Building, Sustaining, & Cultivating a Learning Network

Entering the technological world has not been on the top of my list of things to do. I have avoided it with a passion in fact and felt strongly about the importance of that for self preservation. It was until I took a technologies class in graduate school that I began to realize the importance of technology in helping me reach my professional goals as an educator.

I have had a Facebook and Pinterest board for a while now but knew only the basics of both of those forms of social media. For this class I was asked to create a Twitter and Google+ accounts to expand my "Learning Network". Up until this point I had not included much into my learning network other than my immediate fellow classmates, teachers and educators. I now have the potential to connect with almost anything and everyone through the newly cultivated "Online Learning Network".

Here is the first shot of my first encounter with Twitter and the oh so intriguing Hashtag.

Twitter was so welcoming!! A whole new world to adventure and draw information from! Through my Twitter account I found that I was now able to connect with fellow educators in a quick and simple manner. This manner is focused on my interests.

From there I was able to connect with people who have the same interests and the comments, questions, and information pertaining to each. 

This connection can open up so many new ideas and options for my classroom. I plan to use it to gather information for my toolbox and use it to broaden my learning network. 

The most important thing that I have realized, however, is the importance of this knowledge for my students. In the year 2014, technology is a part of how we live. In order to have it used properly and effectively we must teach our students how to do so. It is extremely important that educators understand that and use this tool appropriately in the classroom. I will continue to test out what I can do with the new technology I have found and encourage discussions about this information with my fellow teachers and educators. I have learned that when trying to learn something new it is easier for me to learn it when I am teaching it so someone else. I plan to show my friends and family members what I have learned and answer any questions they may have. 

ISTE Standards

The teacher that comes to mind for me is Mr. Brooks and I had him for an sociology online class with a local community college in high school. He made a decent use of the technology we had to work with and despite the lack of technological knowledge of his students he was able to present the content efficiently. The standards I graded him lowest on were 3 and 5 because his instruction was very much teacher focused. The fact that he was teaching to high school students from a community college made him seem disconnected and he didn’t work hard to create a community environment. He was more focused on presenting the knowledge at hand.

1. Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity (4 out of 5)

Mr. Brooks did a good job of advancing student learning. I could tell that he knew a lot about sociology and he was able to relate it to real world issues and issues that we were facing as high school students. His excitement about the content got us excited.  

2. Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessment (4 out of 5)

We had a textbook for this class as well as the online resources. He would communicate with us through video as well as through the blackboard program. We would also watch videos and movies that were relevant to the content. We had our tests online but they were given in different forms which was good for the different learners. 

3. Model digital age work and learning (2 out of 5)

He was very teacher focused with his teaching so I scored him low in this category. He did not explain the different things he was doing with technology and solely focused on the content. 

4. Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility (4 out of 5)

Mr. Brooks was very clear, from the first class, about his stance on copyrighting and plagiarism. We spent an entire class on the topic. He wanted to make sure that we understood the severity. He also stressed the importance of digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to technology. The class being sociology he was able to incorporate those things into the content. 

5. Engage in professional growth and leadership (2 out of 5)

He did not do much if any of what is involved in this standard.