There were many great discussions on that day, but the image that sticks in my head is the one I have re-created here. The horizontal axis represents how comfortable a teacher is with using instructional technology as well as how much it is incorporated into the classroom. This range is what most people think about when picturing professional development around technology. This is certainly important, but not nearly as important as the vertical axis. True 21-st century learning is going to require a move to student-centered classrooms, as the students do the work of investigating, evaluating, creating, and presenting. Technology can assist this shift, but it is not a necessary result. If a teacher simply uses technology to continue doing what they have always done, they might be moving to the right on the diagram, but they're not moving toward the top.
Evaluating myself in my science classrooms the last few years, I think I was partway to the right on the "tech" axis; I had students using probeware to collect and analyze data, we used online simulations, and student completed webquests. On the vertical axis, though, I think I was probably smack in the middle for my Physics class, and well toward the bottom for my Earth Science class. When I go back to classroom teaching, with what I have learned in the last six months since taking this job, I will work my hardest to make sure I'm in the upper-right quadrant of this diagram.
Where are you on the diagram? Where do you want to be?
