondpodcasting.blogspot.com/