If you will be in Austin this weekend, we hope you will set aside time to join us for a TweetUp, sponsored by WeAreTeachers and Dell.  Come kick your weekend off with complimentary drinks, snacks and a chance to make new connections and meet your ” tweeps”  in real life amidst breathtaking panoramic views of beautiful Austin, TX.

When and Where?

Friday, March 12  from  2-4pm at Terrace59 at Speakeasy, Austin TX

What is a TweetUp?

A tweetup is a networking function that incorporates Twitter. It’s a way to meet people you have connected with on Twitter, and also a way to meet new friends that you can keep up with via social media like Twitter or the  WeAreTeachers community.

Who Will Be There?

Join your fellow teachers as well as these distinguished attendees from Dell and WeAreTeachers:

@lpt
@lionelatdell
@richardatdell
@kerryatdell
@fgasquet
@tallgamer
@weareteachers
@sandy5coat

What Do  I Wear?

Dress is “Austin appropriate,” think cool and casual. Jeans are fine.

How Can I Find Out More?

You can see more about the TweetUp, find our hashtags and reserve your spot at the Tweetvite.

Come kick off your weekend with your friends from WeAreTeachers and Dell. We promise a great time will be had by all as we announce some exciting news with Dell! See you there!

In an era when the President of the United States uses a Blackberry and computers are  becoming as necessary as number two pencils, digital technology is changing the way we live and learn.  The digital age has created an exciting new environment for us all, and innovative teachers like you are embracing and harnessing the power of digital learning to blow the walls off their schools and open up their classrooms to other educators all over the world. But sifting through all of the information about digital learning can take more time than a busy teacher has to spend, so we’ve found some great resources on the web to help you find new ways to incorporate digital technology into your classroom.

The case for digital learning is simple: your students live in a time of wikis, webinars and iChat. But how could this help them in the classroom?  This video shows what your digital learners expect of you in a Web 2.0 age.

At WeAreTeachers, we want to encourage you in your efforts to be a part of this digital revolution, both by providing you with the tools you need to keep up and through the teacher’s magic word: funding.  Through WAT microgrants, we are helping teachers get their big ideas out into the digital world-and the response has been phenomenal. Our current “Digital Learning “ microgrant sponsored by Dell, had over 200 submissions! From those 200 applicants, the community will vote to determine the top ten who will receive $200 and a flip video camera to share their project with the entire WeAreTeachers community. Have you had a chance to take a look at the microgrant applications?  It’s a great way to see what your peers are doing to bring their students into the Web 2.0 age. You are sure to be inspired!  What is so exciting about each of these teacher-submitted ideas is that they all demonstrate how digital learning empowers teachers to share their passion for reaching students in a fresh new way.

We are so proud of the astonishing response to this microgrant. What this tells us at WeAreTeachers is that you are excited about being on the forefront of using this technology, and we are thrilled to support you!

And we aren’t the only ones, many companies are hopping aboard the digital bandwagon. Everywhere you look, companies and organizations are standing up and taking notice of the need for digital content. NASA has a wonderful Digital Learning Network that was designed to help educators bring the wonder of space into the classroom.  PBS will be launching a fantastic digital learning library this fall, geared especially towards educators. The Digital Learning Commons is a nonprofit organization created with the sole intention of helping teachers find the best digital learning techniques to give their students an edge. Additionally, exciting programs are being developed like the Digital Learning Lab at UC Irvine, which is currently looking for educators to collaborate in a host of digital learning projects.

How do you use digital learning? Do you keep a blog? Have your students used wikis to research information? Have you thought about using a flip video camera like the ones we are including with our microgrants to collaborate and idea share with other teachers?  Is there an area that you’d love to see supported by a microgrant? We want to hear about it! Have you been inspired by an idea from our 200 applicants?  Your feedback is crucial, so please take a minute to leave a comment and let us know your thoughts.  We cannot wait to infuse your ideas and bring you more valuable teacher-generated content that will inspire, enlighten and empower you in the days to come!

Image by tempusfugate via FlickrOK. I’m officially ‘old.’

I’ve been participating in the EduBlogger conference at NECC, and the NECC-UnPlugged event starts tomorrow.  Yesterday, we began the meeting by voting on-line for the proposed sessions we wanted — and they started up 15 min. after the vote!  EVERYONE is ‘twittering’ like mad, and following those twitters though ‘Summize.’  Many of the attendees are blogging live, vpoding and pod-casting.

And ME?  Took me a while just to set up my Twitter account, find a picture small enough to load, and customize my page enough to disguise my ‘newbie-twitterer-ness.’  And I had to have help finding the summize site, and getting my twits to post there!

But, even with my advanced ‘unkoolness’ relative to plugging into this constant communication mode, it occurs to me that much of the conversation and discussion is not unlike the chatter we had 20 years ago at NECC!

To wit —-

•Teachers still face obstacles of TIME to learn to teach differently, learn how to use the tools, create content.

•The bureaucracy of education, driven primarily by FEAR of test score data, is the biggest prohibition to real innovation.

•A very small number of highly qualified teachers are willing to learn how to integrate new technologies into the teaching and learning process.

•There is a big gap between what students know and do versus what teachers know and do — relative to technology integration in life and work.

•Everyone seems to agree that it’s the teaching methodology that needs to be the focus, not the technology — though there is a steep learning/courage curve to learn to use these tools.

But I am hopeful —-

First, the ‘bleeding edge‘ teachers still exist, and their enthusiasm and hope has not diminished.  I continue to be amazed that so many teachers — who as a group are pegged as ‘conservative’ –  still show up as risk-taking, ‘geekie,’ and excited.  God bless ‘em, every one.  The world needs these ‘out there’ folks to move the needle forward.

Second — the discussion always comes back to the passion and commitment to help learners learn, and to make that learning relevant and meaningful.  REAL examples of REAL students’ experiences are always the most engaging and important discussions.

And finally — There seems to be a real desire to keep learning.  While some teachers clearly want to maintain the status quo and get by from summer vacation to retirement — this  tech-oriented  crowd is committed to life-long learning, and that’s the secret sauce that makes them great.  They see themselves as students, not just teachers — and there in lies the magic.