Keep your eye on Kerrie Gustin and her blog,
Common Sense Classroom. This blogger began her blog during the Open PD with Darren Draper , Robin Ellis, and Kelly Dumont. She posts about her conversations at NECC2008, her thoughts about Twitter, and her kids. She is definitely a person to read.
Penny Ryder joins the conversation not as a consumer only but as a contributor at Teaching Challenges . Her posts involve her Australian Year 1 classroom and her search to be the best teacher she can be. My big question is, why do the children wear those yellow hats (I'm known for inane questions like this)?
The ICT & Teaching Blog by Shaun Wood are reflections of a primary teacher earning his degree. Shaun writes from a New Zealand point of view about his learnings and his primary class.
Take some time to visit these bloggers and leave them comments on their blogs!
Friday, October 31, 2008
People to Watch!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Network Challenge
I challenge you to find and listen to a podcast to which you have never listened. You can find podcasts for free in iTunes, at NPR, or Podcast Alley (to name only a few places).
Then blog about the podcast on your blog. That's it! Pretty simple, but can you do it? Will you do it?
Photo courtesy of Yogi taken on July 23, 2007 available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/34427468531@N01/1394932433 covered under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 license
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Why integrate technology at all?
I couldn't embed the video so here is the link. Why integrate technology at all? Allanah King answers this so well!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
We Are What We Share
The Ambassador Choir shared with their director recently. They surprised her with $900 for her car repairs. These are high school students who organised themselves (connecting), told each other about the project (communicating), and came together with a card, cash, balloons, & cupcakes (collaboration) to share with their director. They are displaying proficiency in 21st century skills!
Charles Leadbeater gave a TED Talk in July 2005 in which he suggests that previous centuries were about mass production for mass consumption. Think about the 1950s, which were all about mass production. The USA was very successful at this.
There is now a new kid in town. In the 21st century (it's already 2008!) and beyond it is all about mass innovation = mass creativity. The conversations of any & everyone are what counts. Sharing now defines who we are. Just as the high school kids I described are now defined by what they shared. I know that is a very simple, offline example and doesn't really show the vast complexity of it all.
Here is the link to Leadbeater's TED Talk for you to consider: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/charles_leadbeater_on_innovation.html (It won't let me embed right now)
TED video is covered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NonDerivative license
Thursday, October 16, 2008
People to Watch
Watch out for Susan Phillips of Chets Creek Travel Guide. She is an elementary school principal in Florida who blogs! It's great to read the words of an administrator who actually attended NECC this year.
An educator of learners who have been labelled 'gifted', Jackie Gerstein has been contributing to the discussion at the Classroom 2.0 Ning. She enjoys teaching process instead of often disconnected content.
Another blogger to keep your eye on is David Carpenter, a teacher at Hsinchu International School in Taiwan, blogging on Lesson's Learned.
Check these bloggers out, leave them comments, and keep your eye on them!
Photo courtesy of Breno Peck taken on May 5, 2008 available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/77319680@N00/2604912201 under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 license
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Why should we?
Angus King will tell you. From our friends in Maine available also at http://learninginmaine.blogspot.com/2008/10/angus-king-talk-in-alaska.html
Monday, October 13, 2008
Keynote K12Online2008
Presenting the ''nearly now' man, Stephen Heppell. Pay close attention to what he says about the result of connecting schoolchildren via technology. For the full conference go to K12online2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Who you gonna call?
On Saturday, October 18, 2008 at 2:15pmSLT Salty Saenz will be presenting to the TESOL International Conference in Mexico. He will be using Second Life to demonstrate how this virtual world connects people across time and space.
He has asked a focus question that involves all of you, my network. Therefore I find it appropriate to ask the network to share in the answer. Please leave your opinion in a comment. If you have an SL avatar consider leaving your avatar name in your comment and showing up for this 15 minute event at the META Training Facility on Virtlatlantis Island.
Focus : What my PLN means to me, how SL helps develop it, helps me to be a 21 century teacher?
Photo courtesy of makelessnoise taken July 21, 2006 covered under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license and available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/13447091@N00/19508875
Friday, October 10, 2008
K12 Online Conference
This is why you should check out this conference at http://k12onlineconference.org/
Monday, October 6, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Community
In 1993, Howard Rheingold referred to a "virtual community'' as a place where community members meet, collaborate, and support one another emotionally. I wonder in how many virtual communities are you considered a member?
I am a member of the Edtechtalk community (a rather annoying one at that), a member of a Twitter group, a member of The Bloggers' Cafe in Second Life, as well as several other SL groups, and a member of the NECC virtual attendees badge-carrying club (ok, just kidding).
I have heard arguments on both sides - are virtual communities as real and as important to us as those communities that are not virtual? What do you think?
I wrote this post as I read material for the Connectivism Course led by George Siemens and Stephen Downes.
Photo courtesy of striatic taken on January 9, 2005 covered under a Creative Commons license available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/34427466731@N01/3158297
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