A Visual Representation of my PLN

Twitter Chat

Just finished up my second Twitter Chat this morning. What a difference the second one was compared to the first, both were fantastic ! The two I participated in were : #web20tools and #nt2t . #web20tools was a great starter for chatting. It was slower paced and had a couple of classmates in the chat. I was able to really be an active participant and directly connect with some of the participants. The main focus of this chat was to share ideas on what web2.0 tools are being utilized int the classroom. We all shared several that we use ourselves and got some great article links. I really felt great about chatting after this and looked forward to the next. I got a tip to participate in #nt2t in this chat, which is where I ended up for the second chat. This was a chat room for teachers new to Twitter, however it seemed most were veterans and wow, was it different than the first! As soon as I entered the room and stated I was new and a student, my feed blew up!!! I was hardly able to keep up with the responses to my questions or the questions being asked to me. Within just a few minutes I had 20 messages! Of course I had my phone and ipad next to me and they were constantly dinging with messages from someone! I never thought I would get the responses I got! I think this was the most challenging part. My TweetChat was not working correctly so I had to change over to Hootsuite in the middle of the chat and try to catch up, not good!! The great thing about it though was I was able to go back and re-read all the comments and really absorb the material after the chat was over. I also was able to keep chatting with those I connected with during the chat, which is awesome! After both chat sessions I was able to make several new connections. I got several new followers as well as started following some great educators from across the country. I feel so much better about Twitter than I used to . I actually see the value in it now, where as before THIS class I really didn't get the whole concept about being on Twitter. Before when I was given the assignment of starting a Twitter account, I wasn't given direction or advice on WHAT to do or HOW to do it. This class has really made a difference in my PLN and has opened my eyes as to what is available to us, not just as a student, but as an educator. There is so much more out there than what I could ever find without it. The only thing I would do to improve upon my experience is to participate more so I get more used to the flow. I think with time, chats will become less overwhelming, especially when there are so many people on the room! Overall, this has been a great experience and I will continue to participate in chats!

#METC14 !!!

I was lucky enough to be able to participate in METC 2014 today! I want to know who was teaching all the kids in the state of MO today, because I think every teacher in the state was there! Or so it seemed! I was amazed at the turnout and at the number of "devices" accompanying them, it's no wonder the wifi wouldn't hold up to the demand. I absolutely loved the keynote speaker today. Lodge McCammon, singer, songwriter, dancer, actor and classroom flipper were his specialties. He was able to engage the audience like no other speaker of the day . Flipping is one of the subjects of the days lectures that I was most interested in, and he did not disapoint. It was obvious he is passionate about his career and helping others achieve their goals. He encouraged the most simple ideas and actually embraced the simple more than complex when it comes to presenting to , although he does get pretty fancy in his in home recording studio. I facilitated three lectures today. Two were good , one I wish I would not have had to sit through. It felt more like a sales pitch than an educational session. I will tell you about the good ones and save you from the torture, lol The lecture entitled " Excel-lent Classroom and Assessment uses for Excel" by Sarah Spaunhorst, was very interesting, as I am an Excel master . Even though this presentation was meant to teach kids how to master Excel I leaned some tricks myself . Did you know you could change the background on your file to a picture? Me either!! Going to try that one tomorrow! She also gave some very good assignment ideas for students and showed here flipped classroom model. Great presentation! My third lecture I facilitated was " On The Flipped Side" by April Burton, a High school French teacher. She shared , from beginning to end, how to flip a classroom and gave us all the tools to do it with. This was my favorite lecture of the day! She was able to break down each aspect of flipping into easy an easy to follow plan 1. Sell the idea 2. Create the videos 3. Publish plus all the steps in between on how to do each step. Some of the resources she uses were: Prezi.com, polleverywhere.com ( super cool free anywhere polling) , lifehacker.com ( http://lifehacker.com/125400/cornell-notetaking-method) for better note taking, google docs for collaboration, screencast-o-matic.com , smart notebook iPad app, camtasia, ink2go.org , and educreations.com for video making . She also shared her website that is full of information for flipping www. Flipmrsburton.com/index.htlm Even though I did not facilitate this lecture "30 Google App uses in 50 Minutes" by Amanda Brueggman and Kim Rosenbloom offered some great google apps for kids and adults . The link to their handout is here Overall,this opportunity was fantastic! I got a chance to meet educators from around the state, all gathered for the same purpose and sharing ideas. Couldn't ask for a better opportunity or assignment!

Social Networking

Social networks.. Where do I begin!? I grew up in a time of no computer or Internet. When we wanted to network with each other we wrote a letter and passed in through class hoping the teacher wouldn't see it and hope the wrong person didn't read it . I was afraid on "networking" when Facebook started , thinking I don't want people seeing everything I do and why would they? I can say now, I don't know what I would do without Facebook or technology for that matter. I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about technology, teaching myself most everything I now through trial and error. Not until I started the MET program did I realize how much I was still missing out on, and not until this class did I know how much I didn't know about social networking. I have belonged to google+, Facebook, twitter, Pinterest for a while, but never did I even think about using them for education. I had no idea what I was missing! I had never heard the term "Ning" until reading chapter 5 in our text...wow. I love them. I joined two different nings yeaterday and have already found more information than ever. I have a difficult time finding social venues for my specific program, radiology. Everything I seem to find is clinical or hospital based, not educator based, but I' m keeping my hopes up that there is something out there for us!! I joined Flipped Learning Network Ning and Edweb.net. I have already participated in a webinar on the flipped leaning network that was very beneficial! I am wanted to flip my cross-sectional anatomy class and don't know any educators in my area that have done this, so I was very excited to find this network. I also participated in my first Twitter chat lat night, I didn't think I would like it at first, figured I didn't have enough background to be an asset to the conversation, but I really enjoyed being able to network with strangers and not feel intimidated at all! It was actually fun! What!? An assignment that was fun! Don't anyone tell my students! I look forward to more networking now!

Week 4- Implementing a Networked Classroom

In this weeks reading in PLNs I really like how the instructor Clarence Fisher expresses the thoughts when it comes to learning. His quote “Learning is only as powerful as the network it occurs in” really puts into perspective the power of quality instruction (Richardson & Mancabelli, 2011, p. 59). Not only is he referring to the teacher but the mode of teaching. We can incorporate as much technology into the classroom as we want, but if it isn’t quality, we are limiting ourselves and our students even more. I think this is one of the disadvantages of a networked classroom. If the teacher isn’t able to provide QUALITY , then what is the point. Being able to open doors and expose our students to the world, literally, around us is amazing to me. I grew up, as most, in a classroom with 4 walls and a chalkboard: no computer, no internet. We were limited to what the teacher knew and what the book said. Students now are limitless; they can travel in their desks and visit classroom halfway around the world. I also find it interesting that his students have less of a problem with discrimination, something we have a hard time getting away from in today’s society, yet his students seem to overlook race and class and are more focused on learning, reinforcing the “benefits of the networked classroom” (Richardson & Mancabelli, 2011).Each of the examples of networked classrooms show just how connected we can make ourselves. It’s amazing to me that this is happening, and it makes me even more excited to incorporate more into my own courses! I think using the guidelines described as reference it would be fairly easy for the determined , open-minded, and semi-fearless teacher (like all of us are!! ) to start implementing more networking. I myself feel I fit , somewhat, into this description. I have already started lesson plans on utilizing more networking, like Adobe Connect to have inner class networking, allowing some of my distance students the option to stay home for lecture. This being the first year for our program , my focus has been more on class development and success more so than new technologies. My goal, however is to provide more networking with clinical affiliations and programs, ultimately allowing my students to have a more diverse learning environment. All in good time though, all in good time. Bibliography Richardson, W., & Mancabelli, R. (2011). Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education. Bloomington : Solution Tree Press.

40 Educational Tweeters Every Teacher Should Follow ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

Found this while surfing around.. Thought some would find some interest....

40 Educational Tweeters Every Teacher Should Follow ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

Week 3... Twitter

Oh Twitter, how do I start!? I started a Twitter account for another class last semester and that's about as far as I took it. I wanted to be a cool tweeter, but it just didn't work out that way. I tried following people, I Got a few followers, but all the # and @ signs were annoying me. I'm willing to give it another go though ! I really like the thought of connecting with others and gaining insight into topics that interest me, something I can't really do on other social media sites. I am addicted to Facebook and am constantly checking my newsfeed and stalking :0 , but it's not the platform for professional interactions. The past two days I've been on Twitter more , retweeting and trying to get myself into it. I've even gone as far as researching it ! What?! http://www.edudemic.com/guides/guide-to-twitter/. This is a good article or those like me who want to learn more. I hope to add some more content to my feed soon! Happy tweeting!

PLNs.....

In reading the Introduction, chapter 1 and 2 of “Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education” the author brought up some very good points when discussing technology today and in the classroom. I like how he breaks down the steps to network learning in our schools by first identifying the changes that have to be made starting with “understanding the power of PLNs” (Richardson & Mancabelli, 2011, p. 12) . In order to expect our students, or fellow educators, to utilize the technology, we must first be comfortable with the technology and be able to explain and use it ourselves. I know myself I am not as comfortable as I need to be with different technologies, so how can I expect my students to be experts? Even though they are computer literate and have their own devices, this does not necessarily mean they know how to properly use them for educational purposes!! I have found that even thought my students ( and colleges) are all at college level, have taken computer courses, and all use social networking for communication, some don’t have a clue beyond that. Basic knowledge is limited to Facebook, gaming and fun use of the internet, while no time has been spent on how to fully use the internet for what it is worth. Most instructors are the same. Beyond the ability to use PowerPoint and Word they are limited on their computer knowledge and afraid of change. The authors sum up this vary idea in chapter 1 by saying “ We may not all feel comfortable living in a digital world, crating and sharing digital products, but there’s no doubt the world is moving in that direction, and fast” (Richardson & Mancabelli, 2011, p. 16). Even though we are changing the way we function in our daily lives, depending on technology to perform even the simplest of tasks, we don’t utilize it for all its worth and whole heartedly believe we must to move forward with our classrooms. There is so much available to us these days. I for one feel more connected to my classmates online than I ever did in the classroom. Through the use of technology I have been able to get to know my classmates, learn from them, interact and be more open, things I never did in a traditional classroom. Before, I simply went into lecture, took notes, did my homework and repeated weekly, never collaborating or sharing life/classroom experience and definitely not networking online! I feel we owe it to our students to give them the same opportunity so they can grow in their personal and professional lives as well. Chapter 2 discusses several of the technologies I have already grown to love as a lay person but also to love as an educator: Twitter, Diigo, Google, Blogger, and Facebook. Through the use of these tools I have learned to expand and incorporate more technology into my classroom and communicate with people I would have never communicated with before. Richardson, W., & Mancabelli, R. (2011). Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education. Bloomington : Solution Tree Press.