I
am still working on what technology tool would specifically help build a PLN at
the school and district level. I am thinking
that using Diigo or Delicious might be an easy way to share resources and still
add notes. There are other options as
well, such as using Twitter, blogs or Google Docs. I am still figuring out which tool would be
the best use to use for these PLNs. I
will continue to research these tools further to be able to determine which
tool will apply best to the use that I have in mind.
While
I am still working on the more local PLNs, I started to search other PLNs at
the larger scale. I have joined The
Educator’s PLN (http://edupln.ning.com) as
well as Twitter (https://twitter.com/). The Educator’s PLN has
thousands of teachers online that have discussions, share ideas, resources, anything
you can image. I am still exploring the
site because there are so many things included.
Also, I learned that every Tuesday on Twitter there is an #edchat on a
specific topic at 12pm and at 7pm eastern time.
I am still learning about Twitter, but it is so interesting to have so
many educators “get together” to have such valuable discussions. I thinking I am starting to make some
progress towards part of my GAME plan, but I still have a long way to go.
References
The Educator’s PLN (http://edupln.ning.com)Twitter (https://twitter.com/)
Hi Melissa:
ReplyDeleteI can give you an idea about a way of creating a local PNL to share ideas besides the ones you are suggesting here. You could also make a wiki to keep all those resources linked together for everyone's use. That way you could find it all catalogued and classified for easy location.
You have made me curious about using Twitter. I will give it a try. Thanks for that link about The Educator's PLN. You can also check about www.classroom20.com, which is a site for teachers to share ideas on how to use web 2.0 tools and other technology tools in the classroom. What I like about that particular site is that they check your profile before letting you join it. Thanks for all these great ideas about PLNs possibilities.
Naida,
DeleteUsing a wiki would be a great way to share and catalogue different resources. I also think I am going to look into using Livebinders. I like some of the options that provides as well. I have not heard of the Classroom 2.0 site before, I will definitely check it out. Thank you so much for your ideas! I cannot wait to look into them farther.
Melissa
What is Livebinders? I have not heard about them before? I am really curious about it.
DeleteHi Melissa!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have made a great deal of progress already. As teachers, one of the best ways to improve or teaching skills is throughout collaboration with others. It sounds like there are a lot of ways in which we can collaborate as educators through social media. I understand the value of some of the obvious ways to share such as wikis and blogs; however, I find it quite intriguing that Twitter offers collaborative time for educators. That is something that I will definitely have to check out. Thanks!
Hannah
Hannah,
DeleteI thought it was pretty interesting that they chatted on Twitter myself. There are a lot of educators that participate and it is a great way to meet new educators to follow on Twitter. That is how I started to find people. Some of their posts offer great ideas and resources for other teachers. Good luck!
Melissa
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your GAME plan and it seems that you are well on your way to putting it into action. I have always said that we teachers are our best resource. Unless you are down there in the trenches, you can't really understand what works and what does not. I did not have joining a PLN as one of my Goals that I chose from the standards, but it is a resourceful and productive idea. Thanks to you, I took a look at the Educator Ning that you had joined and I joined it myself. When I was signing up, I had to put down my Twitter and Skype name, among other thing. It made me realize again that there are so many ways that we can connect with other professionals in ways that were not possible even 5 or 10 years ago. I guess that it is just taking the time to sit down and go through the available resources to decide which one will work for you. Thank you for the suggestion, I looked through the site and am trying to figure out how best to use the information. Good luck on your journey as you put your GAME plan into action!
Maureen
Maureen,
DeleteI am glad that I could be of some help to you. It is amazing how many resources there are available. There is definitely a lot on the site to sort through, but it is awesome how much can be found online. Good luck looking through the sites!
Melissa
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI am happy to see that you are already on your way progressing towards your goals. I noticed that you listed the bookmarking sites: Diigo and Delicious. I am currently using Delicious but I also have an account with Diigo. Let me tell you this: I noticed that whenever I needed a web tool to match with a topic I might be teaching, or something I want to get done, I just typed my topic into the search browser and Delicious lists a number of options for me. It is just awesome what we could find to work with on Delicious! I recommend it to you because I am using it also. You may also collaborate with other professionals using a blog.
I would also recommend that you join http://www.ISTE.org just for the benefit of the blog if not for anything else. I visited the page before and I was happy to see other technology oriented educators like myself, sharing ideas and experiences with technology use at all levels of education. There is also a live chat that you could participate in if you wanted. Your professional network does not have to be made up of your coworkers as you can imagine. You can collaborate with teachers through your networks online. All the networks you will find may be overwhelming so my advice to you is to find two that you can work with and then move on to others if you need more support. I wish you all the best in achieving your goals. You seem to be on the right track and will reap the benefits of collaboration.
Michelle
Michelle,
DeleteThank you for letting me know about the ISTE site. I was unaware that there was a blog on the site to discuss with others. I also did not know about the live chat that is available on the site. Thank you for your ideas, I cannot wait to look into your advice.
Melissa
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds as if you have a good plan going for creating a PLN in your area. It is a hard thing to create and get the word out but I am sure it will be great. I think the best thing you can do in the mean time is join different established ones with similar interests to you in order to gain experience in how they work. By doing this you will have the opportunity to understand what they entail. I am also hopeful to join and create one of my own; I think that by doing so we can help get the word out about the importance of these 21st century skills in the classroom.
Good luck! I'm sure you will create an amazing PLN.
Nicole
Nicole,
DeleteI am glad that you have so much faith in me. I am hoping to come up with something that is user-friendly so that I can have ALL teachers participate. I have a few sites that I am looking into farther, but I have not decided on which site would be the best yet. I cannot wait to truly look through different resources and get it started. Thanks again for your thoughts.
Melissa