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35 Ways To Build Your Personal Learning Network Online

Personal learning networks are a great way for educators to get connected with learning opportunities, access professional development resources, and to build camaraderie with other education professionals. Although PLNs have been around for years, in recent years social media has made it possible for these networks to grow exponentially. Now, it’s possible to expand and connect your network around the world anytime, anywhere. But how exactly do you go about doing that? Check out our guide to growing your personal learning network with social media, full of more than 30 different tips, ideas, useful resources, and social media tools that can make it all possible. Tips & Ideas Get started developing your social media PLN with these tips and ideas for great ways to make use of social tools. Actively make ties : It’s not enough to just follow and read, you need to connect. Guides Tools & Resources Want to really make the most of your PLN?

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40 Useful Tips For Anyone Taking A MOOC As these resources have grown in number and the list of institutions providing them has become ever more prestigious, free online courses are gaining legitimacy with employers as a method of learning valuable job skills. While there’s still a long way to go in terms of acceptance, more and more employers are recognizing the value of cheap, effective educational programs that can keep employees up-to-date and engaged in their field without spending a dime. Whether you’re looking to online education for personal reasons or to get ahead in your career, use these tips to help you get more out of open courses and use what you learn to market yourself, improve your performance, and stand out on the job. Treat them like real classes .

How To Make Students Better Online Researchers I recently came across an article in Wired Magazine called “ Why Kids Can’t Search “. I’m always interested in this particular topic, because it’s something I struggle with in my middle and high school classes constantly, and I know I’m not alone in my frustrations. Getting kids to really focus on what exactly they are searching for, and then be able to further distill idea into a few key specific search terms is a skill that we must teach students, and we have to do it over and over again. We never question the vital importance of teaching literacy, but we have to be mindful that there are many kinds of “literacies”.

6 Quick Tips To Make The Most Of Graduate School Graduating Student Assistants Reception. If you’re interested in becoming a teacher or pursuing graduate school in general, it’s important to understand what it takes and what the payoff is. Sure, you can have a positive influence on others and all that jazz … but what does it actually take to graduate? Let’s walk through some of the best tips for graduate students: How A Classroom Of iPads Changed My Approach To Learning Recently, my wife and I had the opportunity to take our kids on an overseas family holiday. About a third of the way through our trip as I tiredly walked to yet another airport terminal, I found myself thinking, “I know how check-in works. Someone at a counter will tell me what to do, so I can turn off and just go with it.”

Teacher Tutorial on Creating Personal Learning Network Creating your PLN is easier than you might even thought. Most of you are already familiar with some social media platforms such as Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Diigo, LinkedIn, but do you really know how to use them to create a personal learning network ? We have several guides to walk you through all the tips and tricks you need to know to start a powerful PLN. Check them out and share with us your feedback. The Importancre of PLNs in Education Fruitiny Is The First Real-Time Memory Game. Probably. Remember the game Memory? If you can’t even remember the game, then you may want to start dusting off the mental cobwebs and exploring new ways to boost your brain. What better way than with a vintage-style but highly useful app? That’s the idea behind Fruitiny , a new app from Totano Corp.

Is Every Single Subject Taught in High School a Mistake? Artificial intelligence theorist and education reformer Roger Schank is no fan of the high school curriculum and he bets America's teens aren't either. Indeed, many kids hate school because what they're learning doesn't seem relevant to real life. Schank, author of Teaching Minds: How Cognitive Science Can Save Our Schools, has penned an op-ed for the Washington Post breaking down the uselessness of every single subject taught in high school. Schank calls chemistry "a complete waste of time" and says no one really needs "to know the elements of the periodic table" or the "formula for salt."

46 Tools To Make Infographics In The Classroom Infographics are interesting–a mash of (hopefully) easily-consumed visuals (so, symbols, shapes, and images) and added relevant character-based data (so, numbers, words, and brief sentences). The learning application for them is clear, with many academic standards–including the Common Core standards–requiring teachers to use a variety of media forms, charts, and other data for both information reading as well as general fluency. It’s curious they haven’t really “caught on” in schools considering how well they bridge both the old-form textbook habit of cramming tons of information into a small space, while also neatly overlapping with the dynamic and digital world. So if you want to try to make infographics–or better yet have students make them–where do you start? The 46 tools below, curated by Faisal Khan, are a good place to start.

35 Digital Tools That Work With Bloom's Taxonomy Integrating technology in the classroom and engaging students in higher order thinking creates the ultimate learning experience for students. Bloom’s Taxonomy and digital tools creates an innovative learning environment where students are engaged in their assignments. The following is a list of digital tools as it relates to Bloom’s Taxonomy. 1. Creating – In creating, students create projects that involve video editing, storytelling, video casting, podcasting, and animating.

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