Removing barriers to MEANINGFUL technology use!
Episode 4: Building a personal/professional learning network
Over the past few years I have been on a journey of my own in my experimentation with technology in my classroom, and I remember so well the scary and frustrating moments where I questioned my own motivations for incorporating technology. There were many stopping points for me along the way where I spent a lot of time searching for answers to questions and for solutions to problems. And it is in reflection of this that I’m offering the topic of today’s show: building a educational technology professional learning community that can surround and support you in your own journey.
The reality is that motivated teachers need to find ways to work more collaboratively and efficiently to train themselves on the use of technology that will enhance the education of our students. So let’s look at a couple of tools to get you started to help you build your professional technology network.
Popular podcasts
The most important piece of my professional learning community has been the podcasters that I have adopted into my life. I want to share a few great starting tips that will get you on the road to implementing this essential element into your web of professional growth.
- Find someone you like listening to. Someone where you like the sound of their voice, and the quality of their advice.
- Find someone who updates regularly. Podcasters start and stop their podcasts every day, and as a result, their isn’t that guarantee of longevity. Finding someone who has invested the time and the effort to produce regularly over a long period of time is the best bet you will find in the podcasting world.
- Find an aggregator that you feel comfortable with. The two aggregators that I use are: 1) Itunes and 2) Juice.
And here are a few of the shows I strongly recommend for teachers who are truly interested in finding more ways to get technology into your classroom instruction.
- Ed Tech Talk Weekly Round-up: This is a show for those of you who want a lot of links to new instructional technology tools, resources, and articles.
- The Tech Teachers by Ray and Holley: I like this show because the hosts are passionate about the use of technology in their classroom and in their daily lives.
- Tech Chick Tips: These ladies are fantastic, practical and tech savvy, but they always focus on how the technology can solidly integrate into the classroom seamlessly.
Best blogs
Another way of connecting on the Internet is through the more standard use of text. Here are a few links for those of you looking for recommendations. However, searching for blogs is something that anyone can do, and you really need to find a blog that speaks to you and that you will actually keep up with.
http://www.jameslogancourier.org/ 2007 Winner for the Weblog Award for Best Education Blog
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/02/AR2007010200468_pf.html This is a list from Jay Matthews, a Washington Post Education Columnist, in which he compiles links to his favorite education blogs.
Finally, I’m inserting a link to the 2008 Edublogs Awards page. There you can search through the nominations and categories to find blogs/resources that you really like and could learn something new from: http://edublogawards.com/2008/
Join an online community
In the Web 2.0 world, there are communities of educators and educational thinkers and decisions makers that are uniting in one piece of online real estate. By becoming an active member you gain the “networked” status that so many professionals attend time-sapping conferences for.
Classroom 2.0 : This is an online community of nearly 15,000 members focused on the uses of technology, specifically web 2.0 tools, in the classroom.
Essentially, Twitter is a type of social networking tool. I “grew”my network and found that the people I followed were doing interesting things and were adding interesting content to Twitter. As a result, I was getting interesting links each day.
I’ve dropped a link to a list of some of the top people to add to your Twitter network into the show notes. This is one place to go right away after signing up for a Twitter account. Trust me, Twitter is useless without a network, so that is really one of the first things you want to do. http://blogs.msdn.com/alfredth/archive/2008/11/29/top-10-education-people-to-follow-on-twitter.aspx
If you are interested in following me on Twitter, you can add me: brianyearling
Tech Trials: Wetheteachers.com
This week in tech trials, I want to share a resource that I’ve just found and that I am experimenting with as we speak.
We the teachers was founded by a couple, Nate and Amy, who saw a need for a free online community where resources (lesson plans and files) could be shared between teachers. From the description on the page, it sounds as if the couple is committed to keeping the resource free and open for teachers to collaborate online. It is free to join, and there are many benefits to being a member of the community.
Members of the community can upload their best lesson plans, can join groups online, and can upload their best files for all to share. They can also download those same files from people across the country and across the world, so it is a site that is definitely worth a look for any teachers interested in gaining an instant community of teachers to connect with.
Episode 3: Have you had your wiki today?
In this episode of Getting Tech Into Ed, Brian talks about one of his favorite Web 2.0 innovations: The WIKI. Trained to use these tools properly, educators have some of the most transformational, innovative tools they can imagine in their hands (and most often for completely free). The wiki can totally liberate educators and can provide opportunities for students to share their thoughts/ideas/learning with an authentic audience. In this show, Brian gives several ideas to listeners.
Sidenotes: Getting tech into ed by owning the changes
The 21st Century is here. In fact, it has been here for a while. Yet, as is typical with anything in education, change toward embracing 21st century teaching/learning environments in public schools is comparable to the progress of a moving glacier.
And there are reasons for this overwhelmingly slow response to change in a rapidly changing world. Lots of reasons. Lack of budgetary support. Lack of time. Lack of knowledge. Lack of support. Lack of professional development. Lack of interest. On the surface, these all seem like legitimate points. How can we bring in new technology and utilize it properly if schools don’t have the money to afford the equipment? How can we be expected to fit this expectation into an already jam packed year filled with mandatory curriculum? How can we be expected to utilize technology properly in an educational environment if we don’t have the professional development training to instruct us on how do so? As you can imagine (and probably can add to), the list of valid questions continues on.
But what if educators choose to look at this movement differently than we’ve looked at so many others? (More on this in a minute.)
Over the course of my teaching career (which I’ll admit has not been that long), I have been impressed with the continuous incoming flow of “eduspeak” that has been thrown my way. Professional learning communities. Six traits of writing. Six plus one traits of writing. Differentiation. All kinds of talk about assessment. Classroom management strategies and professional development strategies and planning strategies and… well, you get the picture. And what I’ve consistently noticed is that not one of these has been something I have had to seek out. They have found me.
In fact, it seems that the channels and gateways by which these educational movements and catch phrases move about our community of educators always seem to be wide open, yet I don’t know of any teachers who have the ability to influence which of those catch phrases and movements we will grasp onto and hold true to. Somehow, whether through administrative leadership or the suggestions of members of Boards of Education, these initiatives become district initiatives. As initiatives, they are repeated as elements within district mottos, are painted on walls and plastered on handouts at staff meetings, and they become a part of the “language” used by Curriculum Directors in the district.
Have you ever wondered when you, as the educator who actually stands in front of that classroom of students each day, would have an opportunity to choose an initiative that you believed in? Perhaps the time (or the opportunity) has come.
We know that technology is the future for our students. We know that a solid foundation in 21st century skills is the essential literacy of generations of students today and well into the future. And, as educators, providing students with those essential skills is an initiative that most of us can support.
So, what if educators chose to look at movement of integrating technology with solid educational practices differently? What if educators made the choice to embrace 21st century skills as a step in the right direction for education? What if educators began to take the lead on finding ways to overcome budget and time constraints, to seek out and provide our own forms of professional development, and to take an initiative we whole-heartedly believed in to our administrators and boards as the direction we would like to see our schools go in?
The blending of quality instruction with seamless utilization of technology is a movement that educators can and should support. By recognizing this sooner rather than later, we have the unique opportunity to encourage our districts to move in a direction that we believe in and that we know will make a positive difference in the lives of our students (not only while they are in our classrooms, but while they work and live in a world unlike one we have ever witnessed before). When teachers begin to “own” the movement that embraces the integration of technology, we also begin to fully commit ourselves to the initiatives of our districts and to the overall direction of education.
And that’s not all we stand to gain (although that seems like an awful lot). Fully embracing this type of initiative earns us the respect of our students and their parents, our administrators, and possibly even our communities (a respect that, as is proven with each referendum that is shot down and each contract negotiation that falls short of its initial goals, is not what it perhaps once was). Additionally, educators gain the power that accompanies visionary leadership (the power we give up each time we allow some other party to choose an initiative that we feel uncommitted to and often choose not to support). These are elements that should not be the focus in choosing to acknowledge the power of Instructional Technology in education, but they are certainly excellent perks!
So, what stands in our way? Why don’t educators embrace this opportunity to finally push forward and “own” an initiative within their schools? Well, status quo is one likelihood. Lack of knowledge is another. Piles of excuses aren’t far behind, I’m sure.
But when we get down to what really matters — doing what is right for students– it seems like grasping this initiative is a worthwhile and meaningful venture. And when we can focus on that…and begin to organize…educators can begin to “own” this truly progressive change in education.
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