Carie Johannsen
Professional Learning Networks
Professional Learning Networks is a new concept to me. I find it interesting that the more and more technology we see our students use we tend to see them isolate themselves. I have made it priority to help my children develop relationships, they use facetime as much as possible with their friends to have those non-verbal communication experience, and I go out of my way with my students to make the virtual world less isolating. Until now, I didn’t realize how isolated I have become.
Since I have not been part of this Learning community, except for researching the resources my fellow classmates have provided, I feel like I have been living in the dark ages. I have had so much fun reading and researching the resources others have provide. Literally a new world has been opened to me! My advancement in technology has been stumped due to me being isolated in the virtual world for so long.
Here are a list of resources I have found helpful in my first venture into networking. If you are new to PLN then you may want to start with the ones I have listed below too.
Mindshift - @MindShiftKQED
It took one podcast and I was hooked. They interview the students and staff on many occasions and they go into the classrooms to see what is working. During one of the podcast they received direct feedback on the new systems they had in place from the students. It was different than most podcast I have heard. The interview with teachers shows radical changes in the classroom using technology and unique ways of teaching.
EdTech focus on K12- @edtechtimes
Tech issues facing K–12 IT leaders, admins and educators. This site is on the cusp of the newest and hottest technology. Recently I was reading about the newest facebook app for children. The app is designed for children as young as 6. This site has tips, videos, articles, etc.. It is exciting to read what technology is new and available and how to get it into the hands of your students.
Disrupted TV- @DisruptedTv -
Edutopia- @edtopia -
Founded by George Lucas in 1991. Their goal is to “shine light on what works in education.” I think we all want to know what is actually working. This is an interesting site because it focuses on the social and mental health of students. It is intriguing to learn the why behind our students actions and emotions. By understanding their mental health it can change the face of education in ways that have never been presented before. This site looks at the 360 of students like I have never seen a site do before. This will be one of my go to sites for consistent growth as an educator.
