PLNs for Educators - an Introduction
This jog was created by Stevie Kline for the Personal Learning Networks session of Techapalooza 2012. (The links on these pages are provided as a courtesy of Stevie Kline Intermediate Unit 1. Stevie nor IU1 make no endorsement, express or implied, of any links to or from these sites, nor are they responsible for the content or activities of any linked sites.)
Author skline
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1Read Write Connect Learn
This is Will Richardson's blog. He is a parent, educator, speaker, author, and a 10-year blogger at Weblogg-ed and now here. He's trying to answer the question "What happens to schools and classrooms and learning in a 2.0 world?"
http://willrichardson.com/
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2Cool Cat Teacher Blog
Vicki Davis is the author behind the Cool Cat Teacher blog. The purpose of this blog is to inspire, encourage, and inform the teachers, parents, and professionals working to educate this wonderful generation of students. She is a full time teacher and mother of three living in Camilla, Georgia.
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/
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3The Innovative Educator
Lisa Nielsen, is the creator of this blog. She is an outspoken and passionate advocate of learning innovatively
http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/
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4Free Technology for Teachers
The purpose of this site is to share information about free resources that teachers can use in their classrooms. In 2008 Free Technology for Teachers was awarded the Edublogs Award for "Best Resource Sharing Blog." From Richard Byrnes - " My full-time job is teaching US History and Civics to high school students at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in South Paris, ME. In the past I have also taught courses in global studies and English/ Language Arts. I believe that when used correctly, technology has the power to improve student engagement and student achievement. I also believe that technology gives teachers the ability to form powerful, global, professional learning communities. In 2009 I was nominated for an Edublogs "Lifetime Achievement" Award." I am a Google Certified Teacher.
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/
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5Education ReThink
I am a middle school teacher in an urban enclave of Phoenix, Arizona. It's a beautiful barrio, but you wouldn't guess that if all you examined were test scores and data charts. I have an amazing, beautiful wife and three awesome children. I love to drink coffee, listen to indie music, run for hours, read and write. I have very few talents. I'm pretty good at talking, decent at listening and okay at art. I'm lucky to have found a career that fits my identity and personality and this absolutely limited skill set. From John T. Spencer author of this blog, "I believe that true impact occurs in a paradox. The more I try to "make an impact," the less I impact a student. The more I try to teach to the test, the worse students do on the test. The more I focus on changing behaviors, the worse students behave. The more I try to be relevant, the more irrelevant and hopelessly "uncool" I become. Yet, when I teach to the student, I find that they often pass the test, think well, treat one another with respect and find my class to be relevant. My desire is to explore this and other paradoxes together. My goal is to be practical, philosophical and personal. I want to engage in an authentic dialogue. I admit that I'm not an expert, just a guy trying to figure out life and my place within it."
http://www.educationrethink.com/
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6TED Blog
TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader.
http://blog.ted.com/
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7Blogger
Beautiful, customizable templates and layouts. (Owned now by Google). Free.
http://www.blogger.com/
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8Google Reader
Free feed reader stores manual or imported reading lists.
http://www.google.com/reader
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9Bloglines
Bloglines is the fastest way to find, track and vote on your favorite websites and blogs in real-time. Get the latest news on all your interests and trending topics.
http://www.bloglines.com
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10Integrated Academics
This is the place for teachers of all subjects to share ideas about applying academic content across the curriculum! How can music or art reinforce a mathematical concept? Are foreign languages important in science? How does proper nutrition help us to think more clearly? Why is YOUR subject important to anybody else? What's the connection? Post a favorite idea or suggest a link to promote Integrated Academics in your school!
http://integratedacademics.wikispaces.com/Home+-+Integrated+Academics+Wiki
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11Dare to Differentiate
This wiki has a wide array of resources, tips, tools, and techniques for support classroom differentiation.
http://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com/Home
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12Educational Origami
Educational Origami is a blog and a wiki, about 21st Century Teaching and Learning. This wiki is not just about the integration of technology into the classroom, though this is certainly a critical area, it is about shifting our educational paradigm. The world is not as simple as saying teachers are digital immigrants and students digital natives. In fact, we know that exposure to technology changes the brains of those exposed to it. The longer and stronger the exposure and the more intense the emotions the use of the technology or its content evokes, the more profound the change. This technology is increasingly ubiquitous. We have to change how we teach, how we assess, what we teach, when we teach it, where we are teaching it, and with what. Its a tall order, but these are exciting times. Andrew Churches say on his wiki "! a teacher, author, keynote and workshop presenter and ICT enthusiast. I believe that to prepare our students for the future, we must prepare them for change, teach them to question and think, to adapt and modify, to sift and sort. They are born into a world where the only constant is change, they are emmersed in technology and yet are unaware of how ubiquitous this technology is."
http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/home
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13WSD's eToolBox
Welcome to Wissahickon School District's eToolBox This space is intended as a virtual eToolBox of resources for integrating technology into the classroom. It is chocked-full of resources, how-tos, use in classroom, examples and more. Please visit the links to the left to learn more about the tools in the eToolBox. The work on this site is property of Dianne Krause and Wissahickon School District.
http://etoolbox.wikispaces.com/
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14Skype in the Classroom
Meet new people, discover new cultures and connect with classes from around the world, all without leaving the classroom.
http://education.skype.com/
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15Skype for Educators
Experts willing to connect via Skype.
http://www.skypeforeducators.com/
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16Wallwisher
An online notice board maker. "Walls" can be set so you must approved any notes before they appear on the wall.
http://www.wallwisher.com/
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17Stixy
During Stixy's beta phase, we will only support a small number of browsers; Internet Explorer 6.0 and 7.0, Firefox 1.5, 2.0, and 3.0, as well as Google Chrome. Stixy makes it fun and easy for you to collaborate online! Create tasks, appointments, files, photos, notes, and bookmarks on your Stixyboards.
http://www.stixy.com/
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18SAS
Pennsylvania's Standards Aligned System. There are many community groups here exchanging ideas.
http://www.pdesas.org/
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19Facebook
As an educator use with extreme caution - (if you choose to be on this site and check with your school’s AUP and be sure to read Vicki Davis’ post - the next link on the Jog) - the site is listed here to foster a discussion
http://www.facebook.com/
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20The Problem with Facebook is Your Friends by Vicki Davis
A must read if you are an educator considering using Facebook.
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2011/05/problem-with-facebook-is-your-friends.html
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21Twitter
Social networking and microblogging service utilising instant messaging, SMS or a web interface.
http://twitter.com/
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227 Things You Should Know About . . .
The EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative's (ELI's) 7 Things You Should Know About... series provides concise information on emerging learning technologies and related practices. Each brief focuses on a single technology or practice and describes: •What it is •How it works •Where it is going •Why it matters to teaching and learning
http://www.educause.edu/ELI7Things
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23What a Personal Learning Networks and Why Should We Care?
Shelly Terrell's wiki exploring PLNs.
http://weconnect.pbworks.com/w/page/24566813/PLN
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24More PLN Resources
From Shelly Terrell.
http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/2010/05/09/16-resources-about-personal-learning-networks-plns/