I now HAVE a PLN, I didn't before and I am learning so much. I plan to join some of the learning communities like CoSN and attend conferences. I spoke with an administrator within the school system, from which I retired, and plan to volunteer to develop and assist with their professional development, especially for seasoned teachers who may still be leery of incorporating technology.
This school system has an effective central office technology department and most of the safe guards are in place as well as a policy for technology usage among students and teachers. The social networks and games are restricted.
Many parents are Linked or have a Facebook page, so tapping into blogs and wikis will not be a stretch and could be a positive, informative medium for school relations, interaction and communication.
I have so many ideas based on what I've learned. I hope to start a writing workshop via blog for teens. My PLN is going to be the catalyst for this project as I glean ideas, suggestions and encouragement.
I was the same way when I first signed up for the course. I had no clue what was meant by web 2.0 tools. Of course, once we started the class and the tools were introduced, I realized what each were. However, I had never really thought about blogging, podcasting and the benefit of them for our faculty and even our classes. I think your right about parents being able to follow each of them with the technology available at our fingertips. This will be great for our students also. They already are familiar with networking, so this will hopefully fit learning styles and student interests. I think it is great that you are willing to volunteer for teachers that are reluctant in this spin on technology use. It would be awesome to have you in my district or community to help our teachers that are unsure of themselves. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteThat makes three of us regarding not being familiar with Web 2.0 tools and PLN's! The part of your post that really impressed me also was your willingness to volunteer to spread the word about these tools. I know that my 13 years of teaching pales in comparison to many teachers' years of experience. The frustration that I sometimes experience with learning new technology every day is overwhelming enough, and I consider myself to be relatively young and eager to learn. I can only imagine how overwhelming technology can be for those who taught without computers or any other forms of technology for a long time! What a great way to stay connected to your former school while helping the very teachers I'm writing about. I'm sure your administrator is VERY willing to accept your help considering your experience and your willingness to help free of charge. That may be the biggest barrier at times to introducing new technology and the training to use it--funding! Sounds like a great action plan to me!
ReplyDeleteK, it was so great having you in this class. I always read your post even if I didn't always respond. One of the biggest barriers to using technology is the learning curve involved from being introduced to a tool or technology and using it enough to become proficient to the point of it aiding you. Your willingness to serve as a trainer and assist other teachers in learning about and using Web 2.0 tools is commendable, even more so as a retiree, that you are still wanting to teach others. This says a lot about your leadership skills and your desire to be a change agent to better impact students through helping teachers teach. Please seek out a hard-working librarian who can no doubt use someone to assist him/her in working with his/her faculty for those teachers who do need some one-on-one face-to-face help to become more involved with technology integration. Best of luck to you!
ReplyDeleteYou have a good plan. I love your choice of words in your blog. I strongly encourage you to participate in conferences. The iSummit, that I attended, was an eye opener for me. Best of luck in the future.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is most admirable that you are willing to volunteer to help your district. I am sure that you are a wealth of knowledge and that your help will be well received. I was much like you in that I was taking this course for the PLU. However, I have really enjoyed learning about all of the Web 2.0 tools that are available to administrators. It has been amazing to me to think about all of the possibilities for the future. I can hardly wait to share this with my colleagues and students interns.
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ReplyDeleteI admire your honesty. I felt the same way in the beginning about Web 2.0 tools. Your desire to help seasoned teachers that may be leery of incorporating technology is an outstanding plan. What better person to help seasoned teachers than someone who is retired but still growing personally and professionally. I'm sure your administrator is also going to be pleased to have on going professoinal development to help teachers and students. The teen blog is a great way to get young children involved who may not have a teacher that is tech saavy enough to incorporate it into the daily classroom instruction.
ReplyDeleteOn many levels I feel as you do - this course has led me down paths of technology that I never thought I would enter. Through the comments of the other participants I knew that I wasn't alone on this quest to become more computer literate. I admire your offer to the district - it is realistic to say that there will be reluctant teachers who need professional development. I am happy that your passion for our profession still exists and that you are willing to help others.
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