Personal Learning Network (PLN)

PLN

1.                  PLN stands for Personal Learning Networks, these learning networks help you get the information you need from various sources online. In today’s growing technology world, everybody needs to get familiar with technology to help us get through the working days. PLN’s can help me as a future educator because I can communicate with as many people as I run into depending which Network I use. So If I have a question about a certain topic, I can turn to my PLN’s for assistance.

RSS

2.          RSS Feeds really surprised me! I have always heard of them and have always seen them on sites, but never have I imagined I’d be using them one day. I was doing what I thought I was never going to do: Hesitation. Maybe because I didn’t quite understand them, or because I was a little scared of trying it out. Now I must say I really enjoy them because they are quick links for news that catch my attention. One of the feeds I subscribed to was North Count Transit District because I ride the bus everyday to school and I definitely want to know of any major changes to routes in my area. Another RSS feed I subscribed to was Channel 10 news. I always watch the news every single night because I like to be aware of what is going on in my world, and the RSS feed really helps with bringing breaking news fast. The third is Newgrounds, this is a site I use solely for entertainment with music. Music is my life and whenever there is a new uploaded song, I can immediately get the latest audio on my blog.

Twitter

3.                  Twitter is by far my most favorite tool of them all. I have had a twitter for about 2 years now and I have met so many great and fun individuals. I use my twitter to post quotes and lyrics and other stuff that ppl can relate too. I have over 2,000 followers and still growing. I also like twitter the most because I learn about news worthy information on Twitter than I do in almost any other site, whenever an event happens, it immediately goes to the “trending topics” or “TT” for short. Along with this, I can also interact with strangers easily about the issues and other subjects. Overall twitter is my #1 tool. People I follow include news Anchors, some of my favorite celebrities, and my schools as well, in case they announce something that I need to know.

Diigo

4.                  Diigo is a new tool for me and I really like it so far. I love the idea that you can highlight and book mark pages easily, which saves a lot of space because I have so many bookmarks saved on my computer and I am always going through each of them to find what I am looking for. Diigo helps me because I can use it mainly for educational purposes, also I can add people into my group that match my interest in education. In my Diigo bookmarks, I have a lot of things having to do with elementary school, from science, to games, and videos, all with educational purposes of course. This will really come in handy because I can go back whenever I need ideas and see what I can use to incorporate into my classroom.

Digital Discussion

5.                  There were many forums out there dealing with education, one I really looked into was Classroom 2.0, I really loved that you can find discussions based on topics, like “Google” & “Mapping” & “Presentation”. This site also has groups of individuals who are interested in certain topics, like Math and Testing. I will definitely look into it more to see what I can learn about music and see if there are other teachers who teach music. Another site I checked out was “Art Hobby Craft Creative Network” (http://arthobbycrafts.ning.com/) I am really interested in arts & crafts because I think children learn best with hands-on activities, and I am definitely a creative individual who wants to bring fun into the classroom. I found really good tutorials for painting acrylic art with kids, and making necklaces with seasonal holiday themes. I cannot wait to see what else I uncover and to input my own creative ideas.

PLN Experience

6.         Overall I really enjoyed discovering different networks that can help me in the future as an educator, and I am really going to need the help, mainly because I am an open minded individual who always wants to get  to know more information out there as much as possible. From all the PLN’s, I really liked Diigo because I was able to bookmark a lot of great sites that can help me incorporate many different lessons and ideas into the classroom that I know will benefit my students educationally. Another that I really liked were the RSS feed, even though I was intimidated at first, in the end I came to really like this feature because it brings everything I need to know to one location where I can easily access it. The third PLN I enjoyed was Twitter, mainly because I have had great experiences with it. I know that not many people will like twitter at first , but that is because they are just starting out, when I first started with Twitter, I too was pretty bored with it because I didn’t really knew much about it, but in given time, it because a really fun and addictive Tool I use everyday.

Article #3: Ipad In The Classrooms.

Walters, E. A. Baum, M. (2011) Point/Counterpoint: Will The Ipad Revolutionize Education? Vol. 38 (7) 6-7.

Here is another interesting article that brings in arguments about an important issue in education. I really find these kinds of articles to be very interesting to read because it's always fun to hear two different point of views on a topic along with an explanation.

The ipad will most certainly revolutionize education. the ipad brings in "the same functionalities to the classroom that the laptop does" (Paragraph 1). we have wireless connectivity, 24/7 multimedia information available, and is portable. You can transition from big projects that require specific soft-wares, to smaller  "app-based learning activities" (Paragraph 2). A teacher could easily test drive an educational app in less tahn a day and have a good lesson plan for the class pretty quick. The ipad is also useful because it allows for "portability and kinesthetic interaction that a laptop cannot provide" (Paragraph 5). The many apps, all with different functions, can aide one in doing certain assignments, so no more need for a book and pen/pencil.This argument ends by claiming that we are providing out teachers with the tolls and the opportunity to experiment with new technology.

The second argument begins by saying that " 'improvements' isn't 'revolution' " (Paragraph 2). Its far more simple to have education in the traditional form, with "programmed learning, computers, the internet, laptops, interactive whiteboards" (Paragraph 11). Let's not forget that ipads are much not cheap compared to laptops. With the ipad, we have to worry about their vulnerability to "breakage and theft" (Paragraph 12). Also, ipads cannot teach students keyboarding skills, and improve their typing/writing. With digitalize content placed online, education has become much more than it was before, "if the content was effective pedagogy before, it's effective now" (Paragraph 13) and simply putting them on a new screen doesn't make it better. this argument ends with a really good point, saying "educators are really the ones who can revolutionize education" (Paragraph 14).

After reading this article, it really got me thinking about how much education really is changing. It is true that we are now living in a  new digital age! But going back to the article, It was really tough to chose a side. One, because I think the ipad would make an interesting new tool for students and teachers to use. But the second argument also brings in good points too; the ipad is not cheap, and it is very vulnerable to unfortunate events. If I had to chose, I would say that I would not really support the Ipad in classrooms, I have seen many students with Ipads in classes today, and almost 90% of the time, they are browsing facebook, reading email, or playing video games, also, where are we going to get the money to provide ipads for every student in a classroom? and then what if they get damaged or dropped and broken or malfuncions?. To teach a class with Ipads, we as educators would first have to understand the ipad, get to know it well, then once we are really confident, we will have to teach our students how to use it (depending on grade of course). As much as I love the ipad, I would have to say no.

What about you? what side do you support and why?

Article #2: Facebook: Should You "Friend" Your Students!?

 Redd, M. Oritz, J. (2009). Point/Counterpoint: Should You "Friend" Your Students? Vol. 37 (1), 10-11.

 This article talks about an ongoing debate between teachers, 'should you friend your students on facebook'? this article brings in two different arguments, one who agrees, and one who disagrees, and discuss their reasons why.

You should 'friend' your students on Facebook because  it is a nice way to stay in touch with what goes on in their lives. When a student sends you a friend request, they "wish to share their lives with [you]" (Paragraph 3), thus they are welcoming you into their lives. the article claims that it may seem like you are 'hanging out with them, but you are also "hanging out with them at school, too" (Paragraph 3). Times are schanging are we are now in what is known as the 'digital age', with the students "being the digital natives, while...the educators are digital immigrants" (Paragraph 4). This argument ends with a very strong point, saying that we as educators "can't effectively teach them until we can reach them" (Paragraph 6).

Your should not 'friend' your students on Facebook because you and your students get enough of ecahother during the day, 7:30 a.m.- 2:45 p.m. You "have to draw the line somewhere" (Paragraph 7). Can you really handle more sides of them outside the classroom? and can they handle yours?. If you are 'friends with your student, then they begin to feel that "deadlines no longer apply to them" (Paragraph 8). This argument also claims that student life vs adult life are completely different, do you really want your students to know wherer you and your fellow adults friends go out to drink? It's better to "friend a former student who is now an adult...not a current student" (Paragraph 9).

I found this article to be very interesting because with Facebook's ever growing popularity, almost everyone has an account now. I myself have made one just to stay in touch with friends, but I Only have one former high school teacher as a friend, and the rest are friends, relatives, classmates, etc. I agree with the second argument in that you have to draw the line somewhere, if a student skips class, and you find them posting that they went to the fair, what would you do? but then again I also agree with the first argument, you could friend a student on facebook as a way of staying in touch, what if they have a question on an assignment? This would also be really helpful to those students who are shy in class and rarely speak, they can use this to talk more with their teacher, even though it's not face-to-face, it's still one-on-one communication.

So what about  you, what do you think?

Article #1: growing Your PLN

This article by David Warlick talked about PLN's and the different ones that are out there for future educators or almost anybody to be a part of and enjoy. PLN stands for Personal Learning Networks, these learning networks help you get the information you need. According to the article,  "Harnessing these new technologies ... is imperative for educators who want to stay connected to the changing world we are charged with introducing to our students." (Page 2) Technology is growing now more than ever and we as future educators must be able to catch up and stay up to date with the information we will present to our students. This article mentions of different networks out there that can help you stay connected, such as Skype, Twitter, Ning, Blogs, etc. It is also mentioned that one must keep a 'personal maintained synchronous connections' because it includes the individuals and locations who you will turn to when you have certain questions. The second one is 'Personally & socially maintained semi-synchronous connections', this is when the Internet comes into play with it's many networks.  The third is 'Dynamically maintained asynchronous connections', as mentioned in the article "this type more often connects us with content sources that we have identified as valuable" (Page 3)

I really enjoyed this article because it really explains how networks can really be of assistance to use when we are in time of need. For example, lets say that you need to do a project with mechanical machines but there is no one in your area that is really intellectual in this type of project. This is when meeting people out there through networks can come in handy, you'll be able to exchange ideas and even work on the project as well. I personally have never really heard about PNL's until I read the article and attended class. I myself actually use Twitter because i find it more simple and straight to the point, where as other sites, usually require more stuff from you like an email address and a phone number. There are still many out there though that I have yet to explore.

In today's world, students at elementary levels are already being introduced to technology, and there are even computers in almost every single house now. These kinds of technologies weren't around when I was a child, therefore they may eventually understand more about it than us. It is our job as future educators to stay up to date with what goes around us because it can be very helpful someday and since times are changing, so must we.

Warlick, D. (2009). Grow your personal learning network. Learning & Leading with Technology, 36(6), 12-16

Technology Of Choice

Kate Sullivan and Ismael Hernandez: Go Animate!

"Go Animate" Is A Great Online Learning Tool. It Is Available Free Online At http://goanimate.com/
Or By Simply Typing "Go Animate" on Google Search. Once On The Home Page, You Are Greeted With A "Make Amazing Animated Videos!" And Below It Are Listed Some Very Useful Ways To use This Site, Such As "Create An Animate Lesson For Your Class". You Can Also Make Videos or Even A Training Video As Well.

Allow Your Students To Present Their Knowledge Creatively Instead Of The Traditional Report, Diorama, Poster, etc. As A Teacher, You Can Introduce Lessons, Special Notes, Or Leave As A New Assignment For The Class When You Are Out.

Go!Animate Is Not Just For Educational Purposes, You Can Also Use It To introduce Products And For Promotions as Well. 

Below Is A Sample Video Of What Anyone Can Create.