My Personal Learning Network

My Personal Learning Network

Project six for my EDM 310 class is to develop a personal learning network. A personal learningnetwork would be defined as a collection of people whom you engage with and exchange information with. This is usually done online. I researched and contacted five individuals to part of my personal learning network. My topic of choice was technology within the classroom. I wanted to know how teachers used technology in their curriculum. I contacted these individuals and they shared great ways that they used technology in their lessons.

The first individual that I contacted was Sandy Scragg. She is a high school teacher in downtown Manhattan. She had some great ideas that she used with her high schools, but these ideas can be adaptive to different age groups. Ms. Scragg discussed with me that since she is a English teacher she has her students use google docs with google notebook. This was a fun and new way to use online note taking. Real world skills such as typing, listening, and classroom note taking can be fostered. Ms. Scragg's stated that when using these tools incorporated with lessons the knowledge is built from the students rather then just taking notes verbatim by the teacher. Ms. Scragg also discussed how she uses webcast in her classroom. She gave me some great websites to get you started on your own webcast and some for online note taking.

http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/05/28/7-apps-for-online-note-taking/

http://www.google.com/googlenotebook/tour1.html

http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2006/07/17/webcast-how-to

The next person on my personal learning network was Mrs. Tanya Travis. She is a fourth grade teacher in Dorchester County Public School in Maryland. Mrs. Travis gave me some fun and exciting activities I could use to incorporate technology. She has a class blog and she used it after they finished a unit on the water cycle. The students wrote about what it would be like to be a drop of water in the water cycle. The students used their blogs to share their stories. Mrs. Travis has incorporated voice thread into her students work. Each student is responding to a chapter book of their choice and respond to the book using technology. They use voice thread to share their work. The students love it and they are learning at the same time. I was excited about the ideas that Mrs. Travis shared me. It gave me some great ideas to share with my own class one day.

The third person on my personal learning network was Chris Gathers. He has been teaching Kindergarten for 30 years. The first thing he said was that children are never too young to be introduced to technology. He loves to use technology along side his curriculum. He begins each year by using Mouse practice. This teaches children to click and drag. Next he introduces his students to the program Kid Pix Studio Deluxe. This is a graphic art design program with several drawing and design tools. He uses this program to help his students master different skills. This program helps the students use their imaginations. Students use the tools: color, pencil, line, paint can and alphabet text along with their lessons. They learn to print and save their work. They also use the rubber stamps to make patterns. These skills are fun and help children gain confidence.

Ms. Linda Allen the fourth person in my personal learning network. She is a teacher also and she had some new ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. Her school has the use of alphasmarts. For those of you who are not familiar with alphasmarts it is a portable word processing keyboard. Ms. Allen had this wonderful idea of using this device on a field trip. Her class took a field trip to a science museum and they took notes on what they discovered so they could write a report. The teacher can then download the information to her computer and check what they did. How cool is that? Ms. Allen it has been a great tool because it has built excitement in her students for writing.

The last person in my network is Larry Lueck. He is a fourth grade teacher in Kansas. He uses the promethium board on a daily basis with his students. The promethium board allows him to show his class how to build an electromagnet, do math problems, view crystals up close and many other things. He uses it to quiz students on a lesson he has taught to assess how they are doing. Mr. Lueck also has a class blog and has his students produce podcast. He said that his students love all the different use of technology in his classroom. They come to school eager to learn and he loves his job more!

In conclusion with my personal learning network assignment I have learned a lot of valuable information. I now see the importance and value of having a personal learning network. I am grateful for the five people in my PLN for sharing their time and ideas with me. I am eager to return to the classroom and start to integrate technology with my own students. I have learned that no matter what grade level you teach, technology in the classroom is a MUST! I am glad I have my personal learning network as I begin my journey back into the classroom, it will be a great resource tool for me.