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Our Mission: Bringing Web 2.0 to Learning 2.0
Our Mission

Bringing Web 2.0
to Learning 2.0

Envisioning School 2.0

We bring tools, practices and people together in new ways to help schools become learning communities. Here's one idea:

The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF) is funding Learning Teams to connect students looking for meaningful contexts and opportunities with people outside school buildings - whether they be retired teachers, skilled professionals, or other community volunteers.

NCTAF recognizes that every community is rich with people who can contribute to its schools. However, most school buildings discourage visitors, and teachers and volunteers can have a difficult time planning activities for the unpredictability of school days.

Using web 2.0 activities and online planning tools, NCTAF's vision is within reach.

Our Model: Schools as Open Source Communities
Our Model

Schools become
Open Source Communities

UNDER CONSTRUCTION: This site is still in the R&D stage, though we are available for hire. Please view it in that light.

Technology Values

The tools and materials schools choose convey values. Users (teachers and students) need to be part of that choice.

We collaborate on technology plans, but with a bias. With notable exceptions (e..g Inspiration, Filemaker Pro, and Adobe) we prefer non-commercial products. They cost less (or nothing) and change regularly based on user feedback.

  • Open Source over commercial products.
  • Web 2.0 over classroom-bound learning.
  • Drupal, which plays a central role in our work.

We are also cagey about "made-for-schools" hardware, again with notable exceptions. Ask us about technology planning help and collaboration tools.

New Schools for New Minds

The Empowered Teacher provides technology planning and professional development to schools in the Northeastern United States. 

In pariculary, we help secondary schools (grades 5-12) adopt low-cost, high-value tools (like Drupal) and practices (like Agile project management) to create 21st century environments.  

more....

Workplan Values

Open source developers have something to teach schools about collaboration. Like schooling, open source communities are loosely-coupled and non-commercial.

Open source developers create together -- across continents, time zones, and languages -- using tools and methods that didn't exist five years ago. They replace top-down planning with synchronized coordination, using Agile (not Waterfall) models.

Following their example, we nurture "Professional Learning Communities" (Hord, 1997) that marry Learning 2.0, professional development and technology planning.

Please pardon the unfamiliar (or familiar!) jargon and read about our model.

Our Web 2.0 Platform: Drupal

Our Chief Tool:Drupal

Drupal is an open souce
web development platform.

Check Us Out!

  • The Empowered Teacher: professional development and technology planning to help schools use open source models and tools (like Drupal).
  • The Small School's Technology Planner: A step-by-step guide for initiating a faculty-driven technology planning and integration process.
  • The Drupal Schools Network: A collection of teaching ideas, technical FAQs, blog posts and partners for schools that use Drupal for public-facing or internal websites.
  • The Tech Scouts: a course / club model for empowering students to provide technology training and support to their communities, while preparing to be entrepreneurial IT workers.
  • Game Face Web Design: Five years of Drupal development, started by Tech Scouts.
  • Bram Moreinis, principal of The Empowered Teacher and Game Face Web Design.

Our Workplan: Intranet and Professional Learning Communities

Agile Development

We help build
collaborative teams
that get things done.

 

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