Sharon has been in education for over 30 years. Each of those years has brought her new ideas and challenges. She is presently the Educational Technology Coordinator for a K12 district in Maine. Sharon’s main responsibility is to the teachers and students of the district emphasizing professional development to enable them to fully use technology tools in transforming education. She has presented at national, state and local conferences in many learning areas including open source, 21st century technology tools and personal learning networks.

Teachers of our youngest students are often left behind when trying to implement new technologies into their curriculum. They may receive the “hand-me-down” equipment and issues related to teaching the youngest classrooms are not addressed through in-service. This presentation demonstrates 3 web 2.0 tools that are ideal for transforming learning to students in the early grades: Voicethread, Dipity and Blogging. The presentation consists of a screencast with a supporting wiki for links, examples and extended resources. Authentic student projects will be used in the demonstration and information given on implementation strategies for the teacher.