Exploring Learning

Statement of Accomplishment For learning-junkies - like me - Coursera allows you to search for, enrol and take part in interesting and varied courses, offered by legitimate universities - for free! I have written before about taking control of our own learning; whilst I am lucky enough to be in a school that values Professional Learning highly, that funds PL and devotes one afternoon session a week to helping staff learn, not everyone is so lucky. However, as explored in Kristen Swanson 's book, ' Professional Learning in a Digital Age ', the advent of technology and the Internet, means our learning can be 'user-generated' - we take control. Organisations such as Venture Lab and Coursera make this even easier. This year online, for free, I have taken part in the following online courses:- Designing a New Learning Environment (via Stanford University, through Venture Lab ) E-Learning and Digital Cultures (via The University of Edinburgh) I am also s...

A Quadblog assignment for Flat Classroom Teacher Certification. Composed collaboratively by Holly, Dottie, Kerry, and Penny. --------------- Five areas of awareness - use these five areas of awareness as a lens for viewing digital citizenship choices: Technical Awareness Individual Awareness Social Awareness Cultural Awareness Global Awareness  The focus of this Quad-Blog will be on Individual Awareness Individual awareness is a person’s understanding of online behavior and how he/she chooses to behave online. Some factors that play into individual awareness are healthy lifestyle choices, balance, and a person’s individual goals. Major Topics: Safety, Privacy, Copyright, Fair Use, and Legal Compliance Etiquette and Respect Habits of Learning: Reliable, Responsible, Management of Online Activity Understanding Literacy and Fluency ------------------------ Safety, Privacy, Copyright, Fair Use, and Legal Compliance What is it? In basic terms Safety, Privacy, Copyri...

Habits of Learning:  Responsible, Reliable Management of  Online Activity For Module 3: Citizenship, of the Flat Classroom Teacher Course, we have been assigned 'Quadblog' groups; this gives us a taste of what it is like to try to work asynchronously towards a common goal with people we don't know and who are in different time zones. My group has been assigned the topic of Individual Awareness ,  which is one of the areas of awareness that permeate every area of digital citizenship. Within each of the five areas of awareness - technical, individual, social, cultural and global - there are four "rays of understanding": Safety, Privacy, Copyright, Fair Use, and Legal Compliance; Etiquette and Respect; Habits of Learning: Responsible, Reliable Management of Online Activity, and Literacy and Fluency. For the Quadblog group, I am tackling the understanding of Habits of Learning: Responsible, Reliable Management of Online Activity within the concept of individu...

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...

I am lucky enough to live in a country that never suffers from the snow that seems to be blighting many of my friends, followers and PLN. With the knowledge that my February is going to be completely bonkers (I start my Flat Classroom Teacher Training Course, we have mock exams, I have to get all the Extended Essay documentation completed, all IBDP internal assessments need to be finished and paperwork submitted, a friend and her toddler is coming to stay, we have parents' evening and reports to write, plus I need to train for my next half-marathon), along with it being my hubby's birthday weekend, I decided to take Saturday to chill by the pool in the blazing sunshine and complete the reading for the virtual book club I have been taking part in. For the background on this see the following posts: Take charge of your own learning Pearls of Wisdom Baring your soul: Reflecting & Sharing Professional Learning in the Digital Age gave me great insight and the confiden...

"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...