The purpose of tagging is to help make it easier for the content to be easily found.
Blogs, wikis, podcasting, video sharing websites (e.g. YouTube and Vimeo), photosharing websites (e.g. Flickr and Picasa), social networking sites (e.g. FaceBook, Twitter) are all examples of Web 2.0 technologies.
Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) are all about using web tools such as blogs, wiki, twitter, facebook to create connection with others which extend our learning, increases our reflection while enabling us to learn together as part of a global community.
Lengthy, substantive piece on blogging for educators, starting from "what is a blog," continuing through Web2.0 tools, and ending with Personal Learning Networks. Something for everyone here.
"An important part of learning is to build your own personal learning network -- a group of people who can guide your learning, point you to learning opportunities, answer your questions, and give you the benefit of their own knowledge and experience."
Get a Diigo.com account. Diigo.com is a social bookmarking tool, similar to the popular Del.icio.us service, but Diigo also centralizes various learning possibilities. The social aspect of learning is important, especially with our increasing focus on conversations that add value to what we are learning. Diigo lets you bookmark Web sites and have online conversations about them.
educators hesitant to use the modern tools of today, to stop relying on others and take ownership of their learning and suggests this can be done through developing a personal learning network
educators must take ownership of their learning rather than waiting for/relying on others to provide it.
Teachers do not need to be technology experts to allow students to use it to retrieve information, collaborate, create, and communicate
There is less tolerance for educators who do not believe it is their responsibility to move their teaching out of the past. Those stuck in the past... those who are not developing their own personal learning networks... those not taking ownership for their learning... are doing a great disservice to our students and themselves.
The research has been clear and consistent for over 30 years-collaborative cultures in which teachers focus on improving their teaching practice, learn from each other, and are well led and supported by school principals result in better learning for students. Fullan, M. (n.d.). Learning is the Work. Retrieved from http://www.michaelfullan.ca/
Teachers learn from their experience, from their colleagues, from their
students, and any number of other resources. If you are a teacher looking for
ways to expand your knowledge base, here are 100 free lectures you can watch to
help facilitate some of that learning.
Great teachers know that learning doesn't stop as soon as you graduate from college. Teachers learn from their experience, from their colleagues, from their students, and any number of other resources. If you are a teacher looking for ways to expand your knowledge base, here are 100 free lectures you can watch to help facilitate some of that learning.
Alice Keeler, MS. Ed/Google Certified teacher/researcher & part of my PLN, provides a clear explanation of Playsheets (Gamification activities like Quia) to foster learning and formative assessment.
I think this is a dilemma that many professional educators face. Do we get away from all things school-related for the summer? Or should we stay connected to and continue to develop our personal learning networks and nurture our professional growth?
Practice logs can promote these helpful activities.
Such logs can show how often teachers use a new practice, how it worked, what
problems occurred, and what help they needed (Sparks, 1998).
Perfect use for reflective blogging on the teacher's part.
Professional development for technology use should demonstrate
projects in specific curriculum areas and help teachers integrate technology
into the content.
Specific content can help
teachers analyze, synthesize, and structure ideas into projects that they can
use in their classrooms (Center for Applied Special Technology, 1996).
The best integration
training for teachers does not simply show them how to add technology to their
what they are doing. "It helps them learn how to select digital content based
on the needs and learning styles of their students, and infuse it into the curriculum
A professional development curriculum that
helps teachers use technology for discovery learning, developing students' higher-order
thinking skills, and communicating ideas is new and demanding and thus cannot
be implemented in isolation (Guhlin, 1996)
teachers need access to follow-up discussion and collegial activities
The only way
to ensure that all students have the same opportunities is to require all teachers
to become proficient in the use of technology in content areas to support student
learning.
An effective professional development program
provides "sufficient time and follow-up support for teachers to master new content
and strategies and to integrate them into their practice,
teachers need time to plan, practice
skills, try out new ideas, collaborate, and reflect on ideas
The technology used for professional development
should be the same as the technology used in the classroom. Funds should be
available to provide teachers with technology that they can use at home or in
private to become comfortable with the capabilities it offers.
he Commission
suggests partnering with universities and forming teacher networks to help provide
professional development activities at lower cost.
This was well before development of Personal Learning Networks (PLNs)! Twitter, Facebook, Ning, and such all provide opportunities to make this idea happen.
consists of three types: preformative evaluation, formative
evaluation, and summative evaluation.
Preformative evaluation
formative evaluation,
summative evaluation,
Such a program gives teachers the skills
they need to incorporate the strengths of technology into their lesson planning
rather than merely to add technology to the way they have always done things.
School administrators may not provide adequate time and resources for high-quality
technology implementation and the associated professional development. They
may see professional development as a one-shot training session to impart skills
in using specific equipment. Instead, professional development should be considered
an ongoing process that helps teachers develop new methods of promoting engaged
learning in the classroom using technology.
Daniel T. Willingham about "learning styles." - interesting teaching on learning styles in education. This is a very interesting video to consider the evidence. What do others say re: how the theory has been tested and the evidence for/against?