More than just knowing stuff!

The Power of the Professional Learning Network

When I first began teaching in the 1980s as a graduate, the people I would turn to for support would be my fellow teachers and my leadership team. They knew everything I needed to know about what to teach and how to teach it. Or so it seemed.

At times, depending on budget allocations, I could go off to a PD to hear what was happening with Literacy or with new technologies. This information sat with me until I was ready to use it or would be buried within my mind with all the chores that were more pressing at the time.

In 2008 this would no longer be enough for me and wonder if it is enough for others. Admittedly I am not a graduate teacher anymore but still feel that there is a wealth of new knowledge and experiences, especially in the area of ICT out there that I cannot ignore. So would my immediate colleagues be able to support my desire to learn and grow now?

In the last 8 months my life as a teacher and learner has changed somewhat to include a new online Professional Learning Network (PLN). A network that is growing and fluid enough to accommodate my wonderings and discoveries, my shifts in mindset and my whims.

I joined online communities such as –

Classroom 2.0 – http://classroom20.ning.com/profile/helenotway

Twitter – http://twitter.com/helenotway

And social book-marking networks -
Delicious – http://del.icio.us/helenotway
Diigo - http://www.diigo.com/dashboard/helenotway

As a result of joining these online communities and developing them into my own PLNs, I have been on a huge learning curve and also a journey that I have some say, in how and when I learn. I am able to self regulate my professional growth and can share my reflections along the way through the same networks that support me. This blog helps me to process and document my journey.

Recently I met up with, what I choose to call, my new Learning Partners. These were educators who I had met online through Twitter and our respective blogs, through Diigo and more recently Second Life. It was wonderful to meet them in real life, but know they are just a tweet away in my PLN.

This is a photo taken recently at the ICTEV 2008 Conference, on Saturday May 24th. Jo McLeay, Tony Richards and Jess McCulloch are enjoying an ‘unconference’ in the sun. Without my online PLN I would not have known these educators, nor would I have been able to share and learn with them.

Earlier this month Sue Tapp organised our first Bloggers Feast in Melbourne. We had a wonderful time. You can hear and read about it here -

Tony Richards – EdTechCrew Podcast
Sue Tapp – And Another Thing
Jo McLeay – The Open Classroom

Could you get by without your PLN?

7 comments May 31st, 2008

Moving to a Second Life…

I don’t know why I have taken so long to explore Second Life. It has been over a year since I first heard about it. I have read people’s blogs, joined groups on Classroom 2.o but not actually gone in to investigate further.

Well, in the last 24 hours I have mustered up the courage to delve into a whole new virtual world that is exciting and fresh and offers huge potential for interaction and learning.

To begin with I needed to download the application (about 72mb) and then had to register with a user name and a password. I used my own first name but needed to choose another second name – I became Helen Moonite. Pretty cool sounding name I think!My next step was to choose an avatar that I could later modify.

Upon entering Second Life I was run through a series of tutorials that help you to communicate, travel, and modify appearance. In this area I was supported by other newbies who were just one step ahead of me.

Today I went into Jokaydia, a region created by Jo Kay from Wollongong. Here a number of OZ/NZ educators met the night before. Unfortunately I was late in last night so decided to go and explore tonight. I found a few twitter friends there, including barbs1, Laurenogrady, heymilly, efreeman and jokay. Jokay was amazingly helpful to the newbies and made you feel very comfortable even after the many mishaps that can happen when you are still learning to walk, fly and even get dressed.

This is a screen shot of me as Helen Moonite standing in front of the Edublogs sign.

As I said the possibilities for learning and interacting are many and in the next few weeks I will explore these further. Please feel to add how you use Second Life in your educational setting.

9 comments May 20th, 2008

Google me right!

Last night Lucy Gray sent out a tweet on Twitter about Google Apps for Education. As I went on to explore her link I came across some resources that I thought would be really helpful for some of the schools I am working with. As a teacher I have often seen kids heading off to look for information on the Internet only to find that they have come away with nothing more than a few snippets.

Whilst working with a team of secondary teachers I realised that this is not just a primary school issue. When I explored Google Apps for Education there was a link that took me to a great set of Google search tip posters. These are a great resource to have in classrooms or labs as visual prompts to help students make the most of their searches.

3 comments May 14th, 2008