TCH 401

 

Before you begin: We will be tracking our PLN work in a Slide Deck. Create a deck in a tool of your choice (remember though that one of the goals of this course is to increase your knowledge of tech tools. Consider using a tool that you are not as familiar with as a way to grow and learn). Consider Google Slides, Canva, Haiku Deck, Slide Rocket, or even Prezi. Make a cover page that at minimum includes your name, content area, and grade(s) that you teach. Create a Connected Educator post on your blog. Link your Slide Deck to the post. Please plan to update your slide deck once a week. 

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In the moment: 

1. To begin this challenge I invite you to map your current PLN.   Include your go-to people, places, and groups that help you continue your learning as an adult and as a teacher. Also, represent the means that you connect with those entities. Do you use social media? Are you part of a professional organization that you regularly connect with? You can also categorize your connections by the types of content that you learn with those connections. And yes, you can include your offline connections as well. Our lives are not simply on- or offline anymore and they are often always a mix. 

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• You can use any number of tools to create this map. I encourage you to try something new that may be a new tool that you could use in the future. There are all types of mindmapping online and app tools: Coggle, bubbl.us, Popplet , Miro, or Mindmeister are just a few. You do always have the option to choose something low-tech like markers, and pens, even loose parts

• Place this initial map at the beginning of your slide deck. Consider doing a screen shot. You will add to this map at the end of the semester and you will want you beginning map in order to track progress (Screenshot on Mac, Screenshot in Windows). 

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2. Build Connections ​

• This is the only challenge that will stretch over the course of the entire semester. Throughout this course you will work on building connections through a variety of actions. Please document at least FOUR various resources/connections that you have discovered/created (remember these are new connections for your map). See the lists below for examples. 

 

Connect with another person or persons (Pick at least ONE from this list)

• Engage with other educators via Google community,

• Engage in an educational Twitter Chat.

• Find a professor who stimulates your thinking or a blogger who provides innovative ideas about teaching and learning. Comment on his/her post(s).

• Join an educational Facebook group and engage with the educators.

• Follow and engage with teachers on Instagram. Create a collection of the things you have learned. 

• Join a professional organization, AND engage in their digital presence (forums, comments etc.)

• Connect with the author of your favorite book through their website or social media channel. 

 

Expand your learning channels (Pick at least ONE from this list.)

• Subscribe and listen to some podcasts for educators.

• Learn something new by browsing the Resources tab from the Google Training Center.

• Complete tutorial/training via LinkedInLearning and collect the certificate of completion completion.

• Compile learning resources  in a YouTube playlist and Subscribe to the learning channels

• Participate in a free educational webinar (online workshop or session). 

• Join and earn some badges from the Microsoft Education website

• Create informative Pinterest boards focused on some aspects of your profession, follow creative professionals (ex. Creative use of QR codes in a classroom).

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3. However you expand your PLN this semester, make sure to document the situation. You should complete one of these each week, and update your PLN slides accordingly. Take screenshots of your interactions. Use your slide deck as a repository for your PLN documentation. For each new PLN connection create a short narrative with a link to the resource and the visual examples (screenshots, certificates, video recordings etc). You can use the following prompts to reflect and organize your PLN expansion:

•  A screenshot or attached file of the event, connection, or certificate for each of the four required resources/connections listed above.

• A short description of the resource (consider using bullet points).

• How did you establish/find/create/use this resource?

• How will you benefit from this resource in your future teaching? (Perhaps you benefit from it right now as a student).

 

4. Create Post-map and Reflections

Towards the end of the semester, you will reevaluate your connections and create an expanded version of  your initial PLN map. (Note: Twitter is just a tool, engaging in educational Twitter chat, following certain educational hashtag or influencers is your PLN. Same for Google Sites. Google Sites is only a tool - Using Google Sites to collaborate with parents and educators, or used to share ideas with the larger audience is a PLN. Keep these things in mind when completing your final map). 

• Update your initial PLN map. Include all of the new professional learning sources that you found/created/established. 

• Include the final version of your PLN map at the end of your slides.

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Complete the challenge: Find your Connected Educator post on your blog. Your slidedeck should be complete.  In your post, use the documentation in your slide deck to  write a narrative talking about the growth of your PLN and how you will use it in your professional life. Questions to consider: How do you plan to continue to connect with other educators? What sites do you prefer to use to make connections? Why? How do you currently or hope to collaborate with other educators?