Meeting the Founder today

Making connections online happens fast. Classroom 2.0 and #edchat founder Tom Whitby will be Skyping in with the Web 2.0/PLN class in #vanmeter today. Shannon Miller, the classroom teacher, has invited my class to Skype in as well and let us in on several scheduled Skype sessions with other Web 2.0 icons later this month.

Mr. Whitby just happened to begin "following" me on Twitter yesterday after reading a blog I wrote about our class and how we're dealing with my evolving classroom/teaching style. So in less than 24 hours I wrote about waiting for things to happen between the two classes and things definitely began happening.

Just another demonstration of how the connections online are made. Shannon and I connected almost a month ago and a flurry of preparation yielded my class and many ideas. Our school year launched a week earlier than hers, and responsibilities of beginning school kept us from following up and setting up our collaborations.

Then last night on twitter Tom mentioned the Skype call, Shannon messaged me and through a back-and-forth we coordinated the call. She also let me in on all of the calls she has set up in the coming weeks and invited us to participate. We did all of this while I was watching my son practice football outside on a beautiful pre-fall day.

The only down side is I haven't been able to prep my class with information about Mr. Whitby, a thought that would prompt many teachers to turn down the invitation to Skype in with this icon. Not Web 2.0, we like to create and learn in real-time.

Thanks for including us Shannon and Tom!