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Capstone Essay Glennell Munne

Beware of Catholic Sisters and little red haired teachers offering a “summer of opportunity” for becoming a 21st century administrator, teacher, catechist, or leader in your parish!

My exciting summer of 2011 started in a primary school library, displaying wall cartoon characters declaring the treasures of reading. Before we could ask, “What is SITM 2011?” the Sister and the unassuming red haired teacher launched us into a whirlwind, eight week guided course of study that taught us how to navigate web-based digital technology.

Soon we learned we were “digital immigrants” sailing right into our first encounter with the “digital continent” aboard the good ship Webinar. The course presented innovative ways to incorporate technology into practice for teachers and ministry leaders in a variety of settings. The competency levels of the participants covered a vast range: some were skilled technologist capable of developing Web 2.0 teaching adjuncts, others possessed only fundamental knowledge of software skills, taking their first step on the threshold of Web 2.0 technology. As a novice, the learning curve was going to be steep for me.

 SITM 2011’s “see-and-do” format places theory directly into practice with the gratification of immediate feedback. Each session introduced Web 2.0 tools with which the learner produced creative video, audio, graphic, music and original composite works for digital catechesis and interactive classroom activities. The course blog created a community for shared ideas and skills; that collaboration capability is the defining difference between Web 2.0 technology and previous technology.

I was amazed with the impact these technologies could have on developing a lively learning environment: Go To Meeting, Facebook, Wikispaces, Wordpress, Animoto, YouTube videos, Skype, SlideShare, Wordle, Google Forms for Quizzes, Geocaching, VoiceThread; all these tools offer collaborative work output from remote platforms.

We enjoyed seeing the original examples of authentically created videos and graphics in the virtual classroom of the course blog. I was delighted when I produced my first Animoto video using parish photos and music. Other class participants selected new treatments of the same tool or employed a totally different technology to create a classroom activity or deliver a faith sharing moment or an occasion for storytelling.

We gained an appreciation for the importance of safety, security, copyright and creative property regulations in protecting the integrity of social network communication through study of National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers. This reduced my concerns about protection of personal information and sensitive materials.

Even after the formal eight week curriculum was completed, participants still continue posting their creations, new projects, successes and roadblocks, and general updates on the blog. SITM 2011 seemed to automatically form “alumni” as an organic outgrowth of Social Networking and collaborative educational technology.

In summary, I have come to believe the very nature of Web 2.0 technology lends itself to catechesis, community building, faith sharing, and ministry. To close, I would like to include a relevant quote from Pope Paul VI, “. . . the laity especially must strive to instill a human and Christian spirit into these media.”