Category: PLN

Connected Educator Month Begins In Two Weeks! What Will You Do To Connect?

On By Patrick LarkinIn Burlington Public Schools, Connected Educator Month, Personal learning network, PLN, Professional Development, United States Department of EducationLeave a comment
For the second year in a row, the United States Department of Education has made October Connected Educator Month.  What is Connected Educator Month (CEM) you ask? Check out the following description from the great CEM District Toolkit created by Powerful Learning Practice:

Connected Educator Month (CEM) is a month-long celebration of community, with educators at all levels, from all disciplines, moving toward a fully connected and collaborative profession. 

 The goals of Connected Educator Month include:

  • Helping more districts promote and integrate online social learning into their formal professional development 
  • Stimulating and supporting collaboration and innovation in professional development 
  • Getting more educators connected (to each other) 
  • Deepening and sustaining the learning of those already connected
The Connected Educator Month District Tool Kit
The bottom line is that our students need to know how to create Personal Learning Networks (PLN’s) that will allow them to connect with others who share their passion in a particular area. For this to happen to the fullest extent possible, we need out students to be surrounded by educators who can model the practices of a connected learner.  
With this in mind, I hope to profile one Connected Educator from my PLN on each school day during the month of October. To make this happen, I will be asking the members of my network to fill out a short Google Form and share a bit of information about who they are, where they are, and why they connect. Stay tuned…
If you are willing to help me achieve my goal of a “Connected Educator Profile” for each school day during October, please fill out this brief form.
Thanks in advance for your help!

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Growing Your PLN Video

On By Patrick LarkinIn Google Hangout, Lisa Dabbs, Nick Provenzano, Personal learning network, PLN, Tom Murray, TwitterLeave a comment

I had the chance to spend some time in a Google Hangout tonight to discuss how educators can grow their Personal Learning Networks (PLN’s) using Twitter.  It was a privilege to be included in this discussion with an impressive group of educator. The discussion included Nick Provenzano (an high school English Teacher from Michigan), Lisa Dabbs  (a former Principal, blogger for Edutopia, and currently an Education Consultant), Lyn Hilt (a former Elementary Principal and current tech. integration coach in PA), and the organizer of the session Tom Murray (Director of Technology and Cyber Education in Bucks County, PA).

The discussion referenced the following questions:

  What’s a personal learning network and why should educators be connected?
  • How have you used Twitter to make connections and grow professionally?  
  • What’s your connected educator story?
  • How can educators get started?  Where do they even begin?
  • How can educators increase the size of their learning network?
  • How can Twitter be used for Professional development?
  • What other advice do you have for people looking to get started?

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