Comments on: Personal Learning Network http://learnconnect.edublogs.org/2007/11/19/personal-learning-network/ Building Community Through Telecollaboration Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:19:56 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 By: Colleen http://learnconnect.edublogs.org/2007/11/19/personal-learning-network/comment-page-1/#comment-25 Colleen Thu, 06 Dec 2007 01:39:47 +0000 http://learnconnect.edublogs.org/2007/11/19/personal-learning-network/#comment-25 Hmmm, great question. One that people probably don't spend enough time reflecting on. There are the usual ones. My grade 12 history teacher who sent me on my way to a degree in history and teaching. My parents, who taught me that through good and bad you stick together and work it out. My husband who lets me learn at home while he cooks supper! Of course, my children who teach me more than I could possibly list. I am blessed! And finally my students who teach me as many things as I teach them and they are now learning along with me on this technological journey. There are countless others, people I interact with everyday are all part of my learning network. You only have to be open to what others can share with you. Hmmm, great question. One that people probably don’t spend enough time reflecting on. There are the usual ones. My grade 12 history teacher who sent me on my way to a degree in history and teaching. My parents, who taught me that through good and bad you stick together and work it out. My husband who lets me learn at home while he cooks supper! Of course, my children who teach me more than I could possibly list. I am blessed! And finally my students who teach me as many things as I teach them and they are now learning along with me on this technological journey. There are countless others, people I interact with everyday are all part of my learning network. You only have to be open to what others can share with you.

]]> By: Evelyn Theriault http://learnconnect.edublogs.org/2007/11/19/personal-learning-network/comment-page-1/#comment-24 Evelyn Theriault Tue, 04 Dec 2007 22:57:56 +0000 http://learnconnect.edublogs.org/2007/11/19/personal-learning-network/#comment-24 The devil's in the details I really identify with Anne Lawton's experience of the challenges of implementing change. In my view, the efforts to change are fourfold: absorbing the surface information, deciding how it relates to our own practice, mastering the technological angle and finally implementing changes in the classroom. I say finally but actually in my own experience this "final" stage is only the beginning because that's when you see how it plays out in your own environment (smile). The real challenge for me is that I "believe" in the new web2.0 philosophy (e.g. cobuilding knowledge, greater autonomy and control of students)but as I try to put it into practice it raises many questions for me. For example, I'd been thinking about a classroom wiki for awhile and on our Monday snowday I finally signed up, mastered the basic skills, and organized it according to my traditional teacher needs (lesson plans, handouts, useful links). It's going to take awhile just to load all the content but I feel it'll be a valuable tool for the students. But (pedagogically speaking) I'm not exactly breaking new ground here (definitely not web2.0 smile) and it's the next step that I know I'll find challenging. The next step is to open the wiki discussion area to my Grade 6 students. I need to think not only about what we're going to discuss in that space but also about my expectations for the space. On the one hand, it's like an informal classroom discussion, but on the other hand it's written down. It's slightly private because it's anonymous, but it's also public because once students have access, so will other students and their parents. As an ELA teacher I'm used to making distinctions between the private and the public, and between student writing for meaning-making and student writing for "publication". So, in the Discussion areas, as an ELA teacher how do I balance my desire for a "meaning-making" space with my desire to teach children how to write clearly in standard English? I know I'm going to work through these philosophical questions as I implement the changes in my practice, but I thought I'd share it with you as an example of how I get bogged down thinking about all the possible ramifications of each change. I too believe that "Change takes time and I will get there!" The devil’s in the details
I really identify with Anne Lawton’s experience of the challenges of implementing change. In my view, the efforts to change are fourfold: absorbing the surface information, deciding how it relates to our own practice, mastering the technological angle and finally implementing changes in the classroom. I say finally but actually in my own experience this “final” stage is only the beginning because that’s when you see how it plays out in your own environment (smile).
The real challenge for me is that I “believe” in the new web2.0 philosophy (e.g. cobuilding knowledge, greater autonomy and control of students)but as I try to put it into practice it raises many questions for me. For example, I’d been thinking about a classroom wiki for awhile and on our Monday snowday I finally signed up, mastered the basic skills, and organized it according to my traditional teacher needs (lesson plans, handouts, useful links). It’s going to take awhile just to load all the content but I feel it’ll be a valuable tool for the students. But (pedagogically speaking) I’m not exactly breaking new ground here (definitely not web2.0 smile) and it’s the next step that I know I’ll find challenging.
The next step is to open the wiki discussion area to my Grade 6 students. I need to think not only about what we’re going to discuss in that space but also about my expectations for the space. On the one hand, it’s like an informal classroom discussion, but on the other hand it’s written down. It’s slightly private because it’s anonymous, but it’s also public because once students have access, so will other students and their parents. As an ELA teacher I’m used to making distinctions between the private and the public, and between student writing for meaning-making and student writing for “publication”. So, in the Discussion areas, as an ELA teacher how do I balance my desire for a “meaning-making” space with my desire to teach children how to write clearly in standard English?
I know I’m going to work through these philosophical questions as I implement the changes in my practice, but I thought I’d share it with you as an example of how I get bogged down thinking about all the possible ramifications of each change.
I too believe that “Change takes time and I will get there!”

]]> By: Anne Lawton http://learnconnect.edublogs.org/2007/11/19/personal-learning-network/comment-page-1/#comment-23 Anne Lawton Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:48:36 +0000 http://learnconnect.edublogs.org/2007/11/19/personal-learning-network/#comment-23 During the summer I took a Technology in Education course at Bishop's with Vince Jansen. What an eye opener! During the course my personal learning environment grew and I tried to keep up with new information by purchasing an iPod with a screen, to replace my little Shuffle, which I had used exclusively for music, so that I could listen to podcasts on the go. I spent a lot of time over the rest of the summer downloading and listening to podcasts by Will Richardson, David Warlick, Sharon Peters, Wesley Fryer, Vicky Davis and others. I also used Google Reader to pull in blog posts by a long list of high level educational bloggers which I read with interest. I kept imagining what I would do in my new classroom in September. Once moved into my new school, I became rather preoccupied with important little things. Setting up for the new school year is tedious but essential. Email came at me from the office and I kept up with requests which were all legitimate and essential to the smooth operation of the school and my students' success. I corrected work as it began to come in and I attended meetings, called and met parents, wrote IEPs, did recess duty, etc. At home I did the laundry, made my lunch, shopped for food, called my children who had just moved away to university, and cleaned the house. A bit. And tried to get to bed on time. I didn't listen to podcasts or read blogs, but I was going to start again soon. It is now December 1st. I attended what I call a "reminder session" with Susan and Christiane yesterday, about the potential of web 2.0 technology in the classroom. Blogs, wikis, social bookmarking and something new called Voicethread, which looks so exciting and I can think of ways to implement it. But right now I have to write my report cards, so I'll think about it more later. And after I get around to building my website which was supposed to be up and running in September. For now, I find myself using a tiny bit of what I learned this summer, but I do need these reminder sessions. I am not much of an implementer I suppose, but I do love hearing about new ideas when I have time. Organization seems to be an issue with me as well. I don't use my time as well as I could but I can't seem to figure out how to do all of the little tasks required of teachers and still have time to plan something fresh, using new tools. Sometimes I start, and then drop what we're doing because I haven't thought it through. Such is the case with blogging in my class. Each student made one entry a month ago. And then we got stuck, busy with finishing our narratives, responses, reflections, math problems etc. before report cards were due. I'm not saying that we haven't done anything new and interesting, it just hasn't become part of the way we do things routinely. It always seems to be an 'aside'. So, when I have time, I will have to work on time management so that I can keep reading or listening to the pros. I'm feeling a bit stuck and it's sad, but that's the way it is for now. I am still excited about web 2.0 and I know that I will slowly implement, especially since we have teachers at our school who are also beginning to do the same. I was impressed by the group of teachers from Richelieu who are doing the playground project. What a wonderful way to involve students in a meaningful way and to support each other as a staff. They all seem to be so interested in this new way of learning and teaching together. A team approach might be the key instead of working in isolation as a teacher in one classroom. Change takes time and I will get there! During the summer I took a Technology in Education course at Bishop’s with Vince Jansen. What an eye opener! During the course my personal learning environment grew and I tried to keep up with new information by purchasing an iPod with a screen, to replace my little Shuffle, which I had used exclusively for music, so that I could listen to podcasts on the go. I spent a lot of time over the rest of the summer downloading and listening to podcasts by Will Richardson, David Warlick, Sharon Peters, Wesley Fryer, Vicky Davis and others. I also used Google Reader to pull in blog posts by a long list of high level educational bloggers which I read with interest. I kept imagining what I would do in my new classroom in September. Once moved into my new school, I became rather preoccupied with important little things. Setting up for the new school year is tedious but essential. Email came at me from the office and I kept up with requests which were all legitimate and essential to the smooth operation of the school and my students’ success. I corrected work as it began to come in and I attended meetings, called and met parents, wrote IEPs, did recess duty, etc. At home I did the laundry, made my lunch, shopped for food, called my children who had just moved away to university, and cleaned the house. A bit. And tried to get to bed on time. I didn’t listen to podcasts or read blogs, but I was going to start again soon. It is now December 1st. I attended what I call a “reminder session” with Susan and Christiane yesterday, about the potential of web 2.0 technology in the classroom. Blogs, wikis, social bookmarking and something new called Voicethread, which looks so exciting and I can think of ways to implement it. But right now I have to write my report cards, so I’ll think about it more later. And after I get around to building my website which was supposed to be up and running in September. For now, I find myself using a tiny bit of what I learned this summer, but I do need these reminder sessions. I am not much of an implementer I suppose, but I do love hearing about new ideas when I have time. Organization seems to be an issue with me as well. I don’t use my time as well as I could but I can’t seem to figure out how to do all of the little tasks required of teachers and still have time to plan something fresh, using new tools. Sometimes I start, and then drop what we’re doing because I haven’t thought it through. Such is the case with blogging in my class. Each student made one entry a month ago. And then we got stuck, busy with finishing our narratives, responses, reflections, math problems etc. before report cards were due. I’m not saying that we haven’t done anything new and interesting, it just hasn’t become part of the way we do things routinely. It always seems to be an ‘aside’. So, when I have time, I will have to work on time management so that I can keep reading or listening to the pros. I’m feeling a bit stuck and it’s sad, but that’s the way it is for now. I am still excited about web 2.0 and I know that I will slowly implement, especially since we have teachers at our school who are also beginning to do the same. I was impressed by the group of teachers from Richelieu who are doing the playground project. What a wonderful way to involve students in a meaningful way and to support each other as a staff. They all seem to be so interested in this new way of learning and teaching together. A team approach might be the key instead of working in isolation as a teacher in one classroom. Change takes time and I will get there!

]]> By: Evelyn Theriault http://learnconnect.edublogs.org/2007/11/19/personal-learning-network/comment-page-1/#comment-22 Evelyn Theriault Fri, 30 Nov 2007 06:24:17 +0000 http://learnconnect.edublogs.org/2007/11/19/personal-learning-network/#comment-22 Choose one new thing to learn this week. SPLASH!!! – that’s the sound of me finally taking the plunge and getting started! At your conference today I was very intrigued by the possibilities of the del.icio.us site, so I went online and created two. I based the first on my genealogy interests because I already had an idea about how I wanted things organized and had a lot of bookmarks to play around with, and then I began my second which will hold my education related bookmarks. http://del.icio.us/EvelynTheriaultEducator http://del.icio.us/EvelynTheriaultGenealogy I find I’m quite obsessed with getting my bookmarks into neat little bundles – hmm, I wonder what this says about me (smile). Evelyn Choose one new thing to learn this week.
SPLASH!!! – that’s the sound of me finally taking the plunge and getting started! At your conference today I was very intrigued by the possibilities of the del.icio.us site, so I went online and created two. I based the first on my genealogy interests because I already had an idea about how I wanted things organized and had a lot of bookmarks to play around with, and then I began my second which will hold my education related bookmarks.

http://del.icio.us/EvelynTheriaultEducator

http://del.icio.us/EvelynTheriaultGenealogy

I find I’m quite obsessed with getting my bookmarks into neat little bundles – hmm, I wonder what this says about me (smile).
Evelyn

]]> By: learnconnect http://learnconnect.edublogs.org/2007/11/19/personal-learning-network/comment-page-1/#comment-19 learnconnect Tue, 27 Nov 2007 20:13:03 +0000 http://learnconnect.edublogs.org/2007/11/19/personal-learning-network/#comment-19 You questions set me whirling back into my personal and professional history and I wondered how far back I would go. We learn in so many aspects of our lives! Louis Caron was a student with me in grade 12. I did grade 12 in French whereas I had done all my education in English and I was quite an anglophile by then. He introduced me to the pleasures of Québécois music. With him I discovered Gilles Vigneault and Claude Léveillé. Has stayed with me ever since… the love of that music, not Louis who went his own way! My grade 12 physics and chemistry teachers taught me that learning does not happen through a book but by putting your ideas to the test of reality and that you really understand something if you can teach it or explain it. And I became a teacher myself, perhaps because of a deep curiosity and need to understand that I was able to articulate because of them. With Michel Aubé who taught psychology with me at CEGEP, I plunged into the world of Logo, turtle geometry and most of all constructivism. This experience deeply influenced my understanding of learning and my way of teaching. I taught in two different CEGEPS and in each one, a group of like-minded educators connected and we developed our curriculum together, experimenting new approaches, teaching as a team, implementing creative projects with our students. We learned from each other constantly. We really worked as a community. Technology was not part of the equation way back then. Fast forward to the near present! Working at LEARN, I found the same type of team spirit that I had so enjoyed in my CEGEP days. We each have different strengths. We are still a face-to-face team most of the time. There is so much to learn from each person in the team, they know things I don’t, we have differing and complementary views on education and discussions with them helps move my thinking along. And then I too have discovered the new Web 2.0 tools that put me in contact with incredible educators all over the world. And guess who introduced me to them… Susan Van Gelder of course! It’s no exaggeration to say that she opened my eyes to new opportunities for my professional development. It’s so exciting to have access to the thoughts of people who are currently reflecting on education or sharing the discoveries and practices. Suddenly, there is no limit to learning and changing. Scary, but so much fun too! Christiane Dufour You questions set me whirling back into my personal and professional history and I wondered how far back I would go. We learn in so many aspects of our lives!

Louis Caron was a student with me in grade 12. I did grade 12 in French whereas I had done all my education in English and I was quite an anglophile by then. He introduced me to the pleasures of Québécois music. With him I discovered Gilles Vigneault and Claude Léveillé. Has stayed with me ever since… the love of that music, not Louis who went his own way!

My grade 12 physics and chemistry teachers taught me that learning does not happen through a book but by putting your ideas to the test of reality and that you really understand something if you can teach it or explain it. And I became a teacher myself, perhaps because of a deep curiosity and need to understand that I was able to articulate because of them.

With Michel Aubé who taught psychology with me at CEGEP, I plunged into the world of Logo, turtle geometry and most of all constructivism. This experience deeply influenced my understanding of learning and my way of teaching. I taught in two different CEGEPS and in each one, a group of like-minded educators connected and we developed our curriculum together, experimenting new approaches, teaching as a team, implementing creative projects with our students. We learned from each other constantly. We really worked as a community.

Technology was not part of the equation way back then. Fast forward to the near present! Working at LEARN, I found the same type of team spirit that I had so enjoyed in my CEGEP days. We each have different strengths. We are still a face-to-face team most of the time. There is so much to learn from each person in the team, they know things I don’t, we have differing and complementary views on education and discussions with them helps move my thinking along.

And then I too have discovered the new Web 2.0 tools that put me in contact with incredible educators all over the world. And guess who introduced me to them… Susan Van Gelder of course! It’s no exaggeration to say that she opened my eyes to new opportunities for my professional development. It’s so exciting to have access to the thoughts of people who are currently reflecting on education or sharing the discoveries and practices. Suddenly, there is no limit to learning and changing. Scary, but so much fun too!

Christiane Dufour

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