Group items tagged

"Being connected is not easy. I've spent three years on Twitter building relationships and co-moderating and participating in education chats. I am constantly reading (and writing!) blogs; all this in the pursuit of being a better teacher. Although the time it takes to develop a network is substantial, the benefits of connection far outweigh the efforts."

"Recently, I had the opportunity to record a Google Hangout with four connected educators on "Growing Your PLN." Lyn Hilt (@l_hilt), Nick Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher), Lisa Dabbs (@teachingwthsoul) and Patrick Larkin (@patrickmlarkin) joined the conversation and shared a wealth of advice on how educators can develop a strong personal learning network."

"The Someday/Monday dichotomy captures one of the core challenges in teacher professional development around education technology. On the one hand, deep integration of new learning technologies into classrooms requires substantially rethinking pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, and teacher practice (someday). For technology to make a real difference in student learning, it can't just be an add-on. On the other hand, teachers need to start somewhere (Monday), and one of the easiest ways for teachers to get experience with emerging tools is to play and experiment in lightweight ways: to use technology as an add-on. Teachers need to imagine a new future-to build towards Someday-and teachers also need new activities and strategies to try out on Monday. Both pathways are important to teacher growth and meaningful, sustained changes in teaching and learning."