Lifelong Learning 2.0

I’ve been thinking about school starting in the fall.  Not because I want to. I relish the thought of summer lasting for weeks and weeks. I’ve been thinking about it because several of the bloggers I follow have started writing about the start of school.

Summer is a great time for refreshment, relaxation, renewal.  It is also a great time for educators to connect with their PLN and extend their knowledge.  As school starts, I know I will be so busy that the thought of extra time to learn new things seems almost impossible.  Will I have time to stay connected to my PLN? I know that when I am I learn so much and am able to contribute to others.  If you value this too, I am confident that with thoughtful planning, you can take create time for self-education and growth during the busy school year.

1. Be proactive. We make choices daily about how we spend our time.  Make a conscious effort to learn something new.  Be a lifelong learner.

2. Set clearly defined goals and put them in writing. Things don’t often happen just because.  Success and growth are intentional.  Create a plan and allow yourself to be flexible with it. Find a friend to hold you accountable.

3. Seek out opportunities for self-education. There are many ways to do this:  follow other blogs, sign up for webinars, read books, join twitter, watch tutorials, take a class, register for a workshop, subscribe to learning channels on YouTube.

4. Start with you. Learn new ways to use existing tools.  However, don’t push web 2.0 tools on students without taking time to use them for your own learning.  Participate in networks, create a wiki, journal in a blog.  You’ll be better prepared to help your students with these tools if you use them for your own professional growth. Learn first. Experience.  Then pass on the treasures to your students and learn with them.

5. Blog.  Journal about your self-educational experiences.  Reflect on your learning.

6. Take risks. Seize opportunities. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.  This is often the very place where true growth can occur.

7. Grow in community. Vygotsky spoke of the “Zone of proximal development,” meaning that there exists a certain amount of knowledge that can only come from the assistance of others through social interaction.  The learning process flourishes when you focus on learning together.  Collaborate.  Find others who have the same interests.  Share resources. Grow together. Learning in community is a wonderful path to take.

Photo Attribution: End of Summer, by Noe

I love my iphone.  I’ve had it for 3 months and am always on the hunt for apps.

I stumbled on this list of iPhone Apps for learning on the Open Culture blog.  Those of you with a passion for lifelong learning should check out this list.  There are apps for literature, the arts, foreign languages, travel, science, math, and nature, to name a few.

Here is a sampling of what you’ll find:

Zen Proverbs Don’t you just love shaking your iPhone for an UrbanSpoon restaurant recommendation?  Shake your iPhone for a new Zen proverb with this cool app.

Margins Enjoy taking notes on the side when reading your favorite book or an article?  This app keeps all your margin notes together.

Art Gallery Premium Over 7,500 works of art to look at.  Learn about famous artists in your free time.

Translater with Voice Translations in 34 languages, with voice support.

Wine Enthusiast Guide Need help choosing a great wine?  Download this app!

Plan.Pack.Go A companion guide to help you plan that great summer vacation!  Get organized, and don’t forget anything you need to pack.

Urbanspoon I ran into two people this week that didn’t know about Urbanspoon.  Once they downloaded it, they couldn’t stop shaking that iPhone.  Give it a shake and it will give you restaurant choices based on criteria you choose.  Fun app!

AA+ Chemistry, Biology and Physics Study Cards  These apps give you an entire course to help you prepare for an exam, learn more about the topic, or refresh your memory.

15,000 Useful Phrases Find the right words to say for any occasion.

Star Walk Going on a date?  Taking a romantic walk outside at night?  Use this app to make you sound like a stargazing genius.

Go ahead and check out the list here: 100 Best iphone aApps for Serious Self-Learners.

But before you go, post a comment on this blogpost with at least one app that you recommend. (Feel free to share 2 or 3, or more.  Afterall, I did share 10 with you.) 

Creative Commons Photo Attribution:  iphone Desktop, by Powerbooktrance

I am a lifelong learner.

I must continue to improve my skills to stay current with educational trends, so I can offer the best to my students. I have an important role in taking control of my own professional development. One way to do this is attend dynamic conferences and webinars.  As I find out about them, I’ll add them here.  Some are face-to-face, but most are set up for virtual attendance. I have been learning so much from the conferences and online webinars that I’ve attended this past school year.

As I’ve said in a previous post, there is such value at seeing ourselves as lifelong learners first, teachers second. Social communities and networking can play a huge role in our professional development. I can’t wait to be spoon-fed through power points and handouts. I need to continue to question and push myself. I try to step out of my comfort zone and take risks.  It is here that I’ll grow. I need to make my learning experience relevant and set out to create my own plan.

Let’s Collaborate!

I have added a page to my blog called Conference Calendar.  If you see an event you’re interested in, add it to your calendar. If you find one I should know about, send it my way and I’ll add it here.

NECC Unplugged

Want to attend NECC this year, but can’t make it?  You need to participate in NECC Unplugged!  There will be 3 days of presenting virtually, using Elluminate.  You can present at NECC Unplugged!  Anyone can sign up!  Check out all of the details on this wiki.

Enjoy!

I am so excited to attend this web meeting about encouraging students in the area of social media and innovation!

The National Center for Technology Innovation is putting on a free webinar this week.  Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders Through Innovative Technology is taking place on May 20th, from 3:00-4:15 ET.  Check out this website for more information.  If you plan on attending, register early here.

Read about the presenters below. (Taken from the NCTi website.)

Learn about forward-thinking technology solutions from four leading educational entrepreneurs who have unleashed student talent through the use of online, interactive platforms. Join Steve Hargadon, Founder of Classroom 2.0 and an architect of LearnCentral.org; Paul Kim, Chief Technology Officer for Stanford University School of Education and a leading researcher for Programmable Open Mobile Internet; Jennifer Corriero, Executive Director of TakingITGlobal; and Emily Briggs, Program Manager of Sprout e-course, as they discuss successful strategies for developing the entrepreneurial spirit of global youth in advancing social media and innovation. The Webinar will take place on May 20th from 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm ET.

Have you attended an Unconference?  Recently, the opportunity to attend a free workshop on Web 2.0 came my way, and I quickly registered.  (Did I mention free?)

The first of the 2-day conference began with introductions and a few rules of the loosely structured format.  Steve shared the “rule of two feet,” commenting that anyone could get up and leave if this wasn’t what they were looking for.  The first day was interesting, but it was the afternoon session and the entire next day that really took off.

Here are a few notes about the sessions:

Friday’s Sessions…

Google Maps/Earth: Joe Wood presented on creating tours using Google Maps and Google Earth.  I’ve heard him present it first at the ILC, and several times since.  I seem to get something new from it every time.  (Besides the fact that his birthplace seems to change every time he presents. LOL)  He speaks with enthusiasm and a confidence that makes you want to bust out the laptop and give it a try.  And I have.  (More about my park-hoppin’ Google tour in another post.)

Backchanneling: Interesting thoughts were shared by Zack Dowell on this topic.  Back-channeling involves having “sidebar” electronic conversations during a presentation or conference.  I get in trouble for that during Professional Development meetings all the time.  Apparently, some see it as good practice.  Cool!  Zack had us join in on a live back-channel discussion using Today’s Meet.

Storage: One of the participants told us about adrive.  50 gigabytes of storage backup goodness! And free too!

Saturday’s Sessions…

If Friday was a cup of drip coffee, then Saturday would have to have been a iced venti double Americano. I couldn’t get enough.

Blogging: Larry Ferlazzo and Alice Mercer did a fabulous presentation!  They shared tips, tools, and examples of their innovative teaching practices.  Check out Larry’s blog here. Man, can he blog!  He not only manages to add blog content daily, but he often has several posts per day.  Alice’s blog is here. Alice is a computer lab instructor, talented presenter, and blogging queen.  She is a wealth of information.  In fact, I just saw her last night at a CTAP meeting, at CUE, and recently, at this conference.  I told her last night that I’m really not stalking her. Really.

Speed Demos: The lightning round speed demos were faced-paced.  I heard about slideshare, scribd, delicious, diigo, and jing, to name a few.  Even though I am familiar with these tools, it is fun to see how teachers use them for learning.  Steve shared that even though he is not a huge Twitter fan, he organizes his seven Twitter accounts using Netvibes.  (Yes, I said 7.)

Here are 3 Things I Learned about Myself from this Conference:

I love the format of the unconference.

It is organic and fluid, allowing for diversions and restructuring of ideas.

It is collaborative, allowing for brainstorming and trouble-shooting.

It is more intimate, allowing for deeper conversations.

I value networking.

Anytime the focus of the sessions turned to social networking, I was all over it.  I am active on at least 5 Nings, and 2 other social networks.  I value people.

Participants took over the agenda by volunteering to  share ideas, present, or ask questions. This opened doors for networking at the breaks, and even to this day in subsequent online communication.  Larry Ferlazzo shared links with me with samples of student work, to answer some questions I had thrown out.  Alice Mercer invited me to get the word out in our efforts to plan follow-up meetings in Sacramento.   Several teachers gave me suggestions for a virtual open house project I’m tackling.  The discussions continue in a forum post on CR20, offering great feedback.  Zack Dowell asked me to be the K-12 Liaison for a Web 2.0 conference coming up next fall, at Folsom Lake College.  Networking can not only bring greater results, it has the potential to help us become better people. I’ve always preferred the team teaching model. Vince Lombardi said it well:

“Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”
- Vince Lombardi

I need to take bigger action steps.

Steve Hargadon was kind enough to chat with me and gave me a couple of “pep talks” over the conference breaks.  He asked questions of which he seemed to already know the answers.  He encouraged me to take bigger steps and told me that he belived in me.  I was inspired!  And I took his advice immediately.  Several things have fallen into place since then.  When sharing about these opportunities in an email yesterday, Steve responded that I’m becoming a “web 2.0 mover and shaker”. Wow!  I’m not sure about that, but I do know that my professional development, educational goals, and perspective have been movin’ and shakin’ and I can’t wait to see where it takes me!

Many thanks to Steve Hargadon, of Classroom 2.0 and Melissa Green, of Sac City College, who hosted the event.

Will Richardson’s recent blog post resonated with me. He opened quoting a tweet from John Pederson:

“Community building is the new professional development.  We forgot that and taught Web 2.0 tools.”

Hmm.  I love that line about community building providing for professional development.  He’s so right.  As for the Web 2.0 tools, it’s hard to decide which should come first.  I believe for the teacher not versed in the innovative ways that technology can be used to engage students, that the tools must be taught first.  However, not for immediate use in the classroom.  I feel the learning takes place best when that teacher uses the tools for their own professional development first. I personally got much more out of experiencing the tools in my own educational experience, before teaching them to my students.

It’s okay to take a year or any time you need to practice using the tools first. I am still learning.  And I will continue to have more to share with them.  And that’s how it should be.  But I will be far more effective having a handle on it, being able to explore these tools in the setting of my online networks and community first. The value of learning in the setting of community is immeasurable.

As I commented on Will Richardson’s blog, there is such value at seeing ourselves as lifelong learners first, teachers second. Social communities and networking can play a huge role in our professional development. We can’t wait to be spoon-fed through power points and handouts.  We need to make our learning experience relevant and set out to create our own plan.

Prior to this past year, professional development trainings at my school were not often relevant to what I feel I needed to know to make a difference in how my students learn.  At first, I sought out my own professional development in frustration, because I didn’t want to be “fed” with announcements or listen to speakers that didn’t understand our learning environment.  It didn’t interest me. I wanted to grow professionally so I could turn around and share that passion for learning with my students.

The frustration soon wore off and I became excited at the possibilities.  I joined Classroom 2.0 and loved the opportunity to connect with other educators seeking similar paths to lifelong learning.  I “attended” the K12 Online Conference, and registered for courses in EduFire.  I subscribed to online webinars.  I listened to interviews, learned from tutorials and slideshares, and watched alot of Ted.   I read books and joined other educational social networks.  I try to catch as many of these Saturday Elluminate sessions as I can.  I was blessed to be asked by my school to attend the Innovative Learning Conference, in San Jose last fall, as well as the CUE conference, in Palm Springs, this past March.  This past year, my school decided to focus on technology, which aligned nicely to what I was learning on my own.

I chose what I wanted to learn.  And now, I can more effectively share the web2.0 tools I’ve been learning about with my students. But the learning doesn’t stop here. I will continue to seek other like-minded colleagues to develop my PLN, so we can learn, collaborate, and share ideas and projects. Does it take time? It takes a ton of time.  But the students are worth it!  Will Richardson talks a bit about the time it takes here:

“So when John Tweeted “Community building is the new professional development” it really resonated, because it suggests that unlike most so-called pd that schools offer, getting our heads and our practice around this is a process, not an event. It’s learning, not training. (I cringed a couple of weeks ago when a principal said “Wow, our teachers are going to need a lot more ‘training.’” Ugh.) It’s not something we can “deliver” in a four-hour PowerPoint-like session. As Linda Darling-Hammond suggests, “…teachers need to learn the way other professionals do—continually, collaboratively, and on the job.” If that’s not a description of what I see most of us doing in these spaces I don’t know what is. Somehow, by luck or hard work or a combination, those of us who are taking advantage of the affordances of learning in online communities and networks have found a way to invest the time, not in big chunks in a physical space classroom but in as-needed, passion-driven, hour-here-fifteen-minutes-there learning flow that relies on the interactions of many learners, not on the expertise of any one person. And it’s in knowing how to effectively navigate those interactions where the value lives, not in effectively navigating the tools.”

Yes!  I couldn’t agree more.  I want time to observe other teachers, learn from mentors, and work collaboratively, as Linda-Darling Hammond suggests. Read her findings in the recently released report from Stanford University and the National Staff Development Council here.  The report states that:

“Most states and districts are still not providing the kind of professional learning that research suggests improves teaching practice and student outcomes. The research tells us that teachers need to learn the way other professionals do—continually, collaboratively, and on the job.”

Technology has always been around at my school, but not being utilized to its potential to make learning engaging and meaningful for kids.  No, it’s not about the tools.  However, there are amazing ways that we can teach innovatively, using these tools.  When taking control of my own professional development this year, my eyes were opened to the innovative things that educators are doing in their classrooms, as well as the amazing things students are doing to contribute and find their voice.

I want that for our students.  They deserve the opportunity to connect, collaborate, and contribute.  I am doing what I can to help others get things moving forward at my school and the possibilities are beyond exciting.  It will be transformational.

What are your thoughts about professional development? What resources have you found interesting to learn about? Anyone open to my observing their classroom or computer labs so I can learn from you?

Photo Attribution:

Working from the Mobile Office, by David Sifry

Sprouts, by Plutor

Lifehacker recently posted a helpful list of Top 10 Tools for a Free Online Education. Here are a few of his Top Ten Tools.

#5 Academic Earth and YouTube EDU

Of course, both are absolutely amazing resources for lifelong learning. Academic Earth provides thousands of video lectures from the world’s top scholars. I’ve been enjoying Guy Kawasaki’s videos recently. Institutions that are participating include Princeton, Stanford, Yale and MIT.

YouTube EDU offers endless opportunities for learning and discovery. I’ve always wanted to enroll with The Culinary Institute of America. Now I can have access to their lectures without the student loans. Subscribing makes it convenient so I don’t miss a lesson.

#6 Trade your skills, find an instructor

TeachMate connects people who have something to teach and want to learn something in exchange. Love the idea for this opensource project. So I could learn guitar or photography tips in exchange for teaching someone to make a vanilla bean creme brulee? Cool. Here are a few lessons TeachMate wants users to take away:

• You don’t need to be a professional to teach. Instead, you have to teach to become a professional.
• You don’t need to pay money for learning or ask for money when you teach someone.
• Learning is not about the degrees, it’s about the process and what you can do with your knowledge.

#7 Get started on a new language

Always looking for additional online tools to help my students who are taking Spanish, German, and Norwegian. Lifehacker’s post referenced Learn10, which delivers 10 vocabulary words per day through email, iGoogle or your iPhone. One Minute Languages delivers free weekly podcasts for several different languages. Conversational skills for 12 different languages, along with quizzes, can be found at Mango Languages.

#10 Teach yourself programming

While I’m not running out to learn programming code right now, I did find some helpful resources at the Google Code page. The CS Curriculum Resources link hosts a variety of links to tools for introductory programming for students. I found Scratch here. Scratch is a “programming language that makes it easy to create interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art — and share these creations on the web.”

Here’s Kevin Purdy’s complete list:

1. Learn from actual college courses online
2. Learn an instrument
3. Get an unofficial liberal arts major
4. Teach yourself all kinds of photography
5. Academic Earth and YouTube EDU
6. Trade your skills, find an instructor
7. Get started on a new language
8. Learn to actually use Ubuntu
9. Get a Personal MBA
10. Teach yourself programming

Read the full story on Lifehacker

Creative Commons Photo Attribution: jiashiang