PLEs place a large amount of responsibility on students and thus requires a high level of self-management and awareness. Not every student is ready for this responsibility, so teachers need to have strategies in place to guide and support these learners.
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This is the part that I get stuck on. Many students are either not mature enough for this yet or have been so put off by school that they think there is no educational topic that interests them. In a more one-on-one environment, like my alt school, I can usually find something to interest them and get them going. However, in a traditional school setting, where I see students only for an hour each day for only 60 days, and so many of them, it's hard to work with each student one-on-one to get them motivated. I think all the comments that the whole school would have to shift (rather than just one classroom) makes sense because the students would have to learn how to deal with this new level of responsibility. 60 hours with one teacher just won't get that accomplished, no matter how phenomenal the teacher is.
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I definitely agree with you on this. Since I teach freshmen, I feel like a lot of time is teaching them just how to be good citizens (at school, at home, in the community, and in the world)! I only see them for 45 minutes each day, but I do see them all year. I would really like to implement a more personalized learning environment for them, but I know it's going to be an up-hill climb all of the way!
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This would be a challenge for me as well, since I only have my 6th graders for 9 weeks per school year, and my 7th and 8th graders for 7 weeks per school year!
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Being a teacher in an alternative program, most of my students just want to be done with school as quick as possible. They are so tired of playing the game of school. I must admit, unfortunately, that I may feed that "get-done-with-school-as-soon-as-possible" mentality by pushing students to stay on track or get ahead of the game. However, if the student becomes the driver in their own learning then maybe they will be more motivated. As educators, we need to tap into the "What's in if for me?" mindset that many students have. Find an interest of the students and build their learning environment around that interest. Much easier said than done.
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I agree with this. I also think that parents need to be aware of what teachers are doing as well. A high school teacher at my former school put everything on Twitter and one parent did not want her 15 year old daughter to have a Twitter account. Something to always think about and be ready to have alternative ways to do assignments or simply make it a requirement.
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professionalism is far more about the effective manipulation– access, evaluation, & applicatio
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This seems to be a recurring theme as well. Getting students ready for the "real world" isn't so much about making sure they know lots of details about every subject area, but making sure they could find and understand any detail in any subject area that they will need. The goal of education seems less about passing on information as teaching students how to organize and understand the over-abundance of it. How then do we balance this with the extreme focus on core-curriculum? Finding a balance is the challenge.
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Yes, it seems there needs to be instruction on how to gather/organize the information and reliable sources, and then instruction on using it. While the end result is positive, it will take time to jump start students in their own PLE.
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Symbaloo has created a version of the platform specifically for educators
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We got introduced to Symbaloo at school this year, although I might check into the EDU version. I got logged in and played for a few minutes, but never had the time to develop something usable because as a district we were on to something different. I like that our district provides us with many topics and learning opportunities, but I wish that I had more time to focus on one thing. I think this is probably what it's like for students. They get exposed to so much, but they need help organizing it and time to explore.
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Yes, Symballoo seems like more than one day of PD. I haven't started my own yet, but I think it will take time to get a handle on the lingo as well as using the tools within the website.
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I agree as teachers we would need to be taught or have time to explore this site and learn how to exactly model it appropriately to our grade level. I would love to see how other teachers use this and model it in their classrooms too.
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I can relate to this feeling, whenever I attend a conference, I learn so much that I need a day or two afterwards to just process and create the new games and activities that I've found, but it is always straight back to teaching.
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Some teacher as my school went to a conference this year and actually talked administration into another professional development day where they could just process all of their information. It was pretty cool.
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Some instructors empower students to use their own mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones as a means to create PLEs.
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We have 1-on-1 technology in our district, which is ideal for PLEs. However, when the student forgets the laptop or has no power left in the battery, the smartphone comes in handy. It is tougher to monitor the smartphone.
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Autonomy is a great concern for me. With collaboration being stressed in CCS, will students be able to conquer this skill without the use of technology? At some point, some issues have to be discussed face-to-face, and there is a separate skill set for that environment.
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I like the idea of Symballoo--kind of like a favorites list and bookmarks in my Google account. What will take time for me is learning all the lingo attached to Symballoo!
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I have always been a support of helpful tech resources that students are interested in, which is why I am always trying to learn more about different Apps and tools and explore them myself. Once I play around a bit, I usually introduce it to my students. Sometimes the resources are new, sometimes not, but there are so many wonderful tools out there. I visit Richard Byrne's site once a day! Currently, our language arts department has Chromebook carts for each classroom and the district is allocating more and more to different departments. They are wonderful to have, but students will get bored very quickly if they are only being used for tech sake. I LOVE the idea of having students create a Symbaloo. In fact, my plan is to have them begin one at the start of the school year and then they can add to it as we move through different units. This would have been particularly helpful during our research unit. I also like the idea of "empower"ing students to use their phones and other mobile devices, but we do have a pretty strict policy on phone usage at our school. Sometimes students' phones work much more efficiently than the Chromebooks. (Alissa Hansen)
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I think my students would love deciding which medium to use. I also have a lot of artistic students who would chose to create a paper/pencil project similar in format to a prezi presentation or blog with pictures.
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Choice can be such a motivator for students, we all have our strengths and weaknesses!
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This is something I also worry about with the students I teach. While I appreciate their willingness to use technology and the creativity it lends itself to, I worry about their ability to solve problems and communicate effectively face to face. How do you ensure they are learning these essential skills as well when things are so individualized?
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This made me think about how difficult it is to have a PLE in a traditional classroom setting. We have 1:1 technology in our district, but students are extremely limited in what websites and programs they can use (You Tube, all social media, etc is blocked for students.) We also do not allow students to use tablets or smartphones in the classroom, with some teachers wanting to enact a school wide ban on smart phones and tablets so that they are not allowed in school at all. I am so excited to be learning about all of the opportunities PLEs offer students, but I also think there are many changes that will have to be made before we can start moving in this direction.
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The vast array of options and sense of autonomy that lies at the very heart of personal learning environments can also be a huge inhibitor.
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I also worry about autonomy, as I teach freshmen English and 14 and 15 year olds do not have a "high level of self-management and awareness," at least not many. Like any classroom, however, guidelines need to be firmly in place and I think autonomy would need to be frontloaded before jumping into a PLE. I do think students would do very well in this type of environment. In fact, I often have students telling me about different resources they go to on a daily basis...whether it's to get advice, read a review, write a review, or even write a short story! The possibilities are endless, but I do think structure needs to be in place. At least to begin with. I start the year with my freshmen discussing and reading/watching material regarding civility, we made a code of civility in each class, and then we blog about our practicing of it throughout the year. I would like to implement a PLE in much the same manner. (Alissa Hansen)
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The idea of having one site to log into daily and then a pre-constructed dashboard of all the learning tools and spaces available to us seemed appealing to the 7th period students
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I do think that using a Symbaloo is a great idea to manage resources, and it looks like something my students would enjoy working with. However, my school has really moved towards using Google Classroom and teachers having Google sites, which I spend a lot of time and energy on with both. I think too many tech items can be a cognitive overload for students and teachers alike. I think if I am to use something like Symbaloo, I would need to eliminate at least Classroom or Sites and maybe even some of the other many sites that I have students use (Newsela, NoRedInk, Kahoot, etc.). It's just hard for me, especially with the site that I have created because I have spent so much time on it over the past three years. I just don't think students would benefit from having to click around to a lot of different resources, especially if they are teacher-created. (Alissa Hansen)
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I like the idea of a daily log in for updates. I think this would work in the Green Belt classroom for relaying information as students don't attend the same schedule each day.
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Teachers are challenged to provide the appropriate balance between structured lessons and learner autonomy in order to facilitate self-directed learning.
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Great quote on the benefits of PLE, but getting students who are not "ready" or mature enough to handle this type of self-direction will struggle. A challenge for teachers indeed! I think the classroom (physical environment) setup is the first thing that needs to be changed in order to prepare students for this type of autonomy. What do the rest of you think? (Alissa Hansen)
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I guess I should also state that I do not think students are getting enough opportunities to be autonomous, which is why they struggle and fear it when they are given the opportunity. (Alissa Hansen)
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A personal learning environment (PLE) with personal knowledge management (PKM) tools An eportfolio A collection of resources related to a problem-based learning challenge Study group resources
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I am really looking forward to starting this with students. It's like a one-stop shop for their individual needs. One of the biggest setbacks I have faced in recent years was trying out a multitude of tech resources and although some were helpful, clicking around all over the place was overwhelming! (Alissa Hansen)
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I was devistated when google removed igoogle, and I think this could definitely take its place. I agree that students will appreciate the convenience of this site.
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Alissa, I get overwhelmed with the amount of resources and tools available. I often don't know where to start, so I opt not to. Thankfully, I'm taking this class and I have the opportunity to investigate and use some PLE tools like Diigo and Symbaloo, things I've never heard of until now!
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method students use to organize their self-directed online learning
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I think this would be very powerful and I would love to create something like this, personally. I think my accellerated students would thrive, but worry that my lower level students would struggle due to a lack of confidence in themselves and lack of self-awareness. I wonder if there are certain organizational PLE templates that would work better for certain learning styles? Or perhaps a template would defeat the pourpose.....
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attend to supporting students in developing their skills and motivations for becoming themselves networked and sophisticated online learners
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I love the idea of supporting students individually, I just struggle to envision being able to support all my students adequately within my classroom. I feel like it would be easy to digress with a student over their PLE, but feel it could be difficult to find the time.
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I sooo agree!!!! I would love to watch how an expert teacher teaches in a PLE classroom! I love the concept and the idea I am just struggling to make it work in the classroom.
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I like this concept, I think it is easier to do in a classroom that is content specific. I can see where it would be more difficult if a teacher was responsible for teaching multiple content areas. At the same time, that teacher doesn't have to be the the information source for all the students, time is just the factor.
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That's interesting. I think PLEs would be easier to manage in multiple content areas because they would have to be working on their own thing. The environment is really suited for it.
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subscribe to news feeds and blogs, discern the value of social bookmarks, and set up the aggregator to manage all the Internet resources.
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This is what I am trying to develop in my preschool class room where the students are in charge of their own learning, and I am more of a resource. What I struggle with is classroom management, I feel like all of the students are demanding my attention and I can't help everyone.
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Sometimes it is hard to fathom the classroom management of a PLE of 12-22 students, which is what I currently have, let alone 30+ like many districts have.
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Having your students be more independent is wonderful. This past year I did less large group instruction and more small groups. I taught my kindergarten students "Ask 3 before me". They had to ask 3 people for help or what we were doing before coming to me. When they came to me, especially when i was working with my small group, I asked them "did you ask 3 before me?". If they didn't, they would just turn around and go find something. This is a start for having your students become more independent. BY creating a PLE for young students, they feel more in control of their learning too. If you, the teacher, set it up and give them access to a variety of things to do, they will enjoy what they are doing and feel they are making "their own choices".
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Personal learning environments are beneficial because they support learning anywhere and allow learners to connect the diverse environments of school, home and play. Students can extend their learning into questions to parents, email conversations, Facebook posts or even twitter hashtags.
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I don't want to sound negative in my post here because I really am all for personalized learning. I wonder how we can get administration on board with us. I struggle with old school administration who tell me as a teacher that I can not use my phone during the day, that I can not use facebook, and about passed out when they realized that parents text me, questions and changes in their child's schedule. I did have a secret facebook page and it was wonderful I would use it to include parents with our studies.
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Good point. I agree with your post. It is hard to get some administrators going along with this new idea of personalized learning. Even at my other school I taught at Facebook and some other social networking sites were blocked. I like the idea of having a Facebook page with parents and students to keep parents informed with stuff going on at school, and also a way for students to post and communicate with parents and classmates. I think these social websites are necessary in schools, but the big question is how do we get teachers and administration to go for it?
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Our District has blocked a lot of the social sites as well, it comes from the upper levels of administration and not our building admin. I think they tend to be out of touch with the possibilities and fear the unknown. It would be great to use Facebook for connecting with parents and students. The alternative given to us is Canvas in which parents have access to teachers. But it isn't as easy or convenient as Facebook. That is certainly one site I wish we could use at work. I do like the idea of personalized learning environments, especially the concept of students seeking knowledge that is useful for them! This appears to be the best way to create life-long learners!
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Facebook is blocked at my school as well, which is a shame since it'd be a way to create an immersion like setting in my Spanish classroom. If I see something cool on the site that related to class, such as photos from a friend's time in Panama with the Peace Corps, I turn the wifi off on my phone so that Facebook will work, and just walk around the class showing kids, which is risky, I know. I'm sure there is a cord that I could connect from my phone to SmartBoard to make this more feasible. I should probably get a separate teacher facebook page for things like this. Some of the articles that pop up in my feed from magazines like Women's Health are not school appropriate!
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Students engaging in networked learning have to learn to be more self-directed than in the typical classroom… they are required to take a more active role in the learning process
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by teaching students how to be self learners and how to be active in the learning process I think that as kids and adults these students will want to be life long learners and not someone who only does it because they have to. Or worse yet lets everyone else do it for them. I love the independence PLE classrooms create
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I see so many students who do not understand how to play an active role in their learning because they have been conditioned to rely on the teacher. Many students get very anxious and really don't know what to do when they are asked to complete self-directed activities. I think PLE will provide students with the opportunity to take responsibility for their own learning, which will help them throughout their lives.
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Personal Learning Environments (PLE) are not to be confused with Learning Management Systems (LMS) that are implemented and maintained by institutions.
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This is very important! I see the (LMS) approach in our school and in many other schools. I feel like it wouldn't be hard to confuse (LMS and PLE) these different approaches, because they seem so different. The chart gave a good outline of how different they are compared to each other.
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The chart is helpful in understanding the differences. The LMS could also be a tool in a student's PLE.
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Agreed, charts and lists make learning so much easier than paragraphs, at least for me.
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continue to collect feedback from students on how this learning tool is working for them and how they are using it for themselves as well as within their groups–I’m excited to see what will happen. I may also informally introduce Symbaloo to some of last year’s Media 21 students and get their feedback on how they think Symbaloo compares to Netvibes and what their preferences are as students. In the meantime, I’ve created
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It’s easy to use A learner can pull information that’s personally useful to him/her Learners can personalize tiles to make them easy to spot Learners can add to, and draw from, a community of webmixes Interactivity + personalization = fun
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These look like awesome reasons why Symbaloo is a great learning tool for students. I can definitely see this resource being used in grades k-12. Although, for example, I teach 1st grade and I can see my students loving this, but they will need lots of guidance and modeling of how to set it up and use it to help them become independent with it. I can see once it's set up it would be awesome for students to have all of their favorite resources and sites all in one place!
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I have a concern about distractions. Students tend to use their phones and computers more for entertainment and chatting with friends over research and presentation.
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Agreed, a high school I taught at did not have locks on lockers, meaning kids brought their phones to class so that they wouldn't be stolen. Preventing snapchatting was difficult for me!
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I have experienced the same issues with my high schools students. I may take a different approach based on one of the side articles that stated, "students are still learning while they are wasting time because they will see consequences are for late work."
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“learning by doing” and “student as worker,”
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I would like to have some strategies to help students having an understanding of the shift in learning for them to become more involved in their learning. How do I motivate them to go beyond bookwork to exploring topics?
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I feel this is a big struggle right now in our district. Teachers are wanting their students to dig deep into a topic or their work. Students are given choices but still only surface the top of the water, doing the bare minimum, when we want them to dive in and go to the bottom. In my classroom, my students have a writing journal. We write in this "special" journal once a week. At the beginning of the year, I give them ideas to write about. Some write while others will simply draw a picture because they don't know how to write. By the middle of the year, every is writing something, whether it is a complete sentences or a few words. I will give them a few choices to choose from or they can write about something they want to. BY the end of the year, they know to take out their journals and write about anything they want. I want my students to take control of their own learning and reflect back on their work over the year so by having this year long journal, they can see their progression and how they took control over their writing.
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Many students in the first class that tried Symbaloo today commented that they liked the clean, visual interface of Symbaloo and the ease of adding content; they also liked that they could customize the “tiles” they were adding and that their webmixes loaded quickly.
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learning toward facilitation of students’ “active role in the learning process” and teachers’ provision of the right balance between structured lessons and autonomy; let’s never forget it is an ongoing balancing act.
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This is a good reminder. Students need to take on a more active role, but there is always a good balance. It probably shouldn't be all one way or all another way.
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How true! It will be difficult for some students to lead their own learning. They have been passive for so long it will be a shock to their systems.
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a number of tiles to get you started,
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teachers must pursue training and be knowledgeable of how to utilize PLEs to enhance learning and ensure that students are using this e-learning tool in a meaningful way.
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I believe this is where the transformation must start, with good, consistent professional development. The key here is ensuring students are using the technology, whether that be a tablet, laptop, or smartphone, appropriately for learning.
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I very much agree the process must start with PD. PD needs to be personalized. From a baby boomer perspective we need mini PD sessions for technology applications. Otherwise I think there will be resistance from this age group because of limited tech skills.
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I could stand to be more savvy in my own organizing of online learning and networking: I’ve been slow to use tools and develop skills for managing online resource
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I can so relate to this comment. Finding time to explore and become comfortable with the vast array of tools avaiable is my biggest challenge. I get so caught up in the day-to-day management of 10+ students attending the alternative program (I am the only adult in the room with the students), I don't often have time to explore what's out there. Even when my admin and tech people pass along a list of resources, it is overwhelming to me. Much of my time is spent tracking down students, following up with parents, and documenting the events of the day.
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I also feel overwhelmed by all of the technology that I "should" be learning about and using with my students. We spend a lot of PD time on technology and incorporating it into our classrooms, but I feel like we just get a quick overview of whatever program they want us to use at that time, and then we never really get time to explore it and develop ways to incorporate it into our teaching.
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I'm with you! There are so many cool resources and tech tools I want to learn and use...but actually finding the time to explore and implement is another story!
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Teachers, she explains, are no longer the primary or even the best source of information available to students
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As a teacher in a one-room alternative program, I KNOW this to be true. I feel like the jack-of-all trades, master of none on many days. I see myself more as a manager and facilitator of their learning than the direct source.
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I always think this after I watch the history channel. I learn so much from the history channel and it is so much more interesting than listening to a lecture.
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I am in a one-teacher room as well, and while I try to keep up, there is now way to know it all. Even in the traditional classroom where I teach personal finance, I feel unable to keep up with it all. But it is hard to let go of the reigns when you have taught that way and everyone else around you teaches that way.
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I encouraged students to use their accounts as an information dashboard for “professional” or school interests as well as personal passions.
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I really like the idea of showing students how to use this technology and their learning for both "professional and personal use." I think when you tell students that it is "ok" for them to use technology this way, they learn more because they aren't compartmentalizing their usage of this technology as only for school, which means that they are more likely to use the program and play around with it, which will increase their learning opportunities.
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This encourages students to apply their learning in different venues which creates a culture of lifelong learning.
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This is exactly what educators are going for, to create life long learners. Using PLEs will create that. I am so excited to incorporate this in my classroom and help others do the same.
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I completely agree with you that we want students to become life-long learners! When students leave school, we want students to be able to do seek out their own research, contacts, and resources to solve everyday problems. If students are never presented with opportunities to direct and manage their own learning, they will not be as successful. Giving students permission to learn about and engage with things they are passionate about can only lead to positive educational outcomes (with appropriate supports of course)!
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For example, you can create tiles that link to challenges, quiz questions, polls, discussion forums, chat pages, and other types of content and media that will facilitate more student involvement and creativity.
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students still needed some kind of information dashboard to manage all of their information streams for the upcoming project.
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I think it is a great idea to have a place for students to "store" the information they need to research and interact with their content. My students have used symbaloo in computer class and it has taken away a lot of the management concerns. Students know where to go to find the tools they need to keep progressing with their learning!
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What a great idea! When that notebook with all the notes is missing, it could be stored and used during class instead of searching or pretending to search. Maybe we could teach them responsibility again!
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PLEs give learners a high degree of control over their work by allowing them to customize the learning experience and connect to others, including experts in the field
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This is exactly what we want - students to have a high degree of control over their work! By allowing them to customize the learning experience and connect with others, including experts, students are getting real-life experience that will help them solve the problems they face in their everyday lives. A PLE can help students organize this self-directed learning. Students will likely know what they want to learn but organizing that learning is often what students need support in. PLEs are helpful in providing students with tools they need to gather information, conduct research, and present their findings!
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personalized learning that allows students to direct and manage their own learning experience while pursuing educational goals
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In my opinion, this is exactly what we want students to be able to do! By supporting students in their academic endeavors, students learn to view teachers as guides or facilitators rather than "the one who knows all." In thinking about what we want students to be able to do when they leave school, we want students to be able to do seek out their own research, contacts, and resources to solve everyday problems. If students are never presented with opportunities to direct and manage their own learning, they will not be as successful!
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You are right! If students do not get to practice this skills by doing then they will struggle when they enter the workforce.
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The development of PLEs represents a shift in focus from teacher centered classrooms to more learner centered classrooms. As such, teachers must learn to effectively incorporate these social media based initiatives into their lessons.
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This sounds absolutely ideal. The challenge we as educators face with students using their own technology during instruction and competing for their attention has steadily increased over recent years. How cool would it be if it were used to enhance their learning rather than get in the way of it!
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I do have some concerns that a lot of the PLE is based on on-line learning. Students use technology constantly, but I have also seen them get frustrated with technology and on-line learning when it seems hard to navigate or they are not receiving adequate feedback.
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The Symbaloo interface looks a bit like a high-tech Scrabble board with movable “tiles” on it. These tiles give you access to Web pages or other webmixes.
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What I do like about Symbaloo is that if I make any updates to this webmix, students receive the updates as well!
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This is really handy for parents as well. I send them the link and they can access my web mix at home. When I make an update, I alert parents via my shutterfly site. Parents can go to my web mix and have their child show them games we are playing that reinforces our learning goals. It is also nice because parents don't have to download anything or search for hours on something educational for their child to do because it is already done for them.
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Because Symbaloo is web-based, you can access your favorite webmixes from different computers.
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The concept of PLE is not a way to replace classroom learning, but to enhance it.
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This is the comment many teachers were hoping to read. I understand the hesitation to give students control of the learning environment, but is it working by controlling them?
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PLE research shows there are less behavior issues because kids get to learn based on their interests promoting intrinsic motivation to learn. I think it would be great to teach in a PLE.
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Personal learning environments (PLE) are a new approach to personalized learning that allows students to direct and manage their own learning experience while pursuing educational goals. The idea for PLEs was born from the emergence of Web 2.0 tools and the ubiquity of technology in today’s society. Students now have access to desktop computers, smartphones, tablets, smart TVs and game systems that connect them to free online tools that are always available. These tools provide a medium for students to create their own learning space that is more natural and unique to their interests and learning styles.
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The social media platform that supports PLEs creates a perfect space for peer collaboration and sharing information.
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I must remember that baby steps can get use to PLE for more students. It is overwhelming to think about changing the traditional model of education so many are used to until I read this line and take a deep breath. The sharing and conducting of "research" students are doing in individual leassons or units is a stgep in the right direction.
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o horribly wrong if teachers fail to prepare students and set usage parameters.
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I feel so much better reading this. I experienced this first hand. I thought my students were ready for the responsibility I was handing over; I thought I had set the "right" parameters, but, alas, the learning was not as rich as it could have been. In many cases, it turned out to be a huge waste of time. I still feel guilty about it. I guess the positive is that I am still trying to learn more about implementing PLE's effectively.
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Yes, it is a positive because you learned from the experience. Now you know what worked and what needs to be revised.
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Too Much Technology and Not Enough Learning? | Edutopia - 0 views
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Maybe I gravitated toward this because I'm feeling overwhelmed by our class, but I'm interested in everyone's reaction to it. I have students with no internet at home and one who's broke 2 school chromebooks and can't afford to pay for them so is now being denied access to loaners. How can he pass my class if the majority of what we do is on Google Classroom? What's the perfect balance. What makes it a truly "blended" classroom? Thoughts? Opinions?
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Physical Environment Considerations, con't - 2 views
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I'm not sure if I can see this happening at an elementary school. I think personalized learning would be more beneficial for MS and HS. Also, what is the teacher's role in PL? Do they do any teaching? Kids could essentially be homeschooled if we are just going to stick a computer or ipad in their face all day.
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You're right, to an extent. I think for it to be successful at MS or HS, it has to be slowly introduced in the earlier grades. I teach high school and my students have never had the opportunity to make choices about their learning, so they don't know how to do it well. It often leads to chaos and behavioral challenges because they're experiencing freedom without having been taught what to do with it and the power of having that freedom. It takes a lot of training and the more than can be done in a controlled environment earlier on in a student's educational career, the more successful it will be for all students.
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I think teachers who are not familiar with PL would need a lot of training if my school district decided to convert from a standard school to a PL school. I would like to see a video of how this works from a new teacher to an experienced teacher.
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This is so true! Also thinking about experienced teachers who have been doing what they do (and often times being successful at it!) for so many years and now are being told they have to completely shift what they're doing. That's super hard!
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I also believe being able to observe a classroom that is already familiar and incorporating PL would be fantastic for so many reasons! The ability to see it would give the teacher a better handle on it.
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This has been so key in my progression with differentiation, self-pacing, and now learning about PL. The biggest reason that I don't go deeper with this is because some/many (I teach freshmen) students aren't able to keep their focus on one particular subject. It turns into me redirecting several groups and less learning taking place than when I orchestrated the class as a whole.
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I think this point is HUGE! There are some things that computers do better at than teachers for helping students learn (lower level skills, think vocabulary, spelling, facts, etc) but there are some things that computers and technology will never be able to replace teachers (higher level thinking, creativity, compassion, empathy, etc). Therefore, there needs to be a balance and this seems to be a nice blend of the two.
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I am curious what this would look like. I understand better how to increase the social side of online learning through video conferencing, forums, group projects, etc., but I wonder what this looks like for working in person while on the job. Working with other online looks can be very different than face to face on a regular basis.
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All too often we push, push kids from one area to another. No, we can't talk about this because we now have to move to science, or it is time for music. I think one of the biggest issues is we don't give enough time to process and reflect what we have learned and what question we have. I think designed correctly, this time to "chill out" is there naturally.
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This is the area that I think begins the difficult part for many teachers. How do we allow kids freedom on a regular basis? What is suggested for practicing the routines/procedures/expectations for this? I think evaluating reports would be essential beyond the obvious to collect data but also to focus on time on task. I know some people are better being told what to do and when. I think this needs to be flexible.
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When reading point 2 and how students are able to understand what types of social situations lead best to learning since the point that adults have also not mastered this is such a great point! The reality that this is how we learn best is 100% true, but the mentality of teachers is that you DO NOT give students this time because that seems like students would waste time and not complete their assignment or project.
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Articles: Preparation - 1 views
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I usually do not even have to look at the whiteboard or legal pad when I am in PowerPoint, because the analog process alone gave a clear visual image of how I want the content to flow. I glance at my notes to remind me of what visuals I thought of using at certain points and then go to iStockphoto.com or to my own extensive library of high-quality stock images to find the perfect image.
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If you want your audience to remember your content, then find a way to make it more relevant and memorable by strengthening your core message with good, short, stories or examples.
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When I think about presentations that have stuck with me, I was able to empathize with that specific presenter because their content was told in this story format!
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I would agree. Sometimes I think people when presenting may make it too hard on themselves trying to involve a story so that the audience can relate. It's got to be your story that is normal to your life. You don't have to make the Oscar's with your first presentation. Now after saying that, I still struggle doing this part sometimes.
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The best kamishibai presenters did not read the story, but instead kept their eyes on the audience and occasionally on the current card in the frame.
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Through the readings thus far, this is a common theme. Know your content and share the story to make those connections with your audience.
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Back to the preparation and knowing your content. I would categorize myself as one that dreads giving presentations but actually really enjoy it once a successful presentation has been given and the successful ones come back to preparation and knowledge.
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10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint. It’s quite simple: a PowerPoint presentation should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points.
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I think that being mindful of this rule when planning will make a big difference in my presentations. In another class I will be creating a Pecha Kucha presentation and that format also has a strict rule of 20 slides, 20 seconds each!
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I've always taught in the classroom about avoiding too much text/info but setting a standard such as 10/20/30 where the font is 30 makes it more standard.
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This sounds like an excellent approach, 10/20/30 Going to try this and see what kind of effect is has.
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This exercise forces you to “sell” your message in 30-45 seconds
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Keep it simple
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It's so easy to say this to ourself and especially our students but as simple as it is to say it, ha, it's so hard sometimes to narrow things down in regards to presentations. The 3 things to remember will be a great aide for me to use.
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My tech department usually says KISS. Keep it simple - stupid. We are referring to ourselves as stupid. Don't put too much into something - keep it simple for the audience.
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caffeine
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Use visuals in an active way, not a decorative one.
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It's been nice seeing all the visuals and pics and how they all can tell a story. It's really a simple process and a reminder that I need to include more into mine instead of the usual PPT clipart/objects/etc. Much more telling and relating to the audience.
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I would agree with the first comment. If and when I do put a picture on a powerpoint, often times I am looking for a picture that might match the content. Really, the picture should embody the content.
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Story telling is such a great way to grab and keep your audience's attention. People are more apt to listen when they can relate to what is being talked about. Stories are a great way to invite your audience to get involved.
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I especially enjoy when students share their stories! I always tell them they have just made my next presentation better as I have a new story to add :)
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Remember, even if you’ve been asked to share information, rarely is the mere transfer of information a satisfactory objective from the point of view of the audience.
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Great content is a necessary condition, but not a sufficient one
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Can you crystallize the essence of your presentation content and write it on the back of a business card?
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Being able to pass the elevator test is a must for good presentations, but I think the Belasco test is better for the early stages of preparation. If you can't pare the essence of the presentation down to one sentence, then your initial purpose is too complex to convey to the audience. Such a simple step could save hours of time and effort in the long run.
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Documentaries do not simply tell facts; rather, they engage us with the story
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while we are making our case others are arguing with us in their heads using their own statistics and sources. Even if you do persuade through argument, says McKee, this is not good enough because “people are not inspired to act on reason alone.”
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Make your presentation—visuals and narration—participatory.
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In my new role as a PD facilitator, this is something I need to grow in. Easier said than done, but when the audience has a role in the presentation it is exponentially more effective in delivering its message. I've sat through enough passive and mindless PD sessions that I owe it to my colleagues to at least encourage their participation.
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I guarantee it will make your presentations better because it requires you to find the most salient points and to know how to explain them well.
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I find this to be the most convincing part of the 10/20/30 rule. Depending on the level of audience participation and how the presentation fits in with the rest of the lesson or activity, 20 min. won't always be feasible. However, torturing the audience with countless bullets and tiny text should be avoided (And yes, I'm a hypocrite because I'm as guilty of this as anyone).
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I find the analog approach stimulates my creativity a bit more as I said. No software to get in my way and I can easily see how the flow will go.
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I can see how a powerpoint would be prepared more successfully on pencil and paper rather than on a computer. First of all, doing the presentation with a pencil and paper would offer fewer distractions (you wouldn't flip from window to window). I also believe you would be able to be more creative without a program that already sets the background format up for you. You would have a blank page to start with and could brainstorm the design of your slides.
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EXERCISE If your audience could remember only three things about your presentation,what would you want it to be? (1)__________ (2)__________ (3)__________
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9. The art of story telling
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In your own presentations, look for contrasts such as before/after, past/future, now/then, problem/solution, strife/peace, growth/decline, pessimism/optimism, and so on. Highlighting contrasts is a natural way to bring the audience into your story and make your message more memorable.
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This seems like a great way to tell a story and attainable for any content area. In math, I could connect our current content to previous content with a story. I could talk about problems that my students in the past have had with the current lesson and how they overcame it. I feel like this could be a starting point to a story, if you don't have one.
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Who is the audience?
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The best presenters illustrate their points with the use of stories, most often personal ones.
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It is often hard for students to give an interesting presentation and I think it is because many of them lack the "history" to have stories to share. I co-coach our Academic Decathlon team and as they work on their prepared speeches we often tell them the best speeches are tied to "real life" not a researched topic. Now I know why....they have stories to share!
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We do not tell a story from memory alone; we do not need to memorize a story that has meaning to us. If it is real, then it is in us. Based on our research, knowledge, and experience, we can tell it from our gut. Internalize your story, but do not memorize it line by line. You can’t fake it.
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What is the purpose of the event?
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A data dump — all too common unfortunately — is when a presenter crams too much information into the talk without making the effort to make the information or data applicable to the members of the audience. A data dump also occurs when data and information do not seem to build on the information that came earlier in the presentation.
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Really ask yourself the tough questions throughout the planning process. For example, is your point relevant?
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Good stories have interesting, clear beginnings; provocative, engaging content in the middle; and a clear conclusion.
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PLE Articles - 5 views
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Students now have access to desktop computers, smartphones, tablets, smart TVs and game systems that connect them to free online tools that are always available.
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This is a shift in mindset for many teachers. Students have a a great resource (their cellphone) however, teachers/school do not allow students to use their phones. This would also require a certain amount of trust between the students and teacher.
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I allow cell phones at all times in my class (we just have a talk about what "within reason" means and how to use them in moderation) for exactly this reason---I have kids that prefer to type papers on their phones because it is faster for them. However, most of the other teachers in our school do not allow them out in class, so it's hard to be "that teacher" that throws off the routine for everyone else. Honestly, however, it's so much easier---I don't have to spend 5 minutes arguing with a kid about their phone.
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Students engaging in networked learning have to learn to be more self-directed than in the typical classroom
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Some students have a difficult time being self-directed. Is it difficult for teachers to know when to step in and when to step back?
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I wonder the same thing, Dixie. I also wonder how much teacher direction is appropriate when setting up their PLE?
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or perhaps creating an exemplar for students, then maybe helping them get started, step by step, until they are a little more comfortable with the idea and process.
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An eportfolio
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This encourages students to apply their learning in different venues which creates a culture of lifelong learning.
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Personal Learning Environments (PLE) are not to be confused with Learning Management Systems (LMS) that are implemented and maintained by institutions. Here's a chart that outlines the differences:
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"Ah-ha" moment for me: so a PLE (a term with which I was previously unfamiliar) is basically a collection of resources that is organized and available to everyone, and one that everyone can contribute to? Great idea, as opposed to a teacher providing everything for the student.
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I also think PLE's could be useful for small/large group projects as far as sharing resources. Group participants can share articles and they could use Diigo to share thoughts and ideas! I wish I knew about these things when I was in college!
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Below is a video that shows how a 7th grade student uses Symbaloo as a PLE in her science class:
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PLEs place a large amount of responsibility on students and thus requires a high level of self-management and awareness. Not every student is ready for this responsibility, so teachers need to have strategies in place to guide and support these learners.
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PLEs place a large amount of responsibility on students and thus requires a high level of self-management and awareness. Not every student is ready for this responsibility, so teachers need to have strategies in place to guide and support these learners.
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they liked the clean, visual interface of Symbaloo
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nstead of a teacher providing resources that everyone uses, students can utilize their PLE to acquire information using preferred apps and resources such as blogs, YouTube, Pinterest, Ning or Delicious.
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I teach first grade and have used symbaloo previously, however I am not sure if my students would benefit from having their own PLE's via symbaloo. In the past I have logged into my symbaloo on their ipads so they can access the resources (kahoot, myOn, pbsKids, etc) I want them too. I need a major "make-over" to my symbaloo, it isn't very student friendly.
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The idea of having one site to log into daily and then a pre-constructed dashboard of all the learning tools and spaces available to us seemed appealing
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I think this is extremely appealing to students, you can have the symbaloo page set as the home screen on computers and all of the websites/resources that are approved would be right at the disposal for the students.
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Truly an empowering and exciting way to guide students to collect information and demonstrate their learning. My kids ask to get on their symbaloo pages at home after school to show me what they are learning. If parents have access to the symbaloo pages too, they can actively be a part of their child's learning for that class.
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A collection of resources related to a problem-based learning challenge
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The notion of a PLE for students, grounding them intentionally in an environment of information tools and productive applications, is a great way to seek, develop, and structure that balanced approach.
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I encouraged students to use their accounts as an information dashboard for “professional” or school interests as well as personal passions.
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Personal learning environments are beneficial because they support learning anywhere and allow learners to connect the diverse environments of school, home and play.
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I'm thinking about how valuable a resource like Symbaloo could be for students, especially as they contribute to it, for them to use it far beyond the scope of the classroom, after the class/course has ended.
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Agreed. This is how we continue to be learners as adults too. We all have our resources we regularly check in with to learn based on our interests and needs. Guiding students to learn to use technology in this way is truly opening the door to life-long learners.
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are no longer the primary or even the best source of information available to students
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Study group resources
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Implementation in a Secondary Classroom (Articles) - 0 views
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choice serves as a motivator
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When I give some of my kids choices on what they want to do, they have a tendency to ask me for suggestions. I would think the students would need experience with choices to feel confident enough to go make their own.
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I have found this as well, in language arts/my writing classes. Giving them an umbrella topic- How-To Essay, and the world at their finger tips, they'll try to take one of my simple examples (how to tie your shoes) instead of choosing their own. I wonder a good way to teach students how to make choices- seems like a valuable lesson!
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I've also witnessed this in many things.Most the time I try to put a similar assignment on paper as on chromebook and allow the students the choice on how they would even like to do the assignment for that day.
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You have to have a principal who understands that when he walks into a room and it’s not silent, it’s okay.
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I have to get over this at times. We do a lot of collaborative work and if a visitor came into my room they would probably say it is noisier than most classrooms. Once they sit in there for awhile they see the students working together and learning from each other. It is a great thing to experience.
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I had a principal that once told me he loved when he'd walk into a classroom where the noise was coming from the students working together. Learning can be noisy and people need to understand that, whether that is in a library or a classroom.
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It kind of bothers me nowadays when I walk into a room where students aren't talking. It can be hard to get students to know the difference between just 'socializing' and working together, but I often see the most learning happening in my classroom when the students (rather than just me) are discussing.
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I used to always get nervous when an administrator would come into my room, and it wasn't quiet. Now that I've been teaching for a couple of years I have figured out most learning seems to be occurring when students are talking.
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One of the things I had to learn recently was to let go and allow the kids to experience the consequences of their choices. And maybe there’s a failure. Maybe a kid was trying to do a vodcast and he couldn’t get the video to work correctly on the computer. That’s a learning opportunity for that child. Because it was his choice, he’s going to try to figure out a way to make it work—sometimes with the help of a fellow student.”
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Such a real life skill. Learning to fail and work through a situation is such great lesson to learn. As teachers it is difficult to watch a student struggle. Knowing that it is part of the process of becoming better at something gives us a little more patience.
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This is a difficult thing to convince parents about in my school. They are looking for perfect scores and don't like it when we "let the kids fail". It will take time to make this shift in thought in our community. I agree that this is a very real life skill that is important for kids to learn how to work through.
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Eighth grade math teacher Julie Ison describes a project her classes worked on that involved graphing. Working with Excel, the students went to a few websites (preselected by the teacher) and picked data about whatever they were interested in—flavors of ice cream, baseball statistics, basketball statistics, whatever they wanted. They sucked in all the information, put it in Excel, manipulated it, made graphs out of it, and figured out what graphs went with that data, what graphs didn’t go with that data
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We use Schoology as a learning management system, which many students access on their own phones if there aren’t enough devices to go around.
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This flipped learning setup frees up my students to use classtime to practice their skills.
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One of my goals before the end of the school year is to do a flipped lesson. I'm excited to try it.
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Given that we only see our students twice a week in PE, the use of blended learning is very beneficial to making the best use of face to face class time.
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I think we need to do more flipping as it would also help parents, especially in math. Often times I hear parents say well I can't help them with their math, so this way they could see how the teacher was doing the problem and help their child easier.
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fantasy football stats during class, their motivation began to soar.
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The more meaningful an activity is to the person engaging in it, the more likely he or she will be motivated to continue doing it.
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This is definitely the case in History/Social Studies. Some students will come in and out of interest based on the time period/unit/activity. Finding a way to keep interest would help.
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I was thinking the same exact thing about my Social Studies classes. Some time periods/events are more exciting then others but if you can relate it to current day things or to how it still impacts students today they seem more interested in the topic.
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This is a very valid point. Technology does give way for more student engagement.
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But when the teacher started to use the students’ questions rather than her own to frame discussions, motivation began to rise.
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They became more motivated and less fidgety when the teacher allowed them to find a comfortable place to read.
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I have loosened up on this as well the last few years. I wouldn't want to read on the dusty floor but some really enjoy it.
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Our school is moving to more flexible seating in most classrooms. I think in some cases it works well, in others I think it can be an issue. I think it's important to at least allow students to stand up as opposed to staying seated as they literally sit all day.
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Certainly, giving choice to students often means that teachers need to allow students to make their own decisions, and it can be difficult to give up this control.
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While choice can be a powerful motivator, on some occasions it can also have an adverse effect
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However, if tasks are perceived to be too difficult, motivation is likely to suffer.
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For example, when a teacher assigns a research project, some students will prefer to have a broad range of topics, others will prefer a small list of options, and yet others will prefer to be told what to do. Giving students a short list of topics with an option to create their own topic, with the teacher’s approval, often works well.
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This just described just about every class I have ever taught. Some kids like endless options, some want a few, and some want to be told their only option.
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I agree Tom, but I think it's because they have lacked choice before they get to HS and then once they get to HS they worry about grades and want to know how to get an A.
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Not every program lends itself to choice
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So far the teachers have talked about choice in terms of curriculum, but choice can also, surprisingly, come into play in relation to discipline
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This is so true! I have started using this in my classes, "these are your options....you choose" Many times I have used, "Would you like me to help with the situation or do you think you can settle it yourselves?" Sometimes they do actually want my help to settle a conflict and other times they are able to do it on their own. This of course is for small disagreements, not big blow outs. I think it is important though to give them the chance to sort things out on their own if they feel they can do so. Most of the time they can and it is a good skill to practice.
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We have done a lot of PBIS training recently, and this is one of the big things they tell us.
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They could be two ‘bad’ choices
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Show us what you’ve learned,
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differentiation of instruction, assessment and expression of learning as well as the collection of student data.
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I think that automating what you can in these categories makes teachers more effective.
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This is key to the Physical Education world especially as they tend to have twice as many students than other teachers.
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Pretty much anything that gives you more data is brilliant in my book- particularly if it's a technology that gives the student data that they can reflect on as well!
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Now they have access to the full unit from the beginning
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Having a unit ready to go from day 1 of the unit is tough. When students see that though, I think they have confidence because that means the expectations are all set out at the beginning. They just have to navigate each expectation. It is the difference in running a race and knowing where the finish line is and running a race and not knowing where the finish line is.
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I am thinking this is the way to go but I worry that if changes need to me made midstream how that will affect the students who may moved ahead.
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Your class is easy. I don’t mean simple — I mean it is easy for me to learn because I can pick assignments that let me do my best work.
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It is the purposeful design of instruction to combine face-to-face teaching, technology-assisted instruction and collaboration to leverage each student’s learning style and interests for deeper learning.
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There is so much to be learned about the design of instruction for all teachers as we move forward. All teachers need more PD on this to get us into the 21st Century of Learning and beyond. There are so many exciting things that can happen when this is done well for students. I really think that our students would be more motivated to come to school if we would move out of the industrial era!
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I totally agree. We need to change the way school is structured so we can motivate students.
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require students to work in groups
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I think we need to work on getting students to collaborate with different people but they tend to want to be with friend groups especially in MS. I like the idea of giving one "buddy" in their group.
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My system of group selection works as follows- I draw names randomly, and students jump into groups as they are called. It very rarely happens that an entire group of friends gets together, as some other students will jump in. For this to work, though, there usually has to be a topic set up beforehand, so they know what they're getting into.
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“One of you needs to move. You decide.”
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I'm surprised I haven't heard much/seen much on this fairly simple concept. Maybe it doesn't work as well as they mention here? I could forsee, if I have two students causing issues, and I ask one of them to decide who moves- they would just get in another fight and/or both refuse to move. Nice in principle though!
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I feel the same as you. It seems like when you give two or more students a choice they start arguing about it.
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The journey from old school to new learning paradigm was bumpy at first.
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And our classroom is often noisy and active as we play a round of Kahoot
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This year I create experiences to expose my students to a range of real-world issues, review the fundamentals of research and help them discover authentic ways to research their issues using a wide variety of digital tools.
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When it is time to take the standardized tests at the end of the year, your teachers use your project portfolio to help you identify the standards you have already met and rehearse the test with you but don’t otherwise find it necessary to do extensive test prep.
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Here’s a list of choices. Choose one. As long as you follow the steps in my rubric, you’re fine.’”
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As a result, instead of lecturing to students and showing them a PowerPoint during classtime, I give them screencasts or videos to watch at home.
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Just three short years ago, my AP students would each have produced their own 10-page research paper. This year, they will select social justice issues that they will research with a team. Each team will collaborate to create a presentation for the board of a philanthropic organization in competition for a hypothetical grant that will be awarded to the program or event most likely to deliver real change. I will bring in administrators and community members to serve as the “board” and choose a winner. The students won’t get a real grant, but they will receive public recognition for the winning project.
100More
Implementation in a Secondary Classroom (Articles) - 0 views
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give students choice
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Giving students choices significantly changes the dynamics. The interview with these Finish educators was done in 2010, so eight year ago. I believe most of what they mentioned has been introduced to us in these AEA courses or through district pd. I'm glad to see our knowledge of how to implement has been nurtured even if we haven't had the opportunity to put it in action yet.
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they are getting away with less work and effort
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nto math class? It does fit
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Such a true opinion of Math not allowing students to easily make learning choices. I appreciate their examples of how it can work. I'd like to see more and in my age range.
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I am also glad the article showed an example of how to use in math. Reading some of the articles in this course, I have always been wondering how I could use PL in my math classes. I am glad this article gave and example. I too would also like to see more examples for how to use it with my students in Algebra 2.
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This would be the content area with the biggest frequency of teachers asking how they could embed technology into their specific content area. Glad to see examples!
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it makes for a less traditional- looking classroom
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purposeful design of instruction to combine face-to-face teaching, technology-assisted instruction and collaboration to leverage each student’s learning style and interests for deeper learning.
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It is a messier way to teach, though it takes more organization on the teacher’s part, not less.
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I can understand how it would take a teacher to be more organized when students are choosing their own way to present material. The teacher in a traditional setting would have all of the students use the same method or material for learning, where now each student can have a different way to learn the material and present it. The teacher would have to have some knowledge of the different types of ways students could use to learn and present.
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Agreed, I think that teachers would have to look for more characteristics of presentations rather than a specific set of measurable criteria. You could try to set up a rubric based on criteria, but I still think teachers would need to be open should a student show up and do something that meets learning standards yet defies the confines of a rubric.
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I think this is where teaches shut down. Teachers think that Flipped learning or Personalized learning is less work, in reality it is a lot more work. It'd be easier to keep track of 20-30 kids on exactly the same path.
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I use all of this data to inform adjustments
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Coming from an early childhood/elementary teaching background the idea of continual assessment makes sense. Checking for understanding during informal situations can lead to students getting help sooner. It might be just tweaking a thought or more in-depth reteach, but the student will have the opportunity to "get it" and move on compared to a final grade at the end of the unit and never understanding a portion or whole concept. That isn't providing our students the best learning environment.
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choices that promote feelings of control, purpose, and competence are likely to be more motivating than choices that do not.
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When students have a choice, it does make them feel like they are a part of their learning and not just having someone else tell them what they are to learn and how they are going to go about learning the material. It gives them a reason to do the lesson and feel powerful in doing it.
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Yes. Not just for kids. When I'm not micromanaged and feel that my support system supports my learning and interests, I am much more inclined to be engaged, productive, satisfied, etc.
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We experienced that in our Personalized Professional Development this year. We were able to select an area of interest, learn about it, then present what we learned. We had very positive feedback and pretty motivated on PD days!
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My next goal is to let them “test out”
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I think this is such a good idea. It would take an organized, dedicated teacher to be willing to take this step. How many behavior issues arise because students are bored because they already know the concept? Give these students the chance to be challenged with deeper level of the topic. The difficulty is it may take professional development, teacher willing to collaborate with global colleagues, and time. Baby steps are still better than no step at all.
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I mean it is easy for me to learn because I can pick assignments that let me do my best work
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people who believe that they have control tend to be more motivated
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A sense of purposefulness or meaningfulness is also heightened if the activity strengthens relationships with others.
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I think this sentiment is true for all of us. I am more motivated and engaged in assignments for these courses when I know the completed project has practical use with my students or staff. Not many of us appreciate busywork to my knowledge. We just don't have time for it.
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I am the same way.Time is precious and I want to spend time in things that are meaningful and that I can actually put to use in my classroom.
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It is less stressful to her and focuses the students on what they need to do to regain control.
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When I have students talking too much during class or "goofing around", I have had them choose who is going to move. Like the article says, it is less stressful for me and the students usually end up apologizing and gaining control of their situation. Again, they feel they are a part of it and are taking ownership instead of someone telling them exactly what to do.
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to use the students’ questions rather than her own to frame discussions,
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I do a middle school battle of the books requiring students to submit 2 questions from each book they read. They are expected to read a certain number of books to participate. It was a game-changer when I started using their own questions instead of mine. They were more engaged, listened for their questions, and teams were more excited about participating. It really works!
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Choices like this honor divergent ways of thinking a
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schools must provide appropriate professional development opportunities, both from within and beyond the school setting
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vision must pervade the organization, top to bottom
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this preparatory process
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This is not a method, but an art and a talent
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While choice can be a powerful motivator, on some occasions it can also have an adverse effect. In other words, not all choices have a positive effect on motivation and achievement. Therefore, it is helpful to consider a few factors that can help teachers design choices that have the potential to positively influence motivation and achievement.
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I think this is what concerns educators and the general public when considering the implementation of personalized learning practices. Left to their own devices, students may not select the most appropriate or rigorous activities/topics. The success of personalized learning will include the teacher's ability to challenge that process when necessary.
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Therefore, personalized teaching is not an isolated, or isolating, phenomenon. Instead, it combats the deadening effects on learning that result from teachers’ isolation and anonymity in large school settings.
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Completion rules also give me the freedom to have small-group or individual conferences to assess learning and make choices about future instruction.
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Not every program lends itself to choice, of course, but even then there are opportunities.
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I think it's important to remember that flexibility and adaptability are important during implementation of personalized learning. Not everything will fit neatly and work flawlessly. If viewed as an opportunity or a challenge rather than a problem, the chances for success greatly improve. It always comes back to finding that right mix and balance of instructional practice and processes.
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If you have the opportunity to test this out in a face to face classroom I think it is important to not force this idea just because it's the new thing you learned about. If you want it to be successful it needs to make sense within the classroom and it needs to be authentic.
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You really have to be on top of things to allow the students choice since now there is more than one “right” way of doing something in the classroom
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I agree that you have to be more on top of things, but I really think that it helps to ensure good communication with students. Those quiet students are less likely to fall through the cracks. Plus, if we weren't checking in on the students and their choices, we would be nagging them to get what they have not interest in doing done.
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I decided to “release” one piece of the assignment at a time in an effort to control students’ pathway through the materia
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I really like the idea of starting small. It's the best way to do any transformation, but we often think we have to change all things at once. It's a nice reminder that we don't have to. A little at a time. :)
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I like the term they used a release because for this to be successful it is what the teacher has to do. They have to release control of the learning.
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creating a website, or writing a script for a video that they then record.
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students receive a digital review of the research proce
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Okay. Here’s a list of choices. Choose one. As long as you follow the steps in my rubric, you’re fine.’”
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“One of the things I had to learn recently was to let go and allow the kids to experience the consequences of their choices.
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What happens if a student does not work on the project? If the project takes a long period of time and they wasted too much time then They may not have time to finish it. I understand how student's might fail and that is part of learning. Middle School students need some time management help when keeping on track. It would be difficult to totally let go.
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I think this is where my hold up would be on a project. It's hard for me to see my students fail. Especially when the student is actively trying to succeed. Failure is a part of real life but I think I'd try to do too much of the work for the student so ensure success.
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I'm with you guys here. Real life has deadlines ... and consequences for not meeting those deadlines. Personal(ized) learning requires a total growth mindset from both the student and the teacher. I'm not sure I'm there yet. Can't relinquish that control totally. I've tried blending my instruction and that's not going the best. Turning them loose completely scares me.
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they liked it because it was what they picked.
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One of you needs to move. You decide.
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Interesting idea, I would love to see a video of this in action. The teacher must have taught conflict resolution skills. Many students do not have the skills to complete this task. Maybe with the help of a peer mentor, on their own would be difficult depending on the age of the students.
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This is a cool idea. I would also like to know more about how this works in class. I think putting the uncomfortableness on the students might help improve the behavior more quickly.
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Learn from others. I won’t lie. The journey from old school to new learning paradigm was bumpy at first. I tried blended lessons that took less time than planned, had technology failures, chose the wrong method of delivery for various types of content or skills, and generally made every mistake you can imagine. But I didn’t give up, and eventually I had more successes than failures. My students’ input and further pedagogical study helped me refine my lesson planning until I got it right.
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Let students make choices. When I first embarked on this mission, I decided to “release” one piece of the assignment at a time in an effort to control students’ pathway through the material. Since then, I have learned that a more personalized approach to assignments — which is also aligned to the ISTE Standard for Teachers addressing digital age learning experiences and assessments
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One strategy that many teachers use to foster higher levels of interest and engagement is choice. However, research in the past decade has revealed that choice is not necessarily a cure-all for lack luster motivation. While choice can be a powerful motivator, on some occasions it can also have an adverse effect. In other words, not all choices have a positive effect on motivation and achievement. Therefore, it is helpful to consider a few factors that can help teachers design choices that have the potential to positively influence motivation and achievement.
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This is something I struggle with. I might have an amazing class setup, but if the student is not motivated by what I have setup how do I reach them? The struggle is real!
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Lately I've been studying some of the culturally responsive pedagogy discussion protocols that we'll learn more about next year, and the biggest factor that I see repeating is not only should the content be engaging, but some students need support in getting started. Some students need discussion protocols in order to feel like they have a valid voice. I think engagement and inclusion go hand in hand.
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When you want to give students choice, it is often optimal to give them a limited number of options, but be as flexible as possible. Since motivation depends upon an individual’s perceptions of control, purpose, and competence, students may perceive the same set of options differently. For example, when a teacher assigns a research project, some students will prefer to have a broad range of topics, others will prefer a small list of options, and yet others will prefer to be told what to do. Giving students a short list of topics with an option to create their own topic, with the teacher’s approval, often works well.
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math had a purpose in relation to something they cared about.
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collecting data
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This flipped learning setup frees up my students to use classtime to practice their skills.
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I have tried this two years in a row now and just can't get the kids and parents to buy in. In today's day and (digital) age one would think kids would rather watch videos on their favorite device as 'homework' and do their 'homework' at school where there are under lock down anyway. Why can't I get my kids to buy into this concept?
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lack of motivation among students
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Units of study in each learning community are planned around the “big ideas” in each subject area and often have interdisciplinary ramifications.
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For those of you non-elementary folk (of which I am now a part of) this reminds me of the dreaded end of program thematic unit from the late 90's early 2000's. In order to graduate I had to produce a multi week, multi subject area unit covering math science social studies and language arts. Now I think that's easier to pull off when you are the sole teacher. Trying to incorporate something like this in a middle, or god forbid a high school, would be extremely challenging. But I have an idea that centers around baseball if anyone wants to join forces :-) An idea like this has lifelong learning implications.
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believe they will succeed during challenging activities tend to be more motivated
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who, what, when, where, and how questions.
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PLE Articles - 0 views
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As such, teachers must learn to effectively incorporate these social media based initiatives into their lessons.
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I'm curious as to how many teachers are on board to incorporate this into their lesson. Are teachers embracing this or seeing it as a lot of work for them to get it structured?
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I think many teachers are nervous about handing over all of the responsibility of learning to students and computers, but I think technology is best utilized when paired with what is already happening in an engaging student-centered classroom.
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Students loved the ability to personalize their Netvibes portals (themes, templates, layouts) as well as the pre-existing widgets available in Netvibes; they also liked that they could pretty much embed any kind of content in a way that the content really lived on their pages.
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I could see why this would really appeal to a student. If you have to read a book that is basically all beige, it becomes boring real quick. If a student is able to take technology and use the colors they like, put in the themes that interest them, I could see why students would want to engage in learning. They created something that they are interested in. From there, the sky is the limit!
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students had to subscribe to news feeds and blogs, discern the value of social bookmarks, and set up the aggregator to manage all the Internet resources.
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Is anyone else concerned that students seem to be always plugged in? Between computers, cell phones, iPads, video games, etc, kids/teens are always staring at a screen. Any concerns?
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That is a concern I have as well. We seem to lament the fact kids just get together and scroll on their phones at restaurants or whatever, but somehow it is okay for the classroom now? I'm confused by that as well.
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I also have concerns regarding student's technology use. I teach first grade and I have seen a huge change in students' social an coping skills that I think is due in part to constant technology use. My students who are nearly "addicted" to technology have the most difficulty. I think it is important to remember that kids/ people still need human interaction.
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Students engaging in networked learning have to learn to be more self-directed than in the typical classroom… they are required to take a more active role in the learning process. Teachers are challenged to provide the appropriate balance between structured lessons and learner autonomy in order to facilitate self-directed learning.
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After reading this article, it got me wondering about two things...in the future, will some students be able to stay at home a few days of the week instead of going to school? Also, if a teacher implements this and calls in sick, is there a need for a sub? Think of the money a school could save on subs.
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I agree, what is the need of school or classrooms if this can all be done on computers at the student's own pace?
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I think an important aspect of the educational system isn't just learning information, but also about learning to socialize, how to make friends, how to get along with others. I don't think you can teach those skills without face to face interactions. Maybe those skills could be taught by other means, but also parents need/want their children to go to school, so they don't have to pay someone to take care of them, while they work.
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I think teaching them to be self-directed in their learning is important. This is a life skill. We want an autonomous learning environment but also our students to have a growth mindset, be gritty. It is about finding a balance but teacher guidance is still necessary, we are an important part of their support.
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While computerized learning programs do offer great opportunities for students, I don't think teachers can ever be eliminated from teaching/ learning. Not all skills lend themselves well to computerized learning. Also, students need multiple experiences with material to fully master and for the students that need interaction to learn, computers will not be the answer. Lastly, children need to learn social skills and computerized learning at home will not help them learn that.
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Students now have access to desktop computers, smartphones, tablets, smart TVs and game systems that connect them to free online tools that are always available.
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Here is my problem. as a teacher in a district in need, not all students have this technology available tomake this happen.
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This is still an issue for many districts, even the more 'affluent" districts have pockets of need that are difficult to navigate when it comes to internet based activities.
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I realize that many students have access to these devices, and there are great resources for learning on these, but they are also rich with distractions to learning. I struggle with my own children in this area, I have to MAKE them use the learning apps, because if I don't they will wander to Youtube.
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Although many students have access to these tools not all districts/ students do. This creates a gap in student opportunities, learning, and success. Until this year I did not have access to 1-1 computers. This has changed my classroom a great deal and lends to far more opportunities in the past. Also not all students necessarily have these resources or internet at home. Working in a rural community and with mostly at-risk students this is a concern.
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Many students in the first class that tried Symbaloo today commented that they liked the clean, visual interface of Symbaloo and the ease of adding content; they also liked that they could customize the “tiles” they were adding and that their webmixes loaded quickly.
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When you register to use Symbaloo, you gain access to a slick user interface that allows you to create webmixes of your favorite Web sites
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The examples show a huge variety of Web sites. What if a student isn't familiar with more than a few sites, wouldn't they be handicapped?
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Seems to me that this tool will take practice to learn how to really use it and utilize it's features. I had never heard of it until now, and looking it over seems like it could be useful, but takes time to get used to it.
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Jessica, Since we can create more than one webmix I think it would be feasible to have another webmix for these students. Those who can handle the resources could have a larger mix, those who need a simplified version could have another with the important websites. Although it shows a large variety we are ultimately in charge of how vast we want it to be for our students.
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Teachers, she explains, are no longer the primary or even the best source of information available to students, and our work must increasingly attend to supporting students in developing their skills and motivations for becoming themselves networked and sophisticated online learners.
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Although I agree that teachers are no longer the primary or even the best source of information available, I fear that many students are so accustom to being spoon fed information, they view learning as a spectator rather than as an active participant in the process.
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Students often want to "ask Google", which I personally encourage. However, they aren't able to critically examine a source yet. Many adults also cannot examine sources well. This is an important piece missing from education.
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Instead of a teacher providing resources that everyone uses, students can utilize their PLE to acquire information using preferred apps and resources such as blogs, YouTube, Pinterest, Ning or Delicious.
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Students can extend their learning into questions to parents, email conversations, Facebook posts or even twitter hashtags.
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I decided to create a base information dashboard
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learning toward facilitation of students’ “active role in the learning process” and teachers’ provision of the right balance between structured lesso
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This is kind of what I've been looking to hear. In much of this reading about personalized learning I think about a group of 28 elementary aged students and think- "oh my gosh how could some of them ever do this!" The fact is young children still need to learn how to use these tools, process information from them, and then use it to demonstrate their understanding. It is good to hear that teachers are still necessary for the role and students are not completely on their own in their learning! There is a balance.
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The social media platform that supports PLEs creates a perfect space for peer collaboration and sharing information.
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This is an area I would like to do some practice with my students in. Collaboration plays a big role in my classroom but we haven't done much with online peer collaboration aside from Google Docs. I would be interested to see some examples of how other teachers incorporate collaboration with online resources.
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they can create, publish, and share their topic webmixes with their peers so that they can collaborate and discover information sources through this form of networking/information sharing
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These tools provide a medium for students to create their own learning space that is more natural and unique to their interests and learning styles. The concept of PLE is not a way to replace classroom learning, but to enhance it.
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A PLE is the method students use to organize their self-directed online learning, including the tools they employ to gather information, conduct research, and present their findings.
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PLEs place a large amount of responsibility on students and thus requires a high level of self-management and awareness. Not every student is ready for this responsibility, so teachers need to have strategies in place to guide and support these learners.
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This is the part of PLE's that truly scares me. As I've said before, I feel that students often view learning from as a spectator rather than as an active participant. Which makes me curious how I could get these students to take on such responsibility?
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I think parents also need to know and feel how important it is to support the students in this type of learning, and to take some responsibility for overseeing the work and ensuring the use of devices isn't being abused.
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Ashley, that is a great point. While computerized personal learning sounds like it has great benefits, its uniqueness is totally separating the children's school experiences from the parents', and while that may be a good thing in one sense, the parents now have even less involvement in their own children's education, and as a parent and educator, that idea is very unappealing.
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These tiles give you access to Web pages or other webmixes.
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I do not have a Symbaloo yet, but I will soon. My wondering here goes to my current learning management system and whether or not this tool would be easily integrated. Sounds like it would, but I have yet to try.
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I have been using Symbaloo with my first graders for the last two years. (However, not in the same way described here.) My students do not create their own. My school is 1:1 with Chromebooks, so my first graders use Symbaloo to find resources they can use during literacy or math. It works well with any LMS, because students can set their homepage to it or can bookmark it for easy use.
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Because Symbaloo is web-based, you can access your favorite webmixes from different computers. You also can make Symbaloo your start page on any given computer.
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In addition, teachers must pursue training and be knowledgeable of how to utilize PLEs to enhance learning and ensure that students are using this e-learning tool in a meaningful way.
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When they say "meaningful way" here, who should it be most meaningful to? When student driven learning happens, to what degrees should it be meaningful to me as the teacher and to them as a student?
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Good question - a lot of these articles have a lot of advertising-like buzzwords, but not a lot of substance. Is "speed" the highest value or a determiner of "meaning"?
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day-to-day activities and interests both inside and outside of the classroom.
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What I do like about Symbaloo is that if I make any updates to this webmix, students receive the updates as well!
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I have already made several changes to my webmix since I have begun. I love that I can make this easily accessible to students. The automatic update means I can update the classroom webmix to pertain to our learning while eliminating things that become irrelevant. There is nothing more frustrating when a link is embedded and then it no longer works.
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notion of a PLE for students, grounding them intentionally in an environment of information tools and productive applications, is a great way to seek, develop, and structure that balanced approach.
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Truth be told, I could stand to be more savvy in my own organizing of online learning and networking: I’ve been slow to use tools and develop skills for managing online resource, such as the use of vehicles like Symbaloo, Evernote, or Diigo
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Create a personal learning environment with Symbaloo | Instructional Design Fusions - 0 views
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webmixes.
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Symbaloo is a visual, social bookmarking tool that makes it easy to access your personal knowledge management tools.