Exploring Learning

I am always on the search for ways to collect, curate and  organise  information - both for my professional and my personal life. Recently, I stumbled across  TiddlyWiki , which claims to be a unique  non-linear notebook for capturing,  organising  and sharing complex information (TiddlyWiki.com, 2014) What drew me to it was its transformation of traditional note-taking techniques, such as index cards, into an interactive tool that lives on my computer and can house hyperlinks, self-proclaimed "hypertext index card from the future". What could there not be to love? The site hosts helpful explanation video tutorials, as well as text instructions on how to get started. After watching the introduction, I must admit that whilst  i  feel it sounds good, I am not sure about the user-friendliness of it. Use of codes for formatting, etc., much like in the  Bubbl.us mind-mapping  tool I reviewed. After the introduction...

For the current module of my MEd., I have to identify six Web 2.0 tools that could be used in my classroom to enhance student learning. I have searched the Internet and resources provided by my professor, and have made a preliminary list, which includes:- Zunal TED Ed Pinterest TiddlyWiki Bubbl.us Grammerly Explain Everything My focus is going to be on my Media Studie students, as this is a subject I have the fortune to be teaching again. They have to be able to gather and organise a lot of information and present their learning on a blog. I am interested in finding ways to help them manage this work flow and build a successful multi-media coursework blog. Over the next two weeks, I will explore these tools and think of ways they can enhance the learning experience of my Media Studies students.

As the last week of the year fast approaches, I thought I would take five minutes out of my writing to reflect on the progress and achievements of the year. I have found this year to be challenging on many levels and want to focus squarely on the successes - as there have been many - to allow me to see what truly matters as all too easily, we forget the good stuff when the tough stuff gets us down. In terms of teaching, I have successfully designed and implemented my first project-based learning project, which was recognised as excellent in the field and so I was asked to contribute to future course design of PBL projects. I also collaborated and delivered my first Global Project, also recognised as leading in the field . I have continued to explore and understand how technology can enhance teaching and learning in the English classroom and successfully helped implement the 1:1 scheme using Edmodo as a learning portal. I set up and managed learner and class blogs to enable learner...

Recently, as part of my research, I have been exploring Diigo. I want to address the need to be able to organise and curate online research so it is easy to find and use in future learning. The need to curate in the explosion of online information is essential in our digital world. For example, this morning I logged on to my University site to check my workload for this week as well as our conferences, to see what discussions had taken place overnight - my colleagues are all in the US so communication is 12 hours asynchronous for me. Following links from this and from Twitter, less than an hour later I have shared four new sites, taken part in multiple conversations, and bookmarked almost ten sites or articles I want to read for my research for the paper I am writing about software that advances writing. I currently use Pearltrees to curate educational sites that I want to use for teaching and learning, which is explored in more detail in my post ' Pearls of Wisdom '. I ...

We had our kick-off meeting last week on Tuesday 5 February 2013. I was able to connect using Blackboard Collaborate , something I had not used before, but unfortunately had to leave as I was at school. However, with it being Chinese New Year I have had an extended weekend, so was able to catch up and watch the full recorded version. I have also had a cold so have not felt up to tackling the mountain of marking, but have caught up on my reading for the next meeting, namely Chapters 1-3 of the book, ' Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds '; my Tweets about the most interesting salient points for me personally, can be found under @MrsHollyEnglish under #flatclass. Having reached the end of Chapter 3, I have come across my first 3 of the 15 Flat Classroom Challenges. Having taken part in the survey assessing my current connectivity, I feel confident that I am currently in a good position - I already have established a sound PLN that I build on when I can and have added s...

"You must leave digital footprints so people know you’re treading among them and part of the community." Vicki Davis, ' Global Education by Design ' The final part of Professional Learning in the Digital Age concerns contribution and how it is our duty to give as much as we take from our Personal Learning Networks (PLN), if not more. We all have something to give, we all have something to share - whether it is anecdote or expertise - and we can all learn from each other. Kristen Swanson advocates multi-layered contribution ranging from Tweeting (or even more basically, Re-Tweeting) to speaking at conferences. I think I can narrow my contributions to:- Tweeting  Blogging Collaborative planning at work Leading or presenting PL sessions at school Speaking at a conference TWEETING Tweeting is easiest - stuff just comes to me and I Tweet and ReTweet what I think might be useful to others. I also Tweet quotes from books I read via my Kindle and links I st...

"The act of finding resources and thinking about them changes your practice. The more exploring I do, the more I try, and the more I learn."  Richard Byrne, author of Free Technology for Teachers quoted in a chapter about 'Reflection' in ' Professional Learning in a Digital Age ' by Kristen Swanson. MODELLING Teaching is all about modelling."Reflection in a public space creates a transparency for learning that benefits education" in more ways than one - it creates a forum for educators and it also creates positive models for learners. TRANSPARENCY "Being transparent about our successes and struggles is an important behaviour to model for our students"; being honest and open - particularly laying bare our mistakes and inadequacies - can be something that educators find challenging but the advent of Google in the classroom means we cannot and are not the sage on the stage; tech-savvy learners (and even those who aren't particul...

So far in my 2013 quest to: a) focus my exploration of new tools in the ' Ten Tool Challenge ', combined with, b) my virtual book club experience with  Professional Learning in the Digital Age ', I have, c) not done so well, particularly on a). This month - and I swear I tried to focus - I have played around and am experimenting with: a Bamboo tablet Pearltrees YouTube video editor Flipped Classroom pedagogy and on Friday, took possession of a belated Christmas present to myself -      5. a Google Chromebook So - where to start??? Briefly, in response and compliment to the first focus of 'Curation', from the ' Professional Learning in the Digital Age ' virtual book club, I choose  Pearltrees ... I had never ever heard of this tool - and most often, things come into my radar even fleetingly; I usually will have read something or heard something about a tool when I get around to trying it, but this was completely new. How had I mi...

Following on from my post about taking up the Ten Tool Challenge , I have just started reading and taking part in a virtual book club for a fabulous book, 'Professional Learning in the Digital Age' by Kristen Swanson . From the start, this is a book that resonates with me on many levels and builds on approaches I was beginning to develop in my own practice. Its exploration of the ways adults learn and how educators can approach professional learning confirms and expands on many of my current beliefs - that we need to collect, consider and evaluate and share. One of my pet hates has always been professional learning that is outdated, repetitive, not relevant and a waste of my very precious time. Swanson states that "for adult learning experiences to be successful, learners should be aware of the intention of the activity. Instruction should be problem-based instead of content-based, and planning should be collaborative. Succinctly, adults must be engaged with the content...