Teachers and Social Media
“If we can’t do it, we can’t teach it. And if we can’t teach it, we’re out of business.” from STRICTLY BALLROOM cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Dell’s Official Flickr Page I read Steve Wheeler’s PLN post, ‘Tools of the trade’ this weekend and it made me wonder, what real penetration into the teaching profession has been achieved. I know it is all in the realm of ‘guesstimation’... Read More
Connected…or at least, connecting!
The department supports its employees’ participation in social media online applications such as social networking sites, wikis, blogs, microblogs, video and audio sharing sites and message boards that allow people to easily publish, share and discuss content. The above quote is the opening statement in the new Social Media Policy released by my employer, the NSW Department of Education of Training (recently renamed the Department of Education... Read More
How to use social media to collaborate*
Over the last few years my presentations and workshops, designed to share my enthusiasm for Web 2.0 with colleagues, have led to many new friendships as well as much personal and professional excitement at the future of learning. It is evident to me that all of us involved in education need to personally develop life-long learning habits and to a large extent, having a Personal Learning Network (PLN) using online tools is fundamental. Lately, I have... Read More
Passion for learning…
For the first time in 20 years I do not have English classes to teach. The principal has requested that I am ‘off the timetable’ and work with all students on digital citizenship and creating a Personal Learning Environment (PLE) or, if you prefer, Personal Learning Network (PLN). This is another small step towards creating an environment at our school where student learning is personalised with the internet in mind. Formal change, at... Read More
Digital Tribes and the Social Web
Steve Wheeler, whose blog I always read, has kindly shared his recent conference presentation via slideshare. Read More
PLE Reflection (after a presentation for our Year 11 conference)
My brief, to present at a Year 11 conference about online tools, has accentuated, in my mind, how far away we are from providing the Personal Learning Environment (PLE) at school students need in a networked society. Your input, via comments at a previous blog post, twitter and yammer proved invaluable but also challenging, when one considers the realities for kids in our schools. Year 11 will have virtually no opportunity, in their day at school,... Read More
Prezi: Cool Online Tools (draft)
This is the first presentation using Prezi I have ever completed; although I have started a few in the past 12 months before the pressure of being prepared for whatever conference led me to not finish (and use my blog or PowerPoint). Prezi has turned out to be a fun tool - once you ‘get’ the concept - and I highly recommend it. Critical comments – on form, style and content - (on this draft) are welcome. Be gentle though,... Read More
Connectivism: A Vision for Education
Connectivism & Connective Knowledge #CCK09
This week, like many learning professionals around the globe, I commenced an online course to disrupt all online courses, Connectivism & Connective Knowledge. The #CCK09 MOODLE has many resources and you can drop by and read all the participant introductions. ‘Connectivism is the thesis that knowledge is distributed across a network of connections, and therefore that learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse those networks’. After... Read More
A Brave New World-Wide-Web
David Truss created this great, inspirational video last year. Read More
Recent Comments