In terms of my career and how I think about education, 2010 was a critical year. Despite having taught in four different countries, and changing from an inner city school in NYC to a posh private school in London, I’d say that this past year’s changes (in my professional life) have been bigger.
The largest change of course is that I’ve started the move out of the classroom, only teaching 2 classes now, down from 6 last year. I’m now working as a learning specialist in information technology (official title) which I see as a learning consultant within our school. It’s now officially my job to help other teachers (and students) use technology efficiently and effectively after years of unofficially doing the same job. I’m also responsible for the technology research at our school which means I spend a lot of time finding technologies for us to use, and looking toward the future of technology in our school. It’s a pretty interesting job, and I’m really glad I have the opportunity to do it.
A transformational shift has also occurred for me in how I view education. I’m seeing the whole process of educating children from a different perspective, both because of my time spent learning on Twitter, and my new role at my school. I’m now doing much more meta-analysis of education and thinking in structures rather than the logistics of education I’ve focused on in the past. This I think is evident in my writing for the year, and the types of interactions and discussions I’m having, both with my colleagues at work, and on Twitter.
I’m more part of the discussion about education. I’ve joined the Cooperative Catalyst, I’m helping set up Vancouver’s first Edcamp, and I have a number of other smaller projects on the go. I’m pretty busy, but generally balancing home life and work life better than 2009.
I completed my Master’s degree in Educational Technology. That was an interesting experience, and one I’m so happy I did. I sort of miss my classes and the interactions I had with my peers, but I am experiencing much of the same kind of learning through Twitter so I have a happy replacement there. However, my best interactions with educators are still the deeper and longer conversations I’ve had through blogs, email, and face to face meetings.
2010 was a good year. I’m looking forward to 2011 and await whatever further transformations that will occur.
