Building a Professional Learning Network
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Developing a Professional Learning Network
In this class, participants will build on their knowledge of collaborative web technologies (blogs, RSS, wikis, video streaming, etc.) to better use them in professional practice in the areas of classroom instruction and professional development. Additional technologies will also be intruduced, including applications for online bookmarking, audio and video conferencing, and collaborative document editing. The class will meet for 2 3/4 hours per day for five days in a computer lab.
Monday
In the first session, an overview of the class will be presented, along with the requirements for the professional blogs. RSS will briefly be reviewed. All participants should already have a cursory understanding of this concept. Using the web and Technorati, participants will search for other educators in similar roles, and subscribe to their RSS feeds. The Del.icio.us bookmarking tool will be introduced as a way to save bookmarks online and share them with others. Accounts will be created for all participants, and they will tag web sites in Delicious. Instructions will be provided for importing bookmarks from their browsers, and participants will be encouraged to do this from their home computers.
- Intro to the class, requirements for credit, setting the stage -- John 12:15 - 12:30
- Quick review of RSS 12:30 - 12:40
- Delicious intro and demo including tags -- Todd 12:40 - 1:00
- Joe demo delicious account
- Activity -- Set up delicious account, tag at least one site. 1:00 - 1:30
- Importing browser favorites 1:30 - 1:40
- Show bundles, sharing, network, private links 1:40 - 1:55
- discussion of how to share with non-delicious members 1:55 - 2:10
- email link
- embed on blog
- RSS feed
- play time 2:10 - 3:00
Tuesday
A brief review of blogging will be presented. Participants who do not already have blogs will create them, and all particpants will create sections or categories on their blogs for professional development. An introductory post to the blog will be created in class. Participants will be shown how to embed Delicious links into their blogs to automatically share their bookmarks. RSS feeds for Delicious tags will also be addressed. An introduction to the Skype voice/video conferencing system will be presented. Participants will creast Skype accounts and will practice making Skype calls. A conference call via Skype with other teachers may be coordinated if possible. Otherwise, Skype will be used to conference within the class.
- Recap of delicious 12:15 - 12:20
- Blogging for PD -- John -- 12:15 - 12:30
- Embed Delicious into blog -- Todd (HD Students) 12:30 - 12:40
- Activity -- 12:45 - 1:15
- Create a category for PD
- Write a post?
- Delicious embed
- Intro to Skype 1:15 - 1:45
- Call from Todd
- Todd explains Skype remotely
- http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=fb6a3be61edd9fdf0b15
- Activity 1:45 - 3:00
- Create Skype accounts and test calls
- Todd/Joe will add contacts as accounts are created, and then do a text chat.
- Text chat among all participants
Wednesday
The third session will begin with a description of the Twitter microblogging platform. While participants may choose not to create Twitter accounts, they will discuss the possible uses for this type of technology from classroom teaching, school-wide, and professional development perspectives. The second part of the class will focus on free tools for collaborating online, including the Yugma screen sharing software, Ustream video streaming service, and various applications for shared whiteboards. Participants will explore how the limitations of time and distance can be overcome, allowing them to network with other professionals in meaningful ways without leaving their homes or schools.
- Ustream
- Presentations -- special events
- Sharing activities with absent kids
- Todd's cracking of the egg
- Yugma
Thursday
In the fourth session, the class will focus on the use of Google tools for educators, with an emphasis on Google Docs. This online office productivity package can be accessed from any Internet-connected computer, and it allows people to work collaboratively on documents. Participants will create documents, share them with other class members, and edit each other's work. A discussion will focus on the applications of this technology in the classroom and for professional planning and collaboration. Comparisons will be made with wikis, and participants will determine which tool is best for a given task. Other Google applications will also be explored, including Google Book Search, Google Scholar, Google SketchUp, and Picasa.
- 12:15-12:30 Survey open
- 12:30-3:00 Kinkoph!
Friday
In the final session, participants will focus on the application of the tools introduced during the week in their professional practice. They will spend time connecting with other educators, reading blogs, watching archived video, listening to podcasts, and reflecting on the technologies. They will use Delicious to organize sites they want to revisit. They will revise their RSS readers to include newly discovered resources. They will post to their blogs to share what they've learned with other teachers. Finally, they will put these new tools and new skills to work on classroom instruction by exploring curricular resources and possibilities for online projects that put these tools in the hands of students.
