Connecting to Students Outside of the Classroom | MediaCAST Blog. We’re excited to bring you a guest post from Jordan Mendys today, bio follows. Most of your students are already using Facebook. Try including it in class assignments to increase conversation and participation. When most people think about Facebook and the classroom, it tends to bring thoughts of slackers on smart phones ignoring teachers and professors. There is enough evidence to support this, but that doesn’t mean that Facebook doesn’t play a role in academia.
In fact, once outside of the class, there are plenty of ways that you can use Facebook to increase the success of your students. Whether it brings in parental involvement, or encourages after school topical conversations, this social media tool can be properly used to create a great academic environment. Engage Students One thing that Facebook allows is creating groups and other pages. Accountability By making students join these groups and have required discussions, you will get more accountability from the students. 21st Century Collaborative | The Connected Educator. What’s different about this book? The Connected Educator is about Learner first, educator secondConnected Learning Communities – the next generation of professional learning communitiesDo It Yourself professional developmentBecoming a connected learner The time has come to reject incremental change and to radically transform education to fully prepare students for life in the 21st century.
The Connected Educator is about the need for teachers in the Digital Age to exploit the transformative potential of emerging technologies on behalf of their students and their own professional growth. In the professional development model we describe, teachers and school leaders work together in local and global networks, connecting, collaborating and harvesting knowledge they apply in their schools and classrooms. Through their participation in Connected Learning Communities, educators develop shared visions, common goals, and beliefs around principled change. A Day in the Life of a Connected Educator. How 'Disruptive Innovation' Will Change the Way We Learn.
Published Online: June 3, 2008 Published in Print: June 4, 2008, as How 'Disruptive Innovation' Will Change The Way We Learn Commentary By Clayton M. Christensen, Michael B. Horn, & Curtis W. Johnson All students learn differently. Academic research increasingly supports this notion. In addition, within each type of intelligence or aptitude, people have different learning styles. Just as it is intuitive to us that we learn differently from one another, it is also intuitive that because of this, each of us needs a different, customized learning approach to maximize his or her potential.
Yet, there is far more standardization than customization in schools. Why is this? To see why, picture Microsoft Windows. If the goal is to educate every student to the highest potential, schools need to move away from this monolithic classroom model... Contrast this with a modular product or service architecture. That schools have gotten so little back from their investment comes as no surprise. Clayton M. Resources for connected educators.
Parents, Teachers, Schools Communicating Online. Uncategorized Crocker In just about 15 minutes, I’ll join the parents of Crocker Highlands Elementary School, where my daughter will begin second grade, in finding out her classroom assignment. As is the tradition every year, parents and students are standing around the entrance of the school right now, where the students’ names will be listed under their new teachers. I can’t join them in person this year since I’m still at work, but if everything goes according to plan, we’ll find out at the same time.
The school is sending our Yahoo email group the password to the page on the website that lists the classroom assignment. Even if school administrators were not able to provide this convenience for those who couldn’t be there, I would have texted friends to find out. Related Explore: Technology in Schools. For Educators, the Importance of Making Meaningful Connections. Culture By Matt Levinson It’s connected educator month. There’s a flurry of activity among teachers and administrators looking to connect through Twitter and other social media to advance their learning, especially as a new school year looms. As schools gear up and prepare for a new school year with technology increasingly ubiquitous, now’s the time to consider how schools can create a positive impact with technology. Professor Alec Couros captures the essential element for schools to keep in mind as they move forward with technology initiatives. In an interview with Howard Rheingold for Digital Media and Learning, he comments on the need to focus on “what will endure,” the importance of connections and relationships to help foster, build and sustain the life of the “networked” teacher.
Stanford University’s d.School has started offering a course called d.Compress – Designing Calm, to have students tackle and address the issue of digital balance and mindfulness. So what can schools do? Teachers Guide to The 21st Century Learning Model : Connected Learning. In the last Digital and Learning Conference that took place in San Francisco, researchers and scholars cited an ever-widening gap between what they considered in-school learning and out-of-school learning. The abyss between the two types of learning is growing wider and wider as more and more students are having free unlimited access to all kinds of information online. For them school curricula are boring as they teach things that are not immediately related to their everyday lives. This is why disengagement, short attention span, and lack of motivation are among the most alarmingly challenging issues confronting every teacher today.
Researchers in Digital Media and Learning Conference stressed upon the fact that for learning to be effective, it definitely needs to be " interest-driven and reinforced in the different contexts of kids lives by parents, educators, and knowledgeable peers. " This model of learning is what they called Connected Learning Features of Connected Learning. MACE Activity Guide. Workshop. Five Tips for New Teachers to Become Connected Educators. Editor's Note: Connected Educator Month (CEM) was launched by the Department of Education in August 2012, and this year, it's being held in October. This post from Lisa Dabbs is a great primer for becoming a connected educator, and it's a must-read for CEM. (Updated 10/2013) This month, the U.S. Department of Education kicked off Connected Educator Month, with engaging keynotes, panel discussions, book chats, and more. During this month, educators in the U.S. and globally will have opportunities to connect themselves and their communities, online and in-person, to support their professional practice.
While the idea of being or becoming a connected educator is important, as a new teacher, this may seem completely overwhelming. Having said that, I'd like to chunk this Connected Educator Learning Month opportunity into five educator "Be-Attitudes" that might be easier for a new or pre-service teacher to embrace. Be sure to read each one and give us some feedback. What is Web 2.0? The Connected Science Teacher. It's summertime: time to relax, refresh and get connected. Joining an online community of science teachers is a great way to find resources, inspiration and like-minded colleagues to collaborate with as you re-tool your courses for the next school year. The list below is a good starting point to find a community or two that meets your needs. However, the list is not exhaustive. Use the comment section to share any online groups or communities that you find valuable!
Edutopia's STEM Group This group has over 2000 members engaged in discussion and sharing ideas. Scitable Scitable is a social network created by Nature Publishing Group. My Moon My Moon is an irreverent co-moon-ity from the Lunar Planetary Institute that is focused on connecting those "under 35" to resources, experts and other information about lunar exploration. Edmodo's Science Community This community connects thousands of Edmodo-using science teachers to each other. The NSTA Learning Center The Synapse National Lab Network. Resources for Growing Your Professional Learning Network. Get ideas and tips for creating connections and developing a network. Where do you find time for brainstorming with colleagues? Whether collaboration takes place in well-organized professional learning communities or on the fly in hallway chats, chances are it doesn't happen often enough during the regular school year.
Yet research shows that networking with fellow teachers is time well spent. In a recent survey, Teachers Network found that 80 percent of teachers said network participation encouraged them to remain in the classroom, while 90 percent said that networking improved their teaching practice. A personal network doesn't eliminate the need for high-quality professional development, but it does offer a powerful antidote for classroom isolation. Neil Stephenson, who blogs at Thinking In Mind, offers this quick illustration to show the power of networks: "One day, I see kids in our school doing a really cool looking art project.
Online tools allow you to build a far-flung network. How to Use Twitter to Grow Your PLN. For many people, Twitter conjures up the worst of the internet: disjointed, meaningless phrases, unrecognizable abbreviations, and endless drivel about where someone's getting their double mocha today. So, Why Tweet?!?! For the inquisitive educator, there are some jewels herein that can lead to stimulating discussions, new resources, and an ongoing supportive network. You just have to know where to look. To that end, here is a list of educationally focused chats that we recommend (listed by day): Chat for educators teaching 4th grade #4thchat Mondays 8pm ET/5pm PT/7pm CT Chat for educators teaching social studies #sschat Mondays 7pm ET/4pm PT/6pm CT Chat for music educators #musedchat Mondays 8pm ET/5pm PT Chat for ELL educators #ellchat Mondays 9pm ET/6pm PT Kindergarten Chat #kinderchat Mondays 9pm ET/6pm PT General education chat #edchat Tuesdays 12 noon ET/ 9am PT 7pm ET/4pm PT Chat for science educators #scichat Tuesdays 9pm ET/6pm PT Chat for arts educators #artsed Thursdays 7pm ET/4pm PT.
21st-Century PLNs for School Leaders. As many school administrators are enjoying their summer break, we all tend to think of ways that we can make our school better in the upcoming year. Often, I point school principals and district leaders to a powerful post by Will Richardson that helps us point the finger right at ourselves when we are looking to push our school ahead. Richardson states: "Meaningful change ain't gonna happen for our kids if we're not willing to invest in it for ourselves first. At the heart, it's not about schools . . . it's about us. " With that being said, I have spent the last few years focusing a great deal on my work as an instructional leader within my role as school-based principal, and now as division principal. So for the administrator new to the world of social media and all of the possibilities that it holds for developing instructional leadership, here are three ways that I would suggest starting to learn this summer 1) Start a Twitter Account "Go the way, know the way, show the way.
" Conclusion. Connected Principals | Sharing. Learning. Leading. Admin: Single Click. English Companion Ning - Where English teachers go to help each other. Edutechification / How Schools are Using Social Media [Infographic] Pros and Cons of Social Media in Education. Starter-kit-final. Connectedness as the Standard. I am extremely excited that August is Connected Educator month. In my opinion, being a connected learner, leader, and/or educator is no longer an option. My personal and professional journey in this area is well documented and something that I regularly present on. When I think back to my life as an educator prior to becoming connected, I can honestly say that I was isolated, naive, and definitely not as well rounded as I am today.
Image by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano- www.langwitches.org/blog based on image (CC) by Alec Couros- /educationaltechnology.ca/couros/799 We become the epicenter of our learning and determine what, where, and when we want to learn. Your PLN will provide you with the seeds of change, but is up to you to plant, take care of, and cultivate them in order to witness their growth and development into transformative culture elements. What do you think are some of the benefits of becoming connected that I might not have touched on? A Day in the Life of a Connected Educator [infographic] | Edutechification. Connected Educator Month.