Connected Educator Month comes to an end

Today was the last official day do Connected Educator Month. I joined one of the last sessions on "Professional Learning and the Learning Profession: 21st Century PD" and found myself with a group of 30 or so other educators, many of whom had names that seemed familiar from other events. One of my big worries in this month long event was that it was mainly populated by people who were already connected.

In this session, we talked about the main things that blocked teachers from getting connected-- time, access, comfort, know how-- the list was easy to generate. But when it came to brainstorming solutions and action items, the group was much less active at the keyboard and the panelists had less to offer.

Here's what I think are some essential actions:

• You cannot mandate connection. I've heard at least two administrators suggest we simply make connecting a mandate and I think that's exactly the wrong way to go about it. Being a connected educator is partly about finding people who are passionate about the same things you are, and you can't mandate passion. In fact, I think requiring teachers to participate will just fill our twitter streams with the junk that anyone being forced to participate in something they don't believe in would create.
• That being said, we should start by helping preservice teachers to create lifelong learning plans. Anyone in teaching knows you learn at least as much in your first year of teaching as you did in your entire preservice program. So we need to make sure preservice teachers know how to use PLNs to continue to grow in their profession-- not require them, just know how they work.
• We need to relentlessly share resources we find with our current peers that are not connected. Last year I worked in a small school with a teaching staff of five teachers. I shared via email useful tweets, articles, blog posts, resources... relentlessly. They were relevant to our work and they included my source when possible. One of the other four teachers has started to get connected and another is on her way.
• We need to open access on teacher's computers. Some of my teaching friends couldn't even access the events from Connected Educators Month because their school computers either blocked the websites being used (the book club Ning, for instance) or they couldn't download the plugins to participate on their school computers. Although I somewhat understand these restrictions on student computers, our teachers should be treated like professionals.

What do you think?

Learning 2.0 Conference

The 2012 Learning 2.0 conference ended today and although I didn't get to attend as often as I would have liked, everything has been recorded here and here, so I can still see some of the things I missed.  This was the first time I had attended a virtual conference like this and I was impressed by how intimate it seemed.  I absolutely loved having a chat as part of every session.  That backchannel was often filled with some truly rich resources.  I felt a lot more comfortable composing and asking questions to the speaker (or my fellow listeners) through the chat box.  I participated in the chat in most of the sessions I attended and I think that also contributed to my feeling of close involvement.

I was surprised at how few people were in each session during a free, international event with so many great speakers.  Next year I will work even harder to spread the word.

Categorizing Web 2.0 Tools

“Web 2.0 tools allow users to create and share content online. Also, Web 2.0 tools "live" on the Internet, with no need to download software to a computer.”

Ever since I read this definition of Web 2.0 tools from my Leading Edge Certification textbook, I've felt like a great mystery was solved. I've seen many lists of Web 2.0 tools and I always wondered what made them "Web 2.0" so this helps organize it.

However, the range of sites that fit this definition is enormous. I feel like there needs to be some sort of taxonomy for all the Web 2.0 tools out there for educators and students. I've seen the Bloom's Taxonomy diagram, but it's not really working for me for a couple of reasons. One, it's become outdated already as new tools pop up almost every day. Two, many of the tools can be used on many levels of Bloom's depending on the activity. Three, it tells me very little about the type of product or sharing that can take place.


I'm looking for something that will let me examine a new tool and mentally group it with some other things I'm familiar with and be able to retrieve it in the middle of writing a lesson plan because of its "fit" to my learning goals.

Will Richardson uses these categories in his book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms: blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, Twitter, Flickr, social bookmarking, podcasting, screencasting, videocasting, and social networks. This is a good list, but it still leaves out sites that let me create my own comic strips, for example.

Here's my attempt at a taxonomy with examples. It's still not a perfect system because there are still some tools that can be used in different ways.

Curation

• social bookmarking sites like Diigo
• web article curation like Readability
• magazine style tools like Scoop.it

Storytelling

• comic creators like MakeBeliefs Comix
• bookmaking tools like Storybird
• YouTube and other video editing tools

Presentation

• Prezi
• Google Presentations
• Google Sites

Mind Mapping

• bubbl.us

Infographics

• Easel.ly

Question and Answer

• online discussion boards like Google Groups or Collaborize Classroom
• quiz card sites like Quizlet

Reflection/Discussion

• blogs like Blogger
• Twitter
• VoiceThread

Information Gathering

• Google Sites
• Wiki sites like Wikispaces

What do you think? Can you come up with any other categories I've missed?

Final Reflection on Leading Edge Certification

Participating in the Leading Edge Certification for the Online and Blended Teacher has been a rewarding experience for me and has helped to organize my formal and informal learning in regards to online teaching.  Having read the iNACOL Standards for Quality Online Teaching, I see the following as my areas of strength and my needs for continued growth in my professional practice:

Standard A
The online teacher knows the primary concepts and structures of effective online instruction and is able to create learning experiences to enable student success.

I have been learning about using technology in education for about two years now, first through a small study group with other educators in my area, then by attending conferences, and most recently by taking this certification course.  I feel that this course has provided the scaffolding to put all the best practices and strategies I've been learning into a coherent whole.  I feel prepared to work with students as they become global citizens and I feel I can work with student in a variety of delivery modes.  I will need to continue to practice these skills and to reflect on my work with my professional learning community online.


Standard B
The online teacher understands and is able to use a range of technologies, both existing and emerging, that effectively support student learning and engagement in the online environment.

Between this class and my online professional learning network, I feel that I’ve become familiar with a wide range of tools for “communication, productivity, collaboration, analysis, presentation, research, and online content delivery” (National Standards for Quality Online Teaching: Version 2, p.5).  Because I work with learners from kindergarten through adult professionals, it is important that I match the right tools to my learners because they have a wide variety of needs.  In the process of trying out new tools, I’m also improving my skills at troubleshooting when problems arise.  I will need to use my professional learning network to keep me aware of new tools as they are developed.


Standard C
The online teacher plans, designs, and incorporates strategies to encourage active learning, application, interaction, participation, and collaboration in the online environment.

This course has helped me develop a clearer picture of what can be possible in an online course.  I feel I understand the strategies for promoting interaction, participation, and collaboration in an online environment and I look forward to practicing those strategies in future classes.  The best practices in an online class of being a facilitator in a student-centered learning environment mirror what I also consider best practices in the face-to-face classroom, so I feel confident that I can apply those practices in an online environment.  I will need to continue to practice and refine these skills as I work with more groups of students.


Standard D
The online teacher promotes student success through clear expectations, prompt responses, and regular feedback.

When we developed a syllabus for this course, I felt I was able to clarify for myself my expectations for the oldest group of students that I work with.  Creating a syllabus forced me to create clear expectations for class interactions, online behavior, and student assessment.  I feel that I have the organizational skills to provide prompt responses and regular feedback to students as part of an online class.  I created a syllabus for middle grade students, so I will need to refine those expectations for other students I may work with in the future as the need arises.


Standard E
The online teacher models, guides, and encourages legal, ethical, and safe behavior related to technology use.

Through this course and through resources from Google and Common Sense Media I feel that I have the tools I need to guide students in legal, ethical, and safe behavior online.  I have learned the meaning of fair use as it applies to materials I use in class and I’m aware of several resources for finding fair use media for use by my students.  I can also clearly describe plagiarism to my students and I know where to find tools online that identify plagiarism in written work.  I will need to continue to work to develop online learning modules that encourage original work.f


Standard F
The online teacher is cognizant of the diversity of student academic needs and incorporates accommodations into the online environment.

As a classroom teacher I have been using learning styles theory and 501/IEP accommodations on a regular basis.  I now also understand how to provide accommodations in an online environment for those who have visual, auditory, or physical disabilities.  I will need to continue to work on how to adapt online learning to different learning styles and how to evaluate a student’s learning style in an online environment.  I also will need to continue to work with the special education staff in my program to create other accommodations as needed.


Standard G
The online teacher demonstrates competencies in creating and implementing assessments in online learning environments in ways that ensure validity and reliability of the instruments and procedures.

During this class, I practiced using my knowledge of formative and summative assessments in an online environment.  We used rubrics to assess performance assessments and we aligned our assessments with clear learning objectives to help ensure validity and reliability.   I will need to continue to learn more about how to use the tools in a LMS to create assessments and collect student assessment data.


Standard H
The online teacher develops and delivers assessments, projects, and assignments that meet standards-based learning goals and assesses learning progress by measuring student achievement of the learning goals.

During this class, we learned about a number of online tools that could be used to create both formative and summative assessments that are authentic and project based.  Our instructor has modeled how to use polls and informal surveys to collect student feedback, and I believe I can apply these skills to my own classes.  I will need to continue to improve my practice as I develop coursework and assessments online to meet the new Common Core standards in my state.


Standard I
The online teacher demonstrates competency in using data from assessments and other data sources to modify content and to guide student learning.

Just as the results of formative assessments can be used to guide and modify instruction in a face-to-face classroom, they are also used the same way in an online classroom.  In this class we learned that an online course need not be a rigid, lockstep set of procedures for students to work through, but can and should be modified to personalize the learning experience for each student.  We learned the importance of assessing student readiness for the online environment and we bookmarked a number of resources for student self assessment.  I will need to develop my own procedures for tracking student communications and I will need to learn how my LMS can help me track attendance, time online, and so on.


Standard J
The online teacher interacts in a professional, effective manner with colleagues, parents, and other members of the community to support students' success.

During this class, I learned how important my professional learning community was to my professional growth.  Over the past eight weeks, I have seen many blog posts and tweets related to the content of this class and being part of that network enhanced my overall understanding of the course material.  I will continue to communicate with parents to provide feedback on their child’s learning, whether teaching a blended or face-to-face class.  I will also need to continue to write in the blog I started for this course on a weekly basis to connect with my professional network in a new way.


Standard K
The online teacher arranges media and content to help students and teachers transfer knowledge most effectively in the online environment.

In creating model lessons for this class, we practiced arranging media and content for effective online learning.  We learned about many online Web 2.0 tools that we can use as part of online learning modules.  We also learned to be aware of learning styles when picking content and assessments.  I will need to continue to follow emerging digital literacies and best practices in online and blended learning in order to keep these skills up to date.