Networked Learning: What does this mean?
1. Starting with the self:
- Who is in my network and how do I learn from and with them?
I have a fairly extensive PLN through twitter. This includes teachers from all over the world. I follow music education specialists, tech people, and others. I find that this tool is invaluable for my learning. From this PLN, I am able to discuss pedagogy as well as receive resources.
I also spend time talking with teachers with like interests. This includes colleagues as well as blogs I follow.
- What are benefits of networked learning?
The benefits of networked learning are many. What I like the best about my PLN is that I learn about different pedagogies people are using as well as helpful websites and lessons. I also learn how others feel about different educational ideas and what’s happening in the world. I use Tweetdeck for twitter. I find that this is a great way to keep track of my learning network as I can add columns according to my interests. I have a column for music education, numerous columns dealing with technology in education, one for self-directed learning, one for project-based learning and one for Coquitlam. I think that I have learned more from twitter than anywhere else. People are intelligent and passionate about education. There is no room for complaining!
- What are the risks of not engaging in professional learning networks, digital or otherwise?
I think that if you choose not to engage in professional learning networks of any kind, you run the risk of becoming stagnant. This leads to doing the same thing the same way year after year. After awhile, this leads to becoming bored with the profession. What’s worse, is you begin to become negative and view teaching as work instead of a profession.
- What have we explored in LTT (especially this term) ?
In Ltt, we have explored blogs as a way of connecting with other professional’s ideas. We have watched videos of different kinds of teaching and have been able to analyze whether or not they are valuable to our own teaching.
4) What questions does this raise for you?
As I watched the videos suggested, I started to think about connectivism and how it relates to what I’m doing. I think that it’s invaluable to create a learning network. However, you have to make a commitment to posting and keeping up those relationships. I actually feel quite dumb sometimes when I see what others are talking about. I also find it quite time-consuming. In order to keep up these relationships, you have to follow links, read blogs and articles, and think about what’s been said. How much time am I really able or want to put into this? My biggest question has to do with how am I going to make sure that I am putting enough time into my family as well. I’m finding most of my spare time is spent reading and thinking instead of listening to those who are important. My biggest question is how to prioritize.
http://www.mywebspiration.com/view/439400a12a59
Please click the above link to see my map of my PLN
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Self-Directed Learning
Self-directed learning: One teacher’s beginnings of a long journey…
The focus of my recent field study for SFU, is on creating a self-directed study of Ancient Egypt. This is proving to be a very interesting journey indeed. I’ve had to really think about the pedagogy involved and spent a lot of time setting the groundwork through a previous unit. Whether or not this approach is successful, has yet to be discovered. It is taking a lot of analysis of student work examples and reflections. For the purposes of self-reflection I will use this blog to reflect on one student’s presentation.
I have had a lot of presentations from students and am choosing to use these as my data. This particular type of data I are examples of Documents/Artifacts/Student Work. One particular student had been working on the Agriculture of Ancient Egypt. She chose to represent her research using a glog. The glog she produced is an excellent representation of her thinking about presenting and reflecting on what’s been learned.
This particular piece was an excellent example of how to present one’s learning. This student thought about what it was (agriculture) she was researching and created her glog in such a manner that represented this. She added rain, made the colours earthy, added bugs, leaves, etc. She also included a substantial amount of research. What’s more, the research she did she related to present-day agriculture (without being asked). She also included a very good reflection of her learning.
This selection is just one example of students learning. I have been collecting most of their presentations onto slideshare. Since all the students are working on different sections of the project, it’s interesting to see how different their focus of research is. All of the data is beginning to tell me a story. The story that is emerging is one of motivation. I have found that because students are allowed to focus on what they want to learn, they are not paying attention to what others are doing. They have realized that there is no right or when it comes to learning. It has been very interesting to watch them look through books, websites, etc., and pick out what they want to focus on. Everybody’s focus is different. They have also realized that there is no right or wrong way to represent what they’ve learned. I’ve had powerpoints, imovies, photostory, written reports, posters, glogs, blogs, videos, garage band, pictures…you name it; I’ve had it. It is turning out to be a fabulous journey for all of us.
However, this data is leading me to ask myself questions. I’m curious to survey the students at the end of this unit to find their reactions to self-directed learning. Will they want to do another unit in this fashion? What have they learned about themselves? What have they learned about their classmates? Are they satisfied with what they’ve done? It will be interesting to read their final reflections and compare them to my observations of what’s been happening. If I think about my observations, I have thoroughly convinced myself that this is an excellent way to teach a unit. It has taken a lot of time to set up, but has been incredibly rewarding as I am not stressing about homework, lesson plans, and marking 60 assignments at once. What’s more, I do not see my students stressing either! Another very important observation has been that not all students have chosen to represent their learning using technology. Instead, they are choosing to explore different ways to represent it with each section they’re researching. This has reaffirmed the idea that using technology in teaching is just one tool and one tool that not all students want to use all the time. When I started, I figured the opposite. This leads me to ask myself: What comes first? The pedagogy or the technology? Hmmm…Thoughts????
Key words:
Pedagogy; self-directed learning; technology
The focus of my recent field study for SFU, is on creating a self-directed study of Ancient Egypt. This is proving to be a very interesting journey indeed. I’ve had to really think about the pedagogy involved and spent a lot of time setting the groundwork through a previous unit. Whether or not this approach is successful, has yet to be discovered. It is taking a lot of analysis of student work examples and reflections. For the purposes of self-reflection I will use this blog to reflect on one student’s presentation.
I have had a lot of presentations from students and am choosing to use these as my data. This particular type of data I are examples of Documents/Artifacts/Student Work. One particular student had been working on the Agriculture of Ancient Egypt. She chose to represent her research using a glog. The glog she produced is an excellent representation of her thinking about presenting and reflecting on what’s been learned.
This particular piece was an excellent example of how to present one’s learning. This student thought about what it was (agriculture) she was researching and created her glog in such a manner that represented this. She added rain, made the colours earthy, added bugs, leaves, etc. She also included a substantial amount of research. What’s more, the research she did she related to present-day agriculture (without being asked). She also included a very good reflection of her learning.
This selection is just one example of students learning. I have been collecting most of their presentations onto slideshare. Since all the students are working on different sections of the project, it’s interesting to see how different their focus of research is. All of the data is beginning to tell me a story. The story that is emerging is one of motivation. I have found that because students are allowed to focus on what they want to learn, they are not paying attention to what others are doing. They have realized that there is no right or when it comes to learning. It has been very interesting to watch them look through books, websites, etc., and pick out what they want to focus on. Everybody’s focus is different. They have also realized that there is no right or wrong way to represent what they’ve learned. I’ve had powerpoints, imovies, photostory, written reports, posters, glogs, blogs, videos, garage band, pictures…you name it; I’ve had it. It is turning out to be a fabulous journey for all of us.
However, this data is leading me to ask myself questions. I’m curious to survey the students at the end of this unit to find their reactions to self-directed learning. Will they want to do another unit in this fashion? What have they learned about themselves? What have they learned about their classmates? Are they satisfied with what they’ve done? It will be interesting to read their final reflections and compare them to my observations of what’s been happening. If I think about my observations, I have thoroughly convinced myself that this is an excellent way to teach a unit. It has taken a lot of time to set up, but has been incredibly rewarding as I am not stressing about homework, lesson plans, and marking 60 assignments at once. What’s more, I do not see my students stressing either! Another very important observation has been that not all students have chosen to represent their learning using technology. Instead, they are choosing to explore different ways to represent it with each section they’re researching. This has reaffirmed the idea that using technology in teaching is just one tool and one tool that not all students want to use all the time. When I started, I figured the opposite. This leads me to ask myself: What comes first? The pedagogy or the technology? Hmmm…Thoughts????
Key words:
Pedagogy; self-directed learning; technology
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Remembering
It's that time of year again for me. Remembrance Day is coming and as usual, I'm in charge of writing and organizing the assembly. I love doing this. I feel privileged to be able to acknowledge and show respect to our soldiers, past and present.
Usually our assembly focuses on the past. The theme I chose for this year is: Remembrance Day: Past, Present and Future. One of our custodians is a transplanted American who happens to be a Vietnam vet. Until two years ago, he refused to be part of any assemblies, etc. Two years ago he came and sat in the back of the gym for our service. He was so moved that the next year he allowed us to acknowledge him and took part. This year he took it upon himself to help organize it. He is a member of the armoury in downtown Vancouver. He arranged for us to have some very young soldiers, just back from Afghanistan, to take part in the assembly. I was able to meet with two of them and they helped me design the program. They also provided me with pictures to use in our movie (which I had to make). Every time I watch the movie, I am moved to tears. These are young boys, barely older than our grade 8 boys. When I was in conversation with the soldiers, then talked about what they've accomplished. The mentioned that we never see on the news how they escort children to school so they can safely get there; or what it feels like to see a village have electricity for a week in a row; or how it feels to know that they are making a difference and that the people really do appreciate what they're doing. I was changed after my conversation. Now, when I see the news, I think of my boys (yes, I think of them as my boys) and how much they do and their compassion and commitment. God bless them.
I've included my movie for you to watch. Let me know what you think.
Usually our assembly focuses on the past. The theme I chose for this year is: Remembrance Day: Past, Present and Future. One of our custodians is a transplanted American who happens to be a Vietnam vet. Until two years ago, he refused to be part of any assemblies, etc. Two years ago he came and sat in the back of the gym for our service. He was so moved that the next year he allowed us to acknowledge him and took part. This year he took it upon himself to help organize it. He is a member of the armoury in downtown Vancouver. He arranged for us to have some very young soldiers, just back from Afghanistan, to take part in the assembly. I was able to meet with two of them and they helped me design the program. They also provided me with pictures to use in our movie (which I had to make). Every time I watch the movie, I am moved to tears. These are young boys, barely older than our grade 8 boys. When I was in conversation with the soldiers, then talked about what they've accomplished. The mentioned that we never see on the news how they escort children to school so they can safely get there; or what it feels like to see a village have electricity for a week in a row; or how it feels to know that they are making a difference and that the people really do appreciate what they're doing. I was changed after my conversation. Now, when I see the news, I think of my boys (yes, I think of them as my boys) and how much they do and their compassion and commitment. God bless them.
I've included my movie for you to watch. Let me know what you think.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Sorry about that!
I know I haven't blogged for quite a while. I think I have some legitimate reasons. You be the judge.
As you all know, I'm back at SFU again. I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life. Here I am trying to start up a new classroom, set up a performing arts program, arrange a musical (Pirates of Penzance is slated for this year), create a field study, not to mention complete all the data and research for that major presentation, write reports, meet with parents, and oh yeah, raise a teenager who has decided that English is a class not worth attending. My SFU course is so incredibly crazy I'm thinking that maybe I'm not cut out for this. However, it has to be done. I have now resolved myself to the fact that I now have no life (not that I ever did!).
On the plus side, I am learning a whole lot. If I didn't have to read so many irrelevant papers and comment on them, I might actually enjoy myself! I promise I'll try to be a good girl and post more often.
Thanks for listening!
As you all know, I'm back at SFU again. I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life. Here I am trying to start up a new classroom, set up a performing arts program, arrange a musical (Pirates of Penzance is slated for this year), create a field study, not to mention complete all the data and research for that major presentation, write reports, meet with parents, and oh yeah, raise a teenager who has decided that English is a class not worth attending. My SFU course is so incredibly crazy I'm thinking that maybe I'm not cut out for this. However, it has to be done. I have now resolved myself to the fact that I now have no life (not that I ever did!).
On the plus side, I am learning a whole lot. If I didn't have to read so many irrelevant papers and comment on them, I might actually enjoy myself! I promise I'll try to be a good girl and post more often.
Thanks for listening!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Technological Guru...NOT!
I was trying to take a picture of Justine and her friend Kyle tonight and couldn't figure out what was wrong with the camera. Duh! It was on the video setting. I kept telling them they must be vampires since it wouldn't take a picture! Justine tried to help me and finally figured it out!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
On Family Time
Two weeks at the lake...I have to admit I was kind of dreading it. Not the fact that we were at the lake, but the fact that one of us really didn't want to be there. Travelling with a 15 year-old is difficult when they do want to be there, but when they don't...Watch out! However, I was pleasantly surprised and we had a great time. We spent time on the dock in the sun; jumped off the boat in the middle of the lake; skiied; horse-back rode; playing games; reading; and best of all, laughing (usually at my expense). Not one complaint (okay, maybe one!). I'm sure glad I put my foot down and said she wasn't getting out of it. Not too many of these vacations are left. Where has the time gone?
Now she's off on her own adventure. I miss her.
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