PLNs and MOOCs

PLNs - My network actually started about 5 years ago.  I was fortunate enough to hop on the Twitter bandwagon relatively early, and also fortunate to start right off following some very savvy educators who had an idea of the power of networks.  I grew my network carefully, choosing to follow educators who were taking big risks in ed tech, and thinking about education in a very forward way.  This network also kept me linked in to cutting edge tools that helped me to take risks in my own practice, and begin to envision bigger things for my students.  Because of the connections I was making in my network, I was able to find and try many new tools, stay up on the latest research and news in my field, read about what many educators were doing, and even begin blogging about my own experiences to help teachers in my district begin to take steps with ed tech.  This aspect then allowed me to contribute my experiences, thoughts, and findings back to my network.  I learned early on that you can take take take from a PLN, but when you start giving back, and becoming a part of the conversation, your perspective and knowledge grows exponentially!

One of the great benefits of the #diffimooc is that it is giving educators this whole experience in a fairly structured way (even though I know it doesn't always feel that way to participants sometimes!). It's allowing them a safe, guided way to build networks and find the key tools to begin with, rather than leave them to find it for themselves (as I had to).  Many teachers will and do find their way into this on their own, but many more do not - and would not - if it weren't for experiences like this one.

I was excited to begin this MOOC, and as we move through this course, I find I sometimes have conflicting attitudes.  I am always happy to work with educators who are either new to the profession, or even just new to technology - it's a part of my work that I really enjoy.  I do understand where there are frustrations, but when people let their frustrations overcome them and become disheartened and defeated, I feel disheartened too. I keep hoping that at some point they can find that spark that will help them to keep moving forward - to see that it's all worth it.

For me, that spark came the first time I tried a web tool with students.  I used VoiceThread with a 3rd grade class as part of a study on inherited traits.  We had one computer, one podcasting mic, and an overhead projector.  The project itself was relatively simple in terms of the technology, but the kids loved it!  They begged me to put it on the overhead at any opportunity.  They loved it because it was their voices and pictures of them doing silly things like rolling their tongues, but every time they watched it they had more questions about inherited traits.  From there I started doing simple things, like having them act out their spelling words. I'd take pictures of them doing that, put them in a PowerPoint, then have them watch it and guess and spell the word they were acting out in the picture.  It was such an easy thing, but it made such a difference in engagement, interest, meaning, and learning.  I was hooked.

When teachers get disheartened I hear them say things like they don't see why we can't just do things the old way.  They are struggling with the technology and it makes them feel helpless and defensive, and they ask what was wrong with the way we were doing things before.  I wish those teachers could just get to their "aha" moment.  Then they would see that it's not just about the technology - it's about the possibilities.