Personal Learning Networks

Working collaboratively with others fosters learning. Bringing students away from the model where they feel they can only learn from the teacher will help them realize the value of others. Learning needs to take place in our every day activities. Everytime we observe someone else or ask questions we grow. Creating networks of friends, peers and colleagues is not something new for us. However, today we can expand that network of people to those all over the world, the quantity and variety of individuals is broader. What does that mean for our learning and the education of our students?

A learning network can help us sift through all the data that is constantly available to us and identify the information that will be most useful to us. It helps us learn from others, but also encourages us to participate and contribute to the learning of others. This can be so valuable to all of us.

I have not yet taken the opportunity to create individual learning networks with my students, but have created one as a class for the human body unit we are working on in science class. The students have been enthusiastic about checking what new information has come to us each day and taking the time to respond has helped them to work collaboratively as a class. My only frustration is the fact that social networking as a whole is blocked in my school. The Websense that we use has allowed me to access some of these network connections using quota time, which is only about 10 minutes at a sitting.

How do we create 21st century schools that encourage our students to create networks and collaborate with others, but also keep our students safe? I believe education is the answer, not avoidance!

RSS Reader

I have always been amazed at the amount of information coming to us, it either causes me to shut down and back away or try to organize in a way that I can manage it without becoming overwhelmed. As more and more cooperative information gathering and reporting continues to happen, the more important it becomes to have assistance in organizing what is essential to the task at hand.

Although it takes some time initially I can see the benefits of a "Read Simple Syndication" program to allow the "real simple" user to keep track of all information that pertains to an interest or career.

I decided to test this new concept before using it with my students in the classroom. So I set up a RSS that would help me gather information about pottery, one of my favorite passtimes. I did then first by subscribing to a few blogs of interest. I then decided to expand on that so I went to Googlealerts.com and filled in the search terms, with pottery. I quickly learned to carefully define what I was looking for and put in terms like "mixing glazes" and "throwing clay" that way I got more of the behind the scenes information I was looking for. I also created on aggregator for the handmade baskets that I make, it helped me find some valuable information about techniques and other designs, what fun!

I can certainly see the benefits of using RSS feeds with my students. When I begin my unit on Global Warming, it will save me lots of time feeling like I am just stumbling across worthwhile information. It will also benefit the students in many ways, information will be at their fingertips and updated regularly, how quickly education is changing!! How important it is that we change the way we teach our students to learn.