Following "Open Thinking" Ideas

One way for me to promote development of my own “five minds” is by keeping up to date on new (or different) educational technology pedagogies. Open Thinking is the blog feed that takes priority on my Google Reader subscriptions list. I have seen the author Alec Couros speak at a few educational technology conferences and was very impressed with his digital pedagogy. He practices and promotes: student-directed teacher-guided learning experiences, the benefits of collective intelligence and providing students with 21st Century Skills. Alec keeps up to date on which Web 2.0 tools work well in classrooms, and commonly seeks feedback via twitter or his blog when preparing conference presentations.

I am at a stage in my professional growth where I am continually changing my course materials and looking for new ways of sharing ideas in my online classes and meeting student needs. Following the ideas of educational technology gurus, like Alec Couros, help challenge and clarify my pedagogical beliefs and keep me up to date on some of current international practices and educational technology research findings. Alec is from Saskatchewan and understands the unique benefits and quirks of our curricula. He is able to filter international educational technology ideas through the eyes of someone from Saskatchewan, whereas many American blog authors relate ideas to their educational systems which can be quite different.

One of the challenges I have in developing my own “five minds” is the time it takes to learn and be creative. I appreciate Alec’s approach in writing real-life examples. This saves me time and provides motivation to try new things. I also appreciate that Alec practices what he preaches.