ABPC 21st Century Teaching and Learning

I am co-leading the most rewarding project with the Alabama Best Practice Center  that is being funded with a grant from Microsoft.  We have design a professional development program aimed at introducing schools to 21st Century Learning principles. Over a two-year period, 40 schools in the ABPC Powerful Conversations network will be invited to participate in "Powerful Conversations about 21st Century Learning." Each school has selected a team of 3-5 educators and are taking part in this online professional development experience (in Elluminate and Tapped In) and sharing what they learn with their own school-based professional learning communities.

We recently dedicated the most current issue of ABPC's Working Toward Excellence Newsletter  to describing, interviewing, and sharing the people and ideas involved with this work. Take a moment to check it out!  Will Richardson, David Warlick, and Darren Kuropatwa are all quoted, as are many Alabama teachers who are trying their wings at blogging and using other social networking tools.

Here is a sample of what you will find...
WHEN THE TRUSSVILLE City Schools went online as a brand-new school system in July 2005, Shawn Nutting was there to turn on the switch. The fledgling district’s newly minted Director of Technology was barely 30 days into his first full-time job in public education, after a corporate career in which he served as an Information Technology (IT) manager and designer for several Internet-related technology companies.

Nutting brought a business perspective to his new work— a belief that students are “customers” whose needs should be met by school and district staff. Nutting also came with the attitude that schools must either adopt a technology-infused approach to teaching and learning or risk leaving their students on the education-and-career sidelines.

Nutting’s progressive views about balancing Internet safety with the ample access necessary for a rich 21st Century learning experience matched the vision of new Trussville Superintendent Suzanne Freeman, who shares his conviction that safety and access are not incompatible notions and that school systems are obligedto provide both.

In a recent interview, Shawn Nutting explained his outlook on school district firewall and filtering policies and described several steps the Trussville Schools are taking to realize the full educationpotential of technology and the World Wide Web.