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I have led professional development, and shaped a series of professional development classes, to assist teachers in the adoption of one to one laptop programs. Saying that, I couldn't agree with this blog post more. The dynamic change in resource for teachers, and the ever shifting landscape of technology, makes many teachers feel a sense of frustration in attempting to get a handle on what's "out there". This post articulates, and I believe my experience validates, that the answer to engaging these issues does not lie in more and more professional development, but rather, assisting teachers in the creation of their own learning networks for both support and guidance. PLN's are not only more effectual, professional development is expensive. I brought someone in to help our teachers establish personal PLN's, but I don't believe I properly considered how important this was to the process. As I'm quickly learning, PLN creation and engagement may well be at the foundation of any school transformation. ts

If I were to be honest (and I guess, why not), I would like to develop professional development that would assist learners toward meaningful understanding and engagement of PLN's. For me, the missing link is the PLE. I'm still grappling with that myself. What should my computer screen look like? I get your dingo's, the elephant head thing, tweetering, et al. I still struggle with a mental picture of how my new computer screen looks. What exactly is going on there? I think that is step one in this. Somehow. I'm going to figure this out. Somehow. And yes, I get the irony of posting a PD is dead reflection-and than wanting to create PD. Kind of not functionally getting it.....still missing something visually.....hmmmmm.....(love the process though:)..... ts

Timothy, I am confident that by the end of the term you will have a handle on this brave new world- including your computer screen.

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 :)

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.

Whether you are looking for a little added information on what you are already studying in school or would like to connect with others who share your interests as a business professional or avid hobbyist, these online communities all offer an excellent opportunity to continue your search for knowledge. From reading to learning a new language to becoming a financial wizard to travel to saving the Earth, these groups offer a chance for learning as well as reaching out to others online.

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.

As an online 9-12 teacher and parent of three teenagers, I know that the majority of students have Facebook accounts and spend time each day socializing through this technology median. I have often accused Facebook as being a distraction from homework and "real socializing". This article helps me rethink the use of Facebook. The old adage comes to mind, "If you can't beat them, join them". I loved the practical suggestions this paper brings forth, such as making my own "Teacher Profile" that they can keep as a friend. Through this means, students will be able to chat with me about homework whenever we are online, as well as visit my page for useful resources. Sure we can introduce other software programs to provide these teacher interaction services to students such as e-mail, Moodle and Pronto, but why not work with a program they already know and love...In addition, the topic of Facebook profiles and postings can also provide "meaningful" classroom discussions about ethics and self dignity. Thank you, Amy Brown for putting this resource together.

When I first started using Facebook, I was determined to keep it exclusively made up of my real friends. I was living abroad at the time so it was a great way to stay in touch with friends. As it gained in popularity I started getting requests from students which, even though I primarily teach adults, I ignored out of a sense of professionalism. Eventually I did friend a few students who I considered actual friends and that opened the floodgates to friend requests from every student. I felt obligated to accept them and before long I couldn't use Facebook without second-guessing everything I posted and worrying about what my friends might post. I only used Facebook as an email alternative for a few years before I became confident in the privacy settings and once again felt comfortable that I really was only socializing with my friends and not also every student, distant relative and elementary school classmate I had ever had. I think the moral of the story is that instead of using Facebook as the One True Social Network, it's better to have smaller, more specialized social networks for different purposes, such as an EduBlog set up for one individual class.

John you bring up really good points. I share the same concerns and try not to accept every friend request I receive or offer friendship just because I recognize a name.

Visit this presentation website to learn how educators can use Web 2.0 tools to communicate and collaborate with peers and learn about some of the newest tools teachers are using to support their own professional learning goals. Contains links to a number of PLN resources.

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

This was an interesting blog post that essentially asks, is it better to remain uninformed? This is a very real question for the passionate educator. Once one connects in to best practices, it can become increasingly difficult to abide in the current practice of one's own school. As an example, my wife is a nationally board certified teacher, she works in a private school with great resources (her third grade classroom is one to one laptops) , but through fairly poor leadership, the technology largely remains outside the circle of meaningful practice in her school. Her peers largely rejected any thought of instructional transformation, and as a result, her school has essentially provided every student a laptop computer to utilize as a sixth textbook, or a word processor. Being a progressive educator, engaging in professional reading, and attending conferences, can be incredibly frustrating when one understands the possibilities and sees dynamic change occurring elsewhere. It's almost like you are standing outside the gate, seeing the party, but have no means of entering. This might seem like whining, and the comments in the post somewhat bear that out, but it is part of the burden one must assume in working to create change. So, is ignorance bliss? In all honesty, sometimes it can feel so.... ts

If I may... There just may be areas of life about which we are better off not knowing, but I'm not sure. Then again, I'm happy that many hostile biologists do not possess the sequence and the genetic code for the small pox virus. Your addition to this page does raise some interesting questions.

Whenever I read or hear "Ignorance is bliss" I can't help but see thee image of Cypher chomping down on a huge steak in the Matrix. While there are definitely areas in life where mankind should remain ignorant (nobody wants that seventh grader bringing a laser gun to class), teachers being more aware of better practices or what's happening in more technologically advanced schools is one of them. Seeing these new ideas can lead the teacher to ask, "How can I make that work in my classroom even if I don't have everything they have?" At least a passionate educator might. The dispassionate educator probably isn't even utilizing a PLN.

I choose this article because I'm looking for a discussion of how PLCs and PLEs are different. While I think it may be more about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, this did allow me to read more about how social capital plays a role in PLCs.

I thought this was an interesting example of how to use the "list" functionality of Twitter to create a professional learning community for people interested in virtual worlds. Note they recommend Hootsuite and Tweetdeck for organizing your Twitter account. I use both of these and find they help.

Commons In A Box (CBOX) is a free software project aimed at turning the infrastructure that successfully powers the CUNY Academic Commons into a free, distributable, easy-to-install package. Commons In A Box is a project of the City University of New York and the Graduate Center, CUNY and is made possible by a generous grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. CBOX takes the complexity out of creating a Commons site, helping organizations create a space where their members can discuss issues, collaborate on projects, and share their work.

A comprehensive listing of social networks used in educational environments. It includes links to topic areas that may be of use to teachers in this course. For example- art.

Glori- This is a really cool page!! I just scrolled through it and looked at some of the links. It is so helpful that people work so hard to create these "compilation sites" for those of us that have such limited time to do hours of surfing on the net to find sites we need to use for school, work, etc. Super cool!! Thanks!

How helpful! I love how these sites are divided into sections of what we are interested in. I will come back to this page several times during the next year. Thanks for finding this!