Flat Classroom Certified Teacher Program Post

Ni hao again from Changchun, China! The City Where Internet Access Isn't Taken Seriously. ;)

This blog post is actually an assignment for my Flat Classroom Certified Teacher Program, specifically for Module #2, "Connect and Reflect."

http://fcpteacher.flatclassroomproject.org/

To quote from the above website:

"The Flat Classroom® Certified Teacher course aims to train educators to be able to manage a global collaborative project built upon best practices of student collaboration and co-creation as modeled in the Flat Classroom® projects including: Flat Classroom® , Eracism, NetGenEd, Horizon, and Digiteen™ projects. It also aims to provide an opportunity for those interested in managing a Flat Classroom® Project in the future as part of the lead teacher program beginning in March 2011 to develop skills and experience with all facets of the project. Certified Flat Classroom® teachers will become leaders in global collaboration within their schools and internationally and will be sought as partners by those planning global collaboration because of their proven competencies in the technology, technopersonal skills, and best practices of effective global collaborative projects. Those who earn this designation will have proven their competency through this rigorous course."

If you're interested in taking the next Flat Classroom Certified Teacher course, you can apply online via  http://tinyurl.com/flatclassteachercert or just ask questions via  fcp@flatclassroom.org. 

OK, now for my tirade. Hey, what's the point of writing blog posts if you can't rant and rave every once in a while? We're in the middle of a week-long holiday here in China. I, of course, had all sorts of plans for WORKING and getting caught up on lesson plans, presentations, etc. Saturday night my (well, I should say "our"...everyone in the apartment building) Internet access goes out. Think someone from China Unicom, the huge phone company and ISP, can send someone over to fix it? Nope. The folks at the supermarkets are working...the folks at the gym are working...I would be working all day, if I had Internet access. Here it is Tuesday and I'm at school, just so I can connect.

Now I realize that in the Grand Scheme of Things this doesn't seem like a terrible problem. But I am "connecting and reflecting," after all. And what I'm thinking about is how much of a hassle it's been here in Changchun to maintain steady Internet access. Between work and home, it seems I'm always fussing and fighting with someone, trying in vain to convince various people that I need the Internet to do my job. It's not China-wide. I've talked with people in Beijing and Shanghai, e.g., and they tell me that the importance of 24X7 Internet access is understood. Not so up here in Changchun. And this is one of the reasons why I need to move on.

I'm curious...is Internet access taken seriously in your city/country? How is it that it's 2011 and there are still lots of folks who don't get it??

Need to get not just class stuff ready, but to finish preparing for TechEx 2011 in Bangkok! I'll be leaving in just one week!

http://www.patana.ac.th/TechEx2011/Presentations.asp

I'll be giving TWO...not one, but TWO...presentations: "Using 3D Virtual Worlds in International Schools" and a follow-up, hands-on session. This is going to be FANTASTIC...computer teachers, teachers of whatever all those other subjects are, technicians, administrators...from all over Asia and the world...together for two days of SHEER GEEKINESS!