An Historic Day Indeed

An African-American man is the presumed nominee for the United States Democratic Party. 

His running mate may very well be a woman.

My district is starting discussions about online collaboration tools.

Technically, the first two events will wind up in history books, but #3 is definitely up there in my book.  I never doubted that our IT team and administrators would open a discussion about Web2.0, but I didn’t think it would be so soon.  I am thrilled.

Topics in our discussion included:

• Possibly expediating the process of unblocking websites for teachers.  Our current process has recently left one of our administrators swamped with requests (Yea! Teachers “digging” for what they need).   I’ll be submitting a list of sites that I’ve used in my PLN that I believe would benefit staff members.
• Future use of blogs, wikis, discussion boards with staff and students.  We’ll need to review our AUP to make sure it’s flexible enough to cover the use of such tools.
• Obvious need of professional development for staff who want to use the tools with students, especially online safety and appropriate use.
• Including PLN’s, Web2.0 tools, and AUP’s as part of a November ‘08 professional development day.
• We created a private blog for our Technology department!  Usually we meet once a month, face-to-face, to discuss a laundry list of tech. issues.  Now, some of those issues can be resolved by discussions taking place online!  I’m very excited and hope that it is successful!

We’ve taken a step in the right direction. 

 

Hey…You…Guuuuys (and Gals)!!! Part 2

TGI-PLN (Thank Goodness It’s Personal Learning Network)

Thank you to everyone who commented on Part 1 of this post, especially MariaD for bringing to my attention (in very professional, non-D’oh! way) that I had left out possibly the most important part of social networking… sharing and collaborating!  Haven’t I learned that “Reading’ and “Watching” aren’t enough for the 21st Century?  Sheesh…where was my head?

Summer Homework for Teachers and Administrators?  Yippeee!

In Part 1, I posted links that explained RSS feeders and how to get one.  Reading blogs is not enough.  Take full advantage of them… comment.  Leave comments for the author, or for other readers.  Many bloggers will respond to comments so feel free to pose a question or expand the discussion.  When you’re ready, start your own blog!  There are plenty of platforms to choose from.  I use wordpress.com, but find the one that’s right for you.  Edublog is specifically for teachers and students and is free.  Did you say blogs for students?  Why yes, I did.  Check out Scott McLeod’s wiki on K-12 blogs.  Read, learn, create and share. (not necessarily in that order)

Continually Create Your Personal Learning Network

The biggest mystery I faced when I started this journey was “How do I find the good stuff?”.  Why reinvent the wheel?  Why not start by investigating the same “stuff” that other educators and administrators are following?  Easy:  set up a Twitter account.  The Twitter.com FAQ’s states that, “Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers…”  Basically you pick members that you want to follow, based on common interests such as technology and education.  Following someone on Twitter allows you to see what they post.  Then the magic happens.  Professionals from all over the world are telling youwhat they are doing!!  Workshop announcements, new blog posts, interesting articles, webcasts, IT advice…all dispensed in 140 characters or less.  Watch, learn, and interact. (not necessarily in that order)

I Learned Everything in Kindergarten:  SHARE!

Share everything**. (This is something I need to start doing more often.)   Create an online identity.  Be transparent:  the person you are online is like the person you are in real life.  (thank you, Kevin Jarrett) Post photos (professional, personal, your choice) on Flickr.com.  Create a wiki so you and colleagues (inside your building and from across the world) can collaborate on projects.  Stop sending documents as “flat” email attachments.  Give them some depth by creating files in iGoogle Docs, so you can share them with others in order to collaborate!  Share videos (again, professional or personal) on YouTube or TeacherTube.  Just get out there and experience this world.  Help create this world.

Our Students Need  Us To Learn, Share and Collaborate

We can’t teach our students about these tools unless we use them ourselves.  If we don’t share this knowledge with our students, they’ll use these tools without us.  Lack of guidance could lead to cyber-bullying or simply inappropriate online behavior.  So as you actively participate and collaborate online, think of ways your students can do the same to expand their learning and acquire 21st Century skills.

Lastly, thank you to Vicki Davis for a recent post that acknowledges and supports new bloggers like:
Kristi, Matthew Needleman, and Michelle Baldwin.

**Please remember to keep safety in mind.  It is never a good idea to share personal information such as address or phone number and students should never share any personal information!  For an opposing view on sharing, read this post on Connecting the Dots, by new blogger Mike Curtin.

Homer Simpson Clipart from:  Fabiosbest’s Public Gallery

Hey…You….Guuuuys (and Gals)!!!

Attention Administrators and Educators

Maybe you’re a classroom teacher interested in the “next big thing” in education. Maybe you’re an administrator.  Maybe you’re one of my administrators.  I have an important message for all of you.  I want to be part of the Learning Revolution.  I want you to discover the Learning Revolution.  Does “Learning Revolution” sound intriguing?  Want to learn more?  Well, from what I’ve found, there’s no easy way to summarize it.  Summer vacation is approaching so we’ll all have a ton of free time (yeah, right).  Here’s a little research that will fill up your free time and most likely throw your views of education for a loop.  That’s what happened to me:

Visit these sites:

North American Council for Online Learning
“Blocking the Future” by Scott McLeod published on The School Administrator, May 2008
Castle:  UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education Iowa State University
“Middle Schoolers and MySpace”by Bill Ferriter published on The Tempered Radical
“Preparing Students to Succeed in the 21st Century” by Liz Davis published on The Power of Educational Technology
“School AUP 2.0″by David Warlick published on 2cents Worth
“Get Past Teaching Apps:  Build and Use a Student Technology Toolbelt” by Vicki Davis published on Cool Cat Teacher Blog
“The Evolution of PD” by Vicki Davis published on Cool Cat Teacher Blog
“Beyond the Fear Factor with Internet Safety” by Wesley Fryer published on Moving at the Speed of Creativity
“My Greatest Hits” by Liz Davis published on The Power of Educational Technology
“Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators”by Kathy Schrock published on Discovery Education

Watch these videos:

 ”We Think” posted on The Thinking Stick
“Wikis in Plain English”by CommonCraft
“Blogs in Plain English” by CommonCraft
“The Machine is Us/ing Us”  by mwesch on YouTube

 

Read These Books:

A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink
The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman
Here Comes Everyone by Clay Shirky
Everything is Miscellaneous by David Weinberger
The Media Equation by Byron Reeves & Clifford Nass
Redefining Literacy for the 21st Century by David Warlick
 

I’ll also be reading and collaborating on these subjects.  Let’s meet in September to discuss our endless options.  We can discuss professional development, AUP’s, Internet safety, Web2.0, etc, etc, etc.

**Have these blog posts and sites caught your interest?  Want to stay on top of the newest posts?  Set up an RSS Reader (such as Google Reader).  Simple explanation and instructions on RSS In Plain English by Common Craft.

Readers:  Please add to this list…I know there are great sites that I’m missing!  Thanks.

Title from:  The Electric Company Television Show 
Picture by: NECC Button contest winner:  Bill Moseley

Absolutely Necessary for Newbies

You’ve Got A Friend…

The great news is there’s another teacher in my district who is interested in breaking open the Pandora’s Box of collaborative technology for elementary students and teachers.  She’s completing a program for Media Specialists and hopes to switch from a classroom position to a Media Center position next year.  (I’ve noticed that media specialists and ed. tech. teachers can become the Wonder Twins for finding/organizing information if given the opportunity to work together.)  The wonderful news is that she’s also Here for the Revolution (check out the button contest for NECC) and is a newbie just like me!  I convinced her to join me at  the Students and Electronic Media:  Teaching in the Technological Age seminar at Princeton University on May 2nd.  She already follows Kathy Schrock, who is presenting at that the seminar, and we’ve promised to share the cool “stuff” we find along the way with each other. 

After I spoke with my new Media Specialist friend, I realized it was difficult to decide which tools are good, important or useful for my students (and me).  I’ve spent the last few weeks gathering information, but left myself little time to weed through it.  My del.icio.us is pretty unorganized…I don’t even know what I’ve saved so far!

You Can’t Live Without…

So I’m asking you to think back to when you started out in the social networking world…back when the possiblities practially caused an explosion in your mind…what tools did you need?  Where should we start?  Please suggest tools/sites/blogs you can’t live without.   Thanks!

My List (under construction):
Twitter
Del.icio.us
Google Reader
People who support this journey!