Thing 17.1 -- PLN

 

A great resource for Michigan teachers. The platform provides a space to keep track of professional development, store certification information and even build a learning plan to keep you on track for re-certification or personal learning goals. You can also build your learning community by joining a collaboration space or following a blog. 

However, Learnport, like many online resources, can be a bit daunting. There is SO much available it takes quite a bit of time to learn and explore. I’m afraid without proper support, either by administration or a home-grown cohort of teachers using the system together, it can easily become one of those things that just isn’t used to its potential. 

That said, based on my personal experience, the courses offerings are the simplest and most valuable part to start with Learnport. The offerings are incredibly, extensive, very up-to-date and often free options for continuing their learning. And since it’s all web-based, course access and completion is quite manageable. I personally recommend the Intro to Blended Learning course as a follow up to 21 Things. While 21 Things is good at introducing the tools, Intro to Blended takes it to the next level with considerations for effective integration in classroom instruction. 

 

I use Twitter almost exclusively as a PLN. I follow many professional organizations and other educators across the country. I think it’s important for educators to do this because, whether you think Twitter is valuable or not, the kids are doing it. As an educator it’s important to have shared cultural experiences with students. Knowing even a little bit about what Twitter is, how it works and how kids interact with it should be a priority for teachers.  You can participate in Twitter backchanneling as an alternative to live participation in conferences and networking events. Tuesday evenings from 6-7 check into #edchat to network with educators nationwide on all things ed tech. Through this process you can learn how to utilize backchanneling in your own courses and start slow with a tool such as Today’s Meet. 

Facebook has fast become the preferred method of communication for the younger generation. In fact, many colleges and universities no longer provide email addresses to students, but rather rely on staff creating and maintaining Facebook groups. The one big trick to Facebook is keeping the personal you separate from the professional you, which FB does not readily support. With ever-shifting privacy rules educators have to really stay on top of how they connect to students. But that’s no reason to eschew FB. And it’s a great way to instruct students on good Internet social behavior. Again, there are alternatives that give you an FB feel such as edmodo. (Free and run by the folks over at Twitter) 

Another wonderful, statewide resource for educators to get involved in all things ed tech. The annual MACUL conference routinely draws top-notch ed tech professionals from across the nation as do the various smaller MACUL conference throughout the year. MACUL recently dropped their membership fees, so anyone can become a member. The MACUL journal is a well developed, manageable resource (not too long, well focused on timely topics) But it does take a bit of cajoling to get actively involved in MACUL. Despite repeated attempts, I’ve not had much luck hooking up with any of the SIGs, which is frustrating. But for anyone looking for general information and resources applicable to ed tech within the parameters of Michigan, you can’t miss with MACUL. 

Although the focus of Sloan is toward higher ed, there are a few pioneer programs in k-12 that also work with them.  Bridging the gap between k-12 and higher ed is increasingly important. k-12 educators should have an understanding of what the expectations and experiences are for students once they leave. And higher ed needs to know where they’re coming from. Most colleges and universities offer most of their courses through some kind of LMS. Assignments, course communication and other traditional F2F interactions are done online. But students leave k-12 with little , if any, practical experience in managing academic learning, workload etc. in this way. Sloan Consortium provides many free resources, support and networking through membership. 

The skills I would bring to Sloan is the k-12 perspective. I would be able to not only partner with other k-12 programs looking to enhance their online programs, but also with higher ed to ensure that the necessary elements are included. I highly recommend Sloan Consortium to anyone looking to enhance online  / blended elements of learning in their class or district.

Thing 14.2 -- Productivity; Google Calendar

So why a shared class calendar? Keep students and parents up-to-date with all your classroom happenings.  Standardized test dates, field trips & guest speakers, assignment details & due dates, and, most important of all,  VACATIONS! You can also link files and class resources via Google Drive. You could create one standard (school) calendar that links to all your calendars and then a separate one for each class or content area as needed. 

I created and shared a Google calendar for my Website. I've used shared calendars via 30 Boxes. I like a lot of the features in 30 boxes; it seems more robust. But the Google calendar is more convenient as it comes with the whole Google package and if you check out the google calendar labs you can see how to add 'flair' (event icons) and access other gadgets to beef up your calendar items. I'll have to return to this after exploring more. 

The West Mi Ed Tech calendar is public on google. Follow this link to access the html version.

Thing 12.2 -- Rubistar

link to complete rubric

I created this rubric using Rubistar.  Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to test it out on a live audience. I intend to share it with colleagues district wide, as well as post on my Website which has been somewhat neglected as of late! 

At any rate, as with all the tools I've been learning and practicing via 21 Things, going through this process has helped me create a permanent resource for my students. 

 It's good to be 'forced' into the opportunity to create and share in this way. While this use of a rubric won't really give me any direct feedback, it will help me share valuable insight and process with them.

Thing 11.1 - Presentation Tools

http://prezi.com/bj2is5hg7eum/cabinet-in-the-cloud/

Prezi vs. Powerpoint:

Prezi gives you a web-based space to create, store & share presentations. You can invite collaborators and updates are instant. And, as with all things Web, anyone can view it anytime on any platform.

Powerpoint: So many people just don't know what to do with it and you end up with a bunch of bulleted lists and, if you're lucky, a few clip art extras.

Honestly, I think the tools are fairly equal in regards to creation. A Prezi can be just as dry as Powerpoint in content. Bells & whistles don't improve weak presentation organization. And I've heard many a Prezi viewer complain about motion sickness!

However, the collaborative, Web-based, social aspect of Prezi, makes it the clear winner.

Prezi makes it easier to create differentiated resources. One prezi with various representations of the same topic i.e. a PDF text explanation, embedded video, images with explanations. You can also use the path to build a concept from simple to more difficult.

Thing 10 -- Digital Images

This is the original photo I took at Meijer Garden. Notice the color of the butterflies. I uploaded the photo via the 'upload to blogger' tool in Picasa. But now that the photo is shared on Google+ it seems to be gone from my photos on my hard drive. 






 

I used the saturation tool in Google+ editing to bring out the color. This would be useful for visually impaired students, or to create emphasis on something in a photo. I also added some text, but purposely chose a poorly contrasting tone to demonstrate that pretty isn't always better. It can be so easy to get carried away with 'fun' when you create something like this. Have students compare two images and discuss the positive / negative of each and their purpose in a presentation.


These photos are both available on my Google+ web albums. I can share them as I can any content on Google.

Thing 8 -- Visual Learning

Bubbl.us diagram comparison of mind mapping tools. Mindmeister wins hands-down! What I like about Mindmeister:

1. Full collaboration and sharing options.
2. Cross-platform app available
3. PC Client available (on Safari & Chrome -- fingers crossed for Firefox)
4. Full integration with Google account
5. Links to files, Websites, & images

 

All these tools give you a place to at least start organizing thoughts, ideas and resources for project planning. With Common Core in our future and SBAC testing on the horizon, collaborative project planning and storyboarding skills are increasing important for educators and students. I like to embed tools in my PD so that staff get introduced to a variety of items; not just the topic at hand.

I could use bubbl.us as a formative assessment; at the beginning of a presentation to collect assumptions, expectations, fears, wonderings etc; at the end, to collect reflections and desired follow up.

I could use MindMeister to work with our communications department in developing social media guidelines. With MM we can work collaboratively across space, we can mine resources and link them together for further review later. We can also develop an action plan in regards to rolling out the plan to various role-groups that might include press releases, district-wide communications, training videos, etc.

Thing 3 --Google Docs

How Google Docs Increases Productivity

 

The jury is out on this one. My favorite Google doc app is 'forms' or 'spreadsheets'. I use forms to create training surveys and feedback forms. I've also created a tech access survey for use district wide.

I find Google docs difficult to use in general because our district doesn't use google apps for education. As such, not everyone has a gmail account which makes collaboration difficult. It also creates a confusing layer of 'where did I create / store that document?' With the creation of Google Drive that should help. I'm hoping to see some integration with my #1 tool Evernote.

Google docs does help me in collaborating with outside entities. I get agendas and resources from the KISD, professional groups and others that I can take my own real-time notes in. In that way Google cloud offers an invaluable connection for me professionally.  

That's why I chose the agenda template as my test here. I'm going to try to use this with my small team and see how it goes. Perhaps by testing these tools amongst ourselves we can begin to mount a larger campaign, leading to cost-saving and more convenient collaborative tools for the entire district.