I know that joke might be old, but there's something about the start of the new school year that captures the spirit of new beginnings in ways that flipping the calendar between two cold winter days has never done for me.
Let's introduce ourselves before we go much further: you, I assume, are a savvy internet traveler with an interest in the educational uses of technology generally (and in Illinois & Chicago more specifically). If I'm right (or wrong) leave a comment and let me know!
I'm Shaz Rasul, and I'll be blogging for the ICE-CAP group this school-year. Besides being a new board member of ICECAP, I have been involved in an educational technology outreach program of the University of Chicago (CUIP) for the past 7 years. We've worked with 30+ Chicago Public Schools on the whole range of related issues from getting technology tools into the schools, to helping teachers envision their uses, and then offering them the training and support that they need to make it all a real part of their teaching practice and their students' educational experience. I feel like we've come a long way in the past 7 years, and that we're on the cusp of a real transformation in the way teachers and students think about the role of technology in teaching and learning.
My goal for this blog is to share some of those experiences, as well as the experiences of other members of ICE-CAP (and all the related ICE-CAP adventures), with the rest of the online world! Hopefully, sharing these experiences and ideas will lead to something tangible that will help us, our schools, and our students.
(Note: Please leave comments! Blogging without comments is like shouting very elaborate prose into the void... an exercise that's both very sad and with only marginal benefit) :)
