Goodbye bureaucracy. Hello curiosity!

[meri walker]

Listening to Mark Cruthers talk about his experience teaching AP History online to a group of homeschoolers, what comes up for you?

If you haven't yet heard this interview, see previous post to listen: "How to Make an Extra $25,000 A Year Teaching A Few Homeschoolers Online."

The WizIQ free virtual classroom, Eluminate, Kasamba, Moodle, and the new tutoring environment at LearnHub are opening doors to brand new possibilities for teachers - of all kinds - and learners - of all ages.

We truly CAN teach and learn whatever we want, anywhere and anytime we're ready. Some of us want to enjoy this freedom now. But there's way too much information to decide where to start. We want reliable tools and strategies that will work for each of us. And we're different.

I'm recommending that clients use these 9 questions to chart their own best course:

1. What do you want to learn live - and online - with others?

2. What could you teach in a free virtual classroom?

3. What would be the most fun to teach and learn with a group of people with whom you're not co-located?

4. What might you need to translate about the way you work face-to-face so that you can create a trusting, vital, collaborative learning relationship with others in a virtual classroom or office?

5. What will you need from live teachers and co-learners for you to achieve your best performance?

6. What kind of help do you want navigating collaboratively with others? What would you prefer to explore alone?

7. What other questions come up for you when you think about teaching and learning whatever you want online?

8. Where and how will you evaluate the answers you find?

9. When would now be a good time to start experimenting with some new possibilities?

As you consider these questions, please choose one or more of them and share your thoughts and feelings here using text. Alternately, you can share your thoughts using your microphone, telephone, or webcam on THIS VOICETHREAD.
Soon, I will convene a live session, using WizIQ, where we can explore our thoughts and share our experiences in this brave new world of live, online teaching and learning.

Watch this space for an announcement of the date and time.

[meri walker]

So sorry, John. The technology stars aren't configured right for me right now, grin. I just added Google Friends to the blog and my webmaster is also updating WordPress to the latest version...looks like the two events collided and the blog lost. Please check back at the blog in a day or so and it should be easy for you to join it. In the interim, if you take me up on the Free Signs offer at the top of the page, you'll be added to my list and you'll get first notification of everything I publish that way. Sorry for the inconvenience...

[John Thompson]

OK but I cannot locate where/how to sign up at your blog site. Please advise.

[meri walker]

You bet, John! You might want to sign up on my new blog to be sure of getting all my updates: www.virtualmeetingcoach.com.

[John Thompson]

Please keep me in the loop as you progress with your efforts in using various virtual classroom applications. I'm beginning to research desktop Web/video conferencing programs.