Day One Indy

I’m writing this from Indianapolis, where I’m taking part in NCTE’s Institute for 21st Century Literacies. Around 275 educators are here to think about, learn about, and talk about 21st Century Literacies. In preparation for the Institute, we surveyed participants, and there was some interesting data that came out of it. Of the participants who responded to the survey (over half), 52 percent are classroom teachers. Almost two thirds of respondents are over 40 years of age. (Interesting statistic that I’ll comment on in another post.) Regarding the uses of Web 2.0 tools in their classrooms, 44 percent (the largest category) said they had thought about using Web 2.0 tools, but haven’t yet. When asked about barriers, the largest group (48 percent) said that it is “sufficient time to learn, practice, and plan.” The runner-up reason was “inadequate knowledge” (26 percent.) I’m looking forward to meeting many of these teachers over the next few days.