Personal Learning Networks - Book Review

Richardson and Mancabelli have made a powerful case that having a personal learning network (PLN) is crucial for people to be successful in the 21st century.  For that reason, students need to be taught how to develop, cultivate, and use a PLN.  As teachers and administrators, we can't help our students do that unless we practice it and model it ourselves.  This has some profound implications for what classroom practice should look like in a connected and always-on world.

They define a personal learning network as a "set of connections to people and resources both offline and online who enrich our learning." (page 2).  While these have existed throughout history, the emergence and proliferation of electronic connections makes global networks possible and even easy.  For students, this can shift the locus of learning outside of the classroom.  Why should they listen to their physics teacher, when they can connect with physics experts throughout the world?

[T]he explosion of learning outside of school walls is too powerful to ignore.... [T]he idea of schooling as we currently know it will struggle to remain relevant in a networked world....  [S]chools need to plug into this vibrant worldwide network of learning to stay relevant and to prepare our children for a vastly different learning landscape.  That means schools will need to embrace a form of learning that is fundamentally different from the one they have known. (page 3)

The authors then develop their argument that personal learning networks are the key to this transition.  They describe the positive effects of PLNs, how to become a networked learner, how to implement a networked classroom, and how to become a networked school.  It is the first part of the book that I found most useful and that I suspect most teachers will as well.  Understanding why and how to develop PLNs are the first steps toward helping students use them effectively.

Chapter 2 (Becoming a Networked Learner) includes instructions for joining Twitter, Diigo, Google Reader, Blogger, and Facebook.  Each of these sections describes the tool, some of the advantages and disadvantages of it, and how to jump right in and start.  I currently use all of these except Facebook for professional learning, and feel like they have certainly helped me make my transition from science teacher to educational technology teacher.  These kind of connections can help any teacher, but are especially relevant for the isolated teacher: someone who doesn't have any colleagues teaching the same class at their own site.

The companion website has links to the resources listed in the book.  I highly recommend this book (especially the first half) to anyone still wondering how technological development is affecting learning processes.  If any of you would like to borrow this thin volume, please let me know.

Flubaroo - Grade Quizzes with Google Forms

Edited to add resources (below)...

Several teachers have asked me about using Flubaroo (www.flubaroo.com).  I've never used it myself, but I am familiar enough with it to describe it.  Flubaroo is an add-in for Google Docs that allows you to have students take a quiz or test using a Google Form and then grades it for you in a Google Spreadsheet.  It is free and doesn't require you to install anything on your computer, so you can use it at school or at home, wherever you can access your Google Apps.  You do need to be reasonably proficient with using a spreadsheet, and you do need to have your students take the quiz on a computer or tablet.  If those restrictions don't bother you, you might give Flubaroo a try.

Here are some resources that might help you get started:

Video tutorials

• www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ60szcUbBE
• www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnY3zV-_UO0
• www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXFRpox7JyM

Help Pages

• Flubaroo User Guide
• Google Help for Creating Forms

Algebra and Flipped Instruction

Here is a link to an article about flipping a math classroom - go ahead and check it out...come on...no on is watching...  http://mankatofreepress.com/local/x699431859/Lesson-at-home-plus-homework-at-school-equals-flipped-math-classroom

21st-Century Fluencies

Here are links to the two presentations that we were to discuss this afternoon before unforeseen difficulties derailed us:

• Understanding the Digital Generation
• Literacy is Not Enough

I would very much like to hear your thoughts about these two perspectives, specifically as they pertain to the following discussion questions:

1. Are these fluencies sufficient for students to be successful in the world of the 21st century?  If not, what do you think has been omitted?
2. How well do you think our current curriculum and instruction prepares students in these fluencies?
3. If you had to pick just one, which one of the five fluencies do you think will be most important for students in the future?

I will add my thoughts to our discussion as well, but I'd like to hear yours first.  Please add your comments to this post.

(If your profile says your name is "Unknown", please maybe fix that, or at least identify yourself in your comment.)

Quizlet

A great way to review. You can check it out by clicking below:

http://quizlet.com/14608356/world-history-academic-vocabulary-flash-cards/

Problem Attic - New York Regents Questions Online

I got a marketing email today that seemed too good to be true, from Problem Attic (www.problem-attic.com).  They advertised more than 45000 questions from the New York State Regents Exams from the last 30 years, in an online database that allows teachers to select, arrange, and print questions.  I created an account and played around for a little, and the site seems to be on the level and as advertised.  There are questions from Science, Mathematics, Social Science, and English Language Arts.  The selection interface is slick and easy; you can arrange the questions however you like on a page, either for tests, overheads, or flashcards; you can modify the look of the pages somewhat; and then you download a PDF.  I did not find a way to automatically make different versions of a test, but it is pretty easy to manually scramble the questions and print out a different test.

For years, I've used ExamGen, which is a test bank that is largely (if not completely) based on the Regents Exam questions for science.  The questions are quite good, but the test generator program is terrible.  I put up with it for the sake of the questions.  Problem Attic seems to have solved this, creating a ridiculously easy interface for the same good questions.  I cannot figure out why this site is free; it's worth paying for.  I guess once in a while, marketing emails are actually true.

Set up your account at www.problem-attic.com today.

Using Evernote in Your Classroom

I've written previously about how useful Evernote is for me in keeping organized.  (See The Joy of Evernote.)  Here is a great guide about using Evernote in the classroom.  Sections include "Why Evernote in Education?", "Top Reasons for Using Evernote", "Some Ways Students can use Evernote", video tutorials, and links for further resources.

Anymeeting

I've been using a pretty good videoconferencing and screen-sharing program recently, called Anymeeting (www.anymeeting.com).  You can sign up for free (with advertisements) or you can pay for a subscription to remove the ads.  Your session can have up to 200 participants, and there is no software to download.  Everything works through a web browser, though Java is required to share your screen.  As a presenter, you can broadcast audio or video or both.  You can also share your screen, or a YouTube video, or a Powerpoint.  In addition, the sessions can be recorded and archived for others to see later.

I used this software to record the MyAccess training that we did at the District Office this week.  I'm also going to use it to broadcast and record the Web 2.0 Workshops coming up over the next six weeks.

If you're interested in videoconferencing and working remotely with others, Anymeeting is a great resource.

Tech Support (from xkcd.com)

More New Diigo Lists

• English Language Arts: www.diigo.com/list/kfairchild/english-language-arts
• World Languages: www.diigo.com/list/kfairchild/world-languages

There aren't a lot of resources on these lists yet, but I'll keep adding them as I find them.

Brokers of Expertise

Brokers of Expertise is a CDE-sponsored resource and professional network for teachers and administrators throughout the state.  It's kind of like LinkedIn, but specifically for California educators.  When you sign up (at myboe.org), you will be automatically connected to groups for your school and your district.  There are also other groups that you could join, either for your content area, or for special education, or for educational technology, or any other specific interest.  When you join a group, you have access to all the resources (links, files, lesson plans) submitted to that group from teachers all around the state.  If you don't find a particular group, you can create your own group and invite others.

This kind of online community is a great way to build your professional learning network, especially if you are the only teacher for a class at your site (or in the district).  You can get help and suggestions and resources from teachers across the state.  Try it out, at myboe.org.