Richard Gaskell, Mentor teacher from Galileo Educational Network

A key component in the Artistry of the Land, Ancient Stories and Art of our First Nations People project, was the ability for students and teachers to think with technology. They did this by connecting to other classes to view and compare other students' observations and interpretations and extend their inquiries. We all had the opportunity to learn how to think with technology and become more aware of the considerations and decisions that need to be thought about when working in a digital environment.

There is a fallacy that until or unless you are trained in the use of the tool, nothing of value can happen. In education teachers often express reluctance to use technology in the classroom until the teacher has mastered the tool. This falls so much into the paradigm of teacher as all-knowing expert.

In fact, much can happen starting at an entry level and can develop explosively in response to users' demands if the context is rich and the content is deep. The teacher who jumps into a project with access to in-time support is much like someone learning to ride a bicycle. Hand-holding progresses to a nudge here or a suggestion there until the learner shoots off without a backward glance into uncharted territory much faster than the teacher can keep up. Not only does the bicycle rider or the technology user not look back, but they forget the bumped knees and scrapes of the early learning.

There is also a fallacy that when you are planning a project that incorporates technology, that you have to plan for the technology first. I know that if the emphasis is on the technology, the essence of the purposefulness of the content is lost. So it is vital that what we do is guided by effective teaching and learning practice, and that technology - and the enablement it can provide - contributes seamlessly to the learning environment.

This becomes part of the brainstorming process with the understanding that the project must be able to stand on its own. The technology then becomes part of the project - supporting the project as transparently and seamlessly as possible. The important part for me in this is helping fellow teachers understand the possibilities presented by the present environment so that we can move from, "Is this possible?" to, "This is possible." It is embedded professional development.