Connected Education is Elementary. “We are all born curious, creative, and imaginative. And the best schools—from pre-K to graduate school—continue to develop these capabilities in students. They do so not by delivering more-of-the-same education, but rather a very different education.” Wagner When we think about connected education, our minds usually bring us to teenagers and older students who create digital portfolios using the latest tools. We often think of how we need to teach these older students about media literacy so they can negotiate their way through research without falling into the trap of using sources that are inaccurate. When educators think of connected education they typically do not think about primary school children, and that is something that needs to change because our students are coming to us computer literate at a very young age.
Can a 3 year old really negotiate their way around an iPad? Using the Computer as a Reward As life went on, it became popular for schools to have computer labs. Your Best Year Yet as an ELT Teacher! 20+ Free PD Events & Resources. “A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. Sail out to sea and do new things.” ~ Grace Hopper January is when we are most motivated to accomplish goals, and motivation is the key to accomplishing any goal and improving ourselves. Unfortunately, staying motivated throughout the year is tough.
Four years ago, I found my answer by developing a Personal/ Passionate Learning Network (PLN). What’s a PLN? A PLN consists of the people we choose to interact with and derive knowledge from in our various social networks and online learning spaces. Free Online Learning! #ELTchat- Join several language teachers worldwide on Twitter to discuss various topics you get to vote for and suggest. EVO Sessions- For five weeks in January and February, English language teaching experts and teachers in over 100 countries engage in collaborative online discussions or hands-on virtual workshops. Edublogs Live Events- Every week, attend a free webinar on various topics. Shelly Terrell. How do you feel you have developed as a teacher in the last 12 months? What has helped you? How do you feel you have developed as a teacher in the last 12 months? What has helped you? By Shelly Sanchez Terrell The average teacher has an impact on nearly 3000 students in their lifetime.
Imagine what we could achieve by inspiring 3000 students? With this in mind, I take my mission as an educator very seriously. What’s a PLN? A PLN consists of the people we choose to interact with and derive knowledge from in our various social networks and online learning spaces. The Power of Crowdsourcing and Co-learning Four years ago, I wanted to test the power of improving myself with the help of my Personal/ Passionate Learning Network (PLN). This year was one of the most transformational years of the 30 Goals Challenge. With this in mind, I decided to create the 30 Goals Facebook group and encourage teachers to vote on the goals and propose their own goals. Could You Create Your Own Textbook with 400+ Teachers? The 13 most-read posts from 2013. A “Connected Educators Month” in the United States — the rapid rise of Twitter PD — the coming of age of the Personal Learning Network.
No question: It’s been an historic year for connected professionals, including PLP’s extended family of teacher and school leaders. Here’s just one example: the Top 13 Most-Read Posts by our Voices from the Learning Revolution group bloggers for the year just past. Each article listed here scored more than 4,000 pageviews during 2012. Now’s a great time to read (or re-read) them, as you resolve to connect and make a difference in 2013! Flipping Bloom’s Taxonomy Shelley Wright May 15 23,919 I think the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy is wrong. The Flip: End of a Love Affair Shelley Wright October 8 21,528 Many teachers who opt for the flipped classroom strategy are not pursuing a student-centered approach to teaching and learning, says Shelley Wright. Live from the iPad Summit Jennifer Carey November 15 6,535 Blogging: The New Persuasive Essay I Used to Think… Get Engaged: Tips for Building Your PLN | DyKnow.
Building and extending your professional learning network (PLN) outside the walls of your school and boundaries of your state can be a breath of fresh air for new ideas and troubleshooting age-old dilemmas. Here are a few tips for meeting new thought leaders like yourself as well as helping others improve their engagement with the rest of the education technology world.
What other events would you add? Do you have a favorite blog we should know about? Be sure to share your thoughts below! 1. Get Reading Our team stays up to date with innovative ideas and resources by regularly checking these great blogs. 2. It is a difficult task to choose the top educators tweeting about technology in the classroom, but these leaders continuously provide excellent resources and personal experiences everyone can learn from. George Couros- @gcourosNicholas Provenzano- @thenerdyteacherRichard Byrne- @rmbyrneDavid Andrade- @daveandcoriJason Markey- @jmarkeyapAnnie Murphy Paul- @anniemurphypaul 3. 4. 5. Power of a Positive Digital Footprint – A Personal Story. Joe Mazza — Educational Leadership 2.0. The Best Guides For Helping Teachers Develop Personal Learning Networks. Personal Learning Networks (PLN) is the phrase often used to describe connections that educators develop with other educators throughout the world by using online social media.
I’ve previously written more specifically about how ESL/EFL teachers can best create this kind of network, but I thought it would be useful to bring together a broader collection of resources that could be used as guides by any educator. Please feel free to offer additional suggestions in the comments. Here are my choices for The Best Guides For Helping Teachers Develop Personal Learning Networks: “PLN Yourself” by Sue Waters 5 Things You Can Do to Begin Developing Your Personal Learning Network at the Innovative Educator Building your own PLN with Twitter at Teach Me Tech Build A PLN: A Newbie’s Guide at a Teacher’s Thoughts The Best Ways ESL/EFL/ELL Teachers Can Develop Personal Learning Networks A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Blogs & Blogging A Beginning List Of The Best Resources For Learning About Facebook.
Making the right connections. By Barbara IschingerDirector for Education It’s becoming clear to me that the crisis in youth unemployment around the world is not just one of the aftershocks of the global economic downturn, but may also have roots in education systems that are not adequately preparing students for 21st-century economies. I took that message to a regional conference on Promoting Youth Employment in North Africa, held in Tunis in mid-July, where I presented not only the OECD Skills Strategy but also discussed the importance of improving the quality of education and of teachers, and of making quality education accessible to all.
Some 41% of 15-24 year-olds in Tunisia are unemployed – a statistic that is devastating in the present and potentially catastrophic for the future of the country and the region. In more than half of OECD countries, the rate of unemployment among young people approaches or exceeds 20%; and many of the underlying conditions are the same as those found in Tunisia. #MentoringMonday An Article a Day…Might Just Save Your Teaching Life. Sunday Dialogue - Improving Our Schools. 10 TED Talks That Could Be Used As Course Titles. I was perusing my morning Twitter stream and came across a few friends discussing the current state of course titles. Long story short, most are still stuck in the dark ages. Biology 101? World History 1812-Present? These titles may seem like they’re accurate and fit but… they’re boring.
In this day and age of short attention spans, flipping of classrooms, and rethinking of education… it’s time to rethink course titles. While some schools admittedly are starting to do a better job of making course titles a bit more attractive, most are not up to par. In an effort to give school administrators and teachers a guidepost with which they can rethink current course titles (what better time than in July, right?) In other words, make the course titles sexier, the descriptions more attractive, and get students excited to attend a class before they even step foot in the classroom for the first time. Inventions That Shape History (Could be a course on world history or even engineering / physics.) Google Plus, Chrome Apps and Tools gateway to knowledge in #education20: Complete #edtech20 guide to #googleplus in #education20. Getting Started with Project-Based Learning (Hint: Don't Go Crazy) Before the start of the school year, many of us want to use the remaining weeks of summer to learn some new skills -- such as project-based learning (PBL).
One of the things we stress for new PBL practitioners is, as I say, "don't go crazy. " It's easy to go "too big" when you first start PBL. I have heard from many teachers new to PBL that a large, eight-week integrated project was a mistake. So how do you start PBL in ways that will ensure your success as a learner and teacher? Start Small As I said, "Don't go crazy! " Plan Now One of the challenges of PBL, but also one of the joys, is the planning process. Limited Technology We love technology, but sometimes we get too "tech happy. " Know the Difference Between PBL and Projects This is the big one! We are all learners, and when we start something new, we start small. Photo credit: wwworks via Flickr (CC BY 2.0) PBL. Connected Educator Month.
For 'Connected Educator Month,' Tips From 33 Educators We Admire. Stacy BrownErin Olson, an English teacher in Iowa who is featured in our post, uses Twitter-like technology to enhance classroom discussion. Go to related 2011 article » The U.S. Department of Education has declared August Connected Educator Month, and since we’d be nothing without the teachers we’ve connected with over the years, we’re enthusiastically on board. To celebrate, we asked every educator who has written a guest post for us, been featured in a Reader Idea, or collaborated on one of our features to answer two simple questions: What is one important thing you’ve learned from someone in your Personal Learning Network (P.L.N.), however you define that network?
Reading their responses, below, is a crash course in how to be a “connected educator.” So read what they have to say, follow the links to their work both within and outside The Learning Network, and, when you’re done, tell us how you’d answer those two questions yourself. Aliza Aufrichtig | Flocabulary The Year in Rap Contest.
The Connected Educator. By Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach Finally! The cover to our book: The Connected Educator: Learning and leading in a Digital Age which comes out early Oct. Lani and I hope you will consider reading it and getting a copy for your faculty as well. Who should read this book? What Is Different About This Book? We decided books about being connected need to model what they promote and not be just a linear experience. We were a little surprised at the cover, but it is growing on us now. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Connected Educator Month - Week One's Amazing Schedule!
Connected Educator Month kicks off this week, and serving as a consultant to the event with significant responsibility especially for this week's events, I humbly think you're going to be BLOWN AWAY by the opportunities to learn and participate. All activities are free! Connected Educator Month is a U.S. Department of Education’s Connected Educators initiative, coming out of Director of the Office of Educational Technology Karen Cator's working group on "online communities of practice. " As a member of this working group, this is an event I've been super enthusiastic about (pushing for!) , and shows an amazing level of support by the DOE for the role of online communities and social learning networks--networks like Classroom 2.0 that are "helping hundreds of thousands of educators learn, reducing isolation and providing 'just in time' access to knowledge and opportunities for collaboration.
" The schedule for this week is below. Announcements - Pearson to develop frameworks for OECD's PISA student assessment for 2015. Piping Up : Thérèse Blogs. Posted by Therese on Thursday, August 2, 2012 It’s never too late for a career change, which is why I am going to stop writing and get myself a job at Challenge Plumbing. “Whatever for?” I hear you ask, “For plumbing is not at all glamorous.” I understand your concern, but I am not aiming for the mechanical or messy side of things. I want a job in their office answering the phone. Yes. That’s right, the ‘electric telephone’ as invented by Alexander Graham Bell. Last week I had faucet issues. Now we are not talking Mad Men era here. Of course I work from home and that’s even worse. Naace 3rd millennium hothouse. I'm yet to blog properly about #rethinkingICT (partly because of its timing) so thought I should blog about the 'hothouse' as soon as possible. This will be a very potted version - my highlights.
The reasons I was happy to give up a couple of days of my holiday (again) was because I know how inspired by other's achievements I am. They make me want to become a better person and to carry on learning. Discussions throughout the two days have challenged my views, changed some of my opinions and given me a lot of food for thought.
It was great to catch up again with awesome twitter 'giants' Jan, Tim, Dughall and Drew and to meet twitter friends like Emma, Nic, Ant, Robert, Cherise (who I feel I have known forever!) And Chris (the funniest and most intelligent/inspirational 'youngster' I have ever met!). The thing that will have the biggest (immediate) impact on my teaching came from the appshed masterclass from @TorstenStauch. Don't Try Too Hard. Noam Chomsky: Destroying the Commons: How the Magna Carta Became a Minor Carta. Why Open Education Matters. Kids Demand Next-Generation Learning. Education jargon: What ‘no excuses’ and other terms really mean - The Answer Sheet.
Learning By Design at newlearningonline. A not so modest proposal: My new fully research based school! Joel Klein, Sal Khan And Sebastian Thrun On Inventing The Future Of Education, At Disrupt SF. The Benefits of Taking Kids Outside to Inspire Writing.