Making It Personal - Personal Learning Network

A Personal Learning Network (PLN) is a conglomeration of technological resources to help teachers connect to each other, resources and information in Education.  The key to creating my Personal Learning Network was the “personal” part.  Tools after all are only useful if you use them.  I created a PLN that worked for me; one that I would use. 

First, I explored many different education resources like Twitter, Facebook, Feedly and Pintrest.  In my previous work experience I used these tools regularly.  My experiment for this class was to see these tools through the lens of education.  How would my use of them change?  What seemed useful? What did not?

While others might use these tools in other ways that suit their needs, here are some of what I discovered worked for me: 

1.  Twitter:

In my prior work life, I have used twitter in conjunction with crowd sourcing sites to promote awareness and raise money. Twitter is also a fun way to "live comment" on events like the Academy Awards or the Olympics.  It's also a valuable resource for tracking breaking news.  Unfortunately, aside from Donald Trump, most businesses and high profile people who "trend" on Twitter have dedicated staff whose only job is to "tweet."  Smaller players usually use Twitter to push their own wares.  For these reasons, Twitter has not been an app that I really connected with or enjoyed using. I tweeted when my job required it, but not personally.

Looking at Twitter through a the lens of education, I feel less reluctant to use Twitter but it's still not my dream tool.  I created a "teacher" profile and started a new collecting education related Twitter handles.  I have been tweeting and following my feed for weeks. Ultimately, my conclusion is that Twitter is not personal enough to communicate with people with whom I have a relationship.  Also, I wouldn't feel comfortable receiving tweets from parents and students on the random happenings in their life.  Nor would I want my students and parents reading about my random happenings.  Twitter is easily abused and hard to contain.  A teacher friend of mine was stalked on twitter by a guy she dated once.  Can you imagine her student's parents happening upon those hashtag chains?

In the classroom, I would use Twitter to follow breaking news and stay on top of local emergencies, but it would not be my primary way find topics on education or to communicate with those in my network.  For example, there was a fire in the area and Twitter was the social media resource that provided real time information for those in the community. One day last year, we had a bomb scare at our local middle school.  Twitter was how the parents throughout the district communicated what was happening and if the students were safe.  We then took that information and communicated it through Facebook or by direct texting.  Twitter is also a good way to keep up on other educators pushing their wares - new articles, books and products.  In summary, for me Twitter is a one way road that I will use to receive information, but not communicate until I have my own edu-wares to push.

2.  Facebook

I have developed a sizable group of teaching friends on Facebook.  I have found it to be a great resource to share laughs and frustrations on a more personal level.  Teachers need to commune and share highs and lows and Facebook, I have discovered is the safe place to do it. 

Do I think about what I post now that I'm an educator, you bet!  But, for me, Facebook helps us celebrate the good times.  We share the good moments and it reminds us to celebrate them.  We share the heartache and it reminds us to care for one another.  Teachers sometimes friend parents with whom they have developed a special relationship, but mainly it's teachers friending teachers and keeping their pages private to "friends" only.  

As I teacher, I think I would like to find a Facebook like App, like Edmodo, to use in the class to connect over assignments and happenings.



3.  Feedly

My husband is a Podcast addict and has been hip to RSS feeds since their inception.  It wasn’t until this class that I was encouraged to use Feedly.  I love Feedly to keep up on the latest in Education.   Here’s a screenshot of my Feedly page.

Jen's Feedly

I can’t wait to read the article on inquiry-based learning.



4.  Pinterest



By far my favorite tool in my PLN is Pinterest.  I have a board called “Ideas for Classroom” where I have been pinning everything from classroom decorations to behavior modification tactics.  If I can’t sleep at night, I love to troll other educator's boards and collect ideas.  It is so easy to search for anything that you need.  I can see using and contributing to Pinterest more than any other tool in my PLN.

5. 

Teachers Pay Teachers



Another part of my PLN is https://www.teacherspayteachers.com.  I discovered this site through Pinterest after following a link to a lesson plan.  Teachers Pay Teachers is a great place to find ideas for lesson plans and other tools created by teachers.  The site is searchable by grade level or by subject matter.  Here is an example of what I found interesting after doing a search for Common Core 5th Grade Language Arts:

I plan on growing my PLN as I meet new educators and happen upon new resources.  Each connection I make leads to more connections.  This connectivity is one of the greatest resources teachers have at their disposal.  I'm very grateful that this class encouraged me formalize a PLN at the beginning of my journey as an educator.  I'm sure it will be one of the tools I utilize often as a I grow as a teacher. 

Choose Your Own Adventure 2.0

Edutopia is one of my favorite websites in my Personal Learning Network.  When asked to report on a new technology for educators it was no surprise I found something I loved there.  Matthew Farber described a new way he turned on his middle school students to writing using interactive fiction technology.  Interactive fiction technology is "similar to choice-based fiction, like the Choose Your Own Adventure book series that began in the late 1970s” (Farber, 2015).



In his article, New Tools For Interactive Fiction and Engaged Writing, Farber’s social studies class had to create a stories based on historical events.  They then used a free app called Twine to map out their stories, creating false and true options for the reader to select.  



According to Farber his students didn’t want to leave the classroom when the bell rang.  They actually told him that the writing project was fun.  Clearly, it was more than that.  The students had to research and learn the history lesson in order to retell the tale.  They also had to use creative and strategic thinking skills in order to create a “false” narrative that had the potential to fool the reader.

Interactive fiction technology also encouraged aspects of design, allwoing students to bring in music, video and photography.  

“Beyond writing, students were now applying remix principles (PDF) and becoming more digitally literate” (Farber, 2016)  He also commented that the lesson met one of the eight elements for project-based learning, “student choice” (BIE, n.d.).



When I teach a history lesson, this is definitely a technology I’m going to use.  Why not make learning fun?


Resources

 Farber, M. (2016, April 15). New tools for interactive fiction and engaged writing. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/new-tools-interactive-fiction-engaged-writing-matthew-farber

 Farber, M. (2015, April 14). Interactive Fiction in the Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/interactive-fiction-in-the-classroom-matthew-farber

Essential project design elements checklist | Project Based Learning | BIE. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://bie.org/object/document/pbl_essential_elements_checklist

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If Estonia Can Do It...

According to Mitch Resnick’s 2012 Ted Talk, Let’s Teach the Kids to Code, coding is not something just for computer geeks anymore.  Everyone should do it.  From Kindergarteners to his 83 year old mother, Resnick recommends coding for everyone.




Resnick likened learning to code to the ability to write in a language you can read.  He is skeptical that our iPad and iPhone wielding children are really “digital natives” (Resnick, 2012).  Sure they are great at what he calls “interactive technologies” like gaming and surfing the web, but they are lacking experience or knowledge in creative technologies.  “It’s as if they could read, but not write with new technologies. (Resnick, 2012).  



Resnick points out that other countries have already jumped on the teaching code bandwagon. Heck Estonia is teaching all their first graders to code in school.  A new day has dawned when the Baltics are leading the charge in technology. 



Thanks to websites like Resnick’s Scratch website kids can learn code the easy way.  No longer does code look like a field of incomplete sentences fenced in by pairs of forward slashes.  Scratch makes coding like driving on the Autotopia at Disneyland.  There's no chance you can run off the road.  Even a code dunce like myself can create a mini cartoon in seconds.
   

                   (Note:  The only thing this design accomplished was freak out my dog.)

One great point Resnick makes is that coding teaches skills that can be used across the learning curriculum.  Designing a game or a Mother’s Day card requires creative and critical thinking and systematic reasoning.  Many of the same skills we acquire through Language Arts can be attained in coding.  Resnick summaries saying that while not every student who learns to read and write will become a professional writer, nor will every coding student become a programmer.  The point is that the skill sets this education provides can be translated to any domain. 



 

Resnick, M. (2012, November). Let’s teach kids to code. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/mitch_resnick_let_s_teach_kids_to_code