Group items tagged

This article on PLC's is a good one. It goes over the definition of a PLC and explains why they are now so commonplace in education. I highlighted the key point, "suggesting that when teachers had opportunities for collaborative inquiry and the learning related to it, they were able to develop and share a body of wisdom gleaned from their experience." Because I think it sums up all the reasons why PLC's are now being utilized so often in education. Research has proven that when PLC's are utilized effectively in schools, student learning improves greatly.

Article from National Middle School Association's Middle School Journal about misunderstandings and misrepresentations of PLCs

I guess I wasn't expecting to see all of the highlights and sticky notes listed out here. I hope I did this correctly!

Interesting display that I didn't expect! Thanks for exploring this tool with us, Libby :)

Similar to parts of Edutopia and the WordPress Buddypress plugin, TeachAde hosts a number of useful discussion groups and offers plenty of free education resources. Billing itslef as "the first social networking website designed specifically for educators that is completely free and easy to use," TeachAde promises a host of activities, nearly 60,000 resources, core materials, a daily digital planner, and even a 'find a colleague' feature that I personally find the most compelling reason to try out the site. After all, isn't connected learning all about actually, you know, connecting with your fellow learners? TeachAde holds great promise and all the parts are there. Now it just needs your help and input. I've been tinkering with TeachAde for a few weeks now and it's proven to be very useful for finding peer-reviewed resources.

I really liked this article. Online learning can be so overwhelming because of the amount of information available. Tagging is a great way to organize your discussions by topic, which save a huge amount of time. I could visualize using this when you are using a social network for a class, and you discuss various topics. Tagging would allow you to keep track of each topic separately.

As a teacher of English to non-natives I was curious to see if there were any existing social networks for language learners. I found this one, called KanTalk, that uses Skype to allow people to connect and practice their English. Users can select a topic and they will be directed to a page with a relevant video clip from YouTube, a few discussion questions, a short reading text and a few vocabulary words. When they are ready to practice speaking, they can choose a partner from a list of registered users and invite them to chat on Skype. If the partner accepts, the two can then use the discussion questions as prompts for a conversation. The users can also record themselves speaking and listen to/comment on other learners recordings. Learners can form and join groups based on interests, culture, exams or any other criteria they choose. KanTalk seems to be a clever way to add a social network framework to an existing technology for educational purposes

Very interesting concept, I love how the platform makes learning connections not only through its portal but by utilizing Skype. I heard today that there are more people that have Skype accounts than gmail accounts. I'm using Skype a lot more in my work lately, how about you?

That is a very cool site an idea! I may have to check that one out because I am moving to Germany soon, maybe our family could benefit from this site to learn German!

This article describes what social networking is and why teachers should use it in schools. It brings up a lot of good questions about how social networking can be used in the classroom. The article also addresses a lot of the issues involved in bringing this type of technology into the classroom.

Check out http://academia.edu/

I am now a member and follower! Looks like a great place to network and find jobs.

This article reviews and synthesizes current practices and thoughts on how Web 2.0 allows for participatory/networked learning. It references Gee 2004's affinity spaces, Jenkins et al. 2006's participatory culture and Wenger 1998's communities of practices. I found the author's components of Web 2.0 spaces to be useful especially for whenever I may need to explain the essentials of a social network. These components were listed as presence, modification, user-generated content and social participation. I also found the author's use of the DJ metaphor to explain re-appropriation and remixing of content to be helpful.

I think you will find this video a helpful summary describing visually why educators should consider crating and participating in a personal learning network.

Thanks for sharing Glori! I enjoyed listening and watching the Youtube video. I then watched quite a few more to get a better handle on what a PLN is and how to set my own PLN up. It also allowed me to see that I already do some of the aspects of a PLN but did not know it. This will help in creating my own PLN.

This is one of the fastest-rising educational social networks you should know about. Twiducate got me excited from the start with the unique approach to setting up your classroom online: the teacher does all the work and then students just get a simple code to punch in. Then, voila! They're all set up and have an account! Twiducate was started in 2009 and focuses on giving teachers more control than they'd typically expect to find in a free social network. Twiducate is all about creating a "safer online learning environment" and it shows. The site, even from the start as I mentioned, takes great care in putting the power of the tool in the hands of the teacher. Whether you agree with the tact or not, it's worth checking out Twiducate.

I think that this slideshare presentation provided an interesting perspective on where social networks have come from historically as well as their uses. On slide number 27, the author points out that because of how social networks have developed, students really expect them to be used as a social outlet, not necessarily an educational one. As we work to harness the potential that exists within social networks to be effective learning environments, we have to recognize and utilize the medium in those ways that students understand and expect. The author points out 3 particular ways to best harness these networks for educational purposes. First, by defining goals from the introduction. We have to be upfront with our students about the purposes of the network, how we expect the tools to be utilized, and the professional manner in which we will be utilizing the network. Second, by staying on topic. The instructor plays the critical role in maintaining the focus of the class on the specified topic. And third, clear participation rules. Students have to understand how they are expected to participate. How often, with whom, and what will constitute adequate participation will all have to be addressed. I liked these points of discussion because they are relevant to every kind of social network, not whatever is the current flavor of the day. Honesty with our students about the purpose and expectations for conduct apply just like in a regular classroom. The exciting part is all of the additional tools that are available for students to commmunicate and collaborate which simply do not exist in a traditional classroom. The asynchronous nature of it all is a unique aspect that changes the way we look at class interactions. Social networks are like any other tool. We have to understand how to use it before it can bring about the results we desire.

I like this site, especially the link to social networking, which is why we are here. Seems like a great tool for the classroom too!

Todd, I found the challenges section interesting- that students expect social networks to be just that- social- rather than educational. We will need to keep this in mind and address it as we utilize SNL. There suggestions for keeping things running smoothly are also helpful- define goals, stay on topic, and have clear participation rules.

This blog is in response to the Lee County School District and their policy of use on Facebook with teachers and current students. The blog is well thought out with various views. The author, Karl, is a professor, consultant, speaker, scholar, and expert on the convergence of learning, technology and business operations. He seems to have a good knowledge base to make his argument.

This article in the First Coast News is about how the Lee County School District is limiting teachers use of Facebook with current students. It is a very interesting take on how to use a social network site and learning.

This is a really good blog on how to start developing your own PLN. The blog suggests 5 steps to follow to get started and offers some websites to visit. At the end, the blogger provides additional resources if needed.

I really like this blog that you found. The clip has some great inside on PLN. My favorite part of this blog is that the steps to get started on developing a PLN are simple yet detailed enough to make sense and there are several resources listed.

This article was useful to me because I have recently started to use Twitter in my own classroom as a way to get information out to other teachers as well as a tool for me to find other resources. The questions that this article presented for me are how many teachers out there use Twitter? I am constantly trying to find data to support my use, just in case the principal gets a nasty email or phone call about it. I have had nothing but positive thoughts from parents on the use of Twitter, but that could change is the wrong person found out. I have actually became a little more at ease since reading this article. I now have a good resource to finding other links on Twitter and this is something that I can show my principal to support the use of Twitter.

Keefe, This article was useful because it demystified the Personal Learning Network (PLN) usefulness for educational purposes. Some of the questions that the article prompted for me was how to utilize Twitter. I especially enjoyed reading about how Twitter was used for professional research networking. I feel that short tweets can lead to ground breaking theories that have not been presented on the internet. I also noted that there were 38 blog posts for this article. Thanks for sharing your insights. Brenda Janot

Andy Carvin is the host of this PBS blog that covers everything from the extent to which teachers are obligated to police the social networks to a student nearly being expelled for administering a facebook study group for his college course. The posts were thought provoking as were some of the responses.