Tag Archives: Web 2.0

The Power of Twitter (ONCE AGAIN)

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Thanks to Jamie Portman for his cracking endorsement of the power of Twitter found here: http://www.jamieportman.com/blog.

Jamie has been part of my personal learning network for a long time now. I’ve been through the lurking stage with him right through to mentions, DMs and emails to share resources with him (which reminds me that I have some more for him I MUST send – sorry for the delay, Jamie!). Next, I really hope I’m going to be able to visit and see the amazing work of Jamie, his staff and students since a fire ripped through the school buildings at Campsmount, Doncaster in December last year.

Please do follow Jamie on Twitter @jamieportman – he’s got some great follows and followers and is leading some very innovative, pragmatic learning in his school.

The real power of Twitter is all that I’ve said, but It’s also enough to bring me out of my self-enforced silence during my holiday in an attempt to SWITCH OFF. I try really hard to relax and clear my head when I take time off but to be honest, it doesn’t really work.
Just today I have been reading “Over-schooled but Under-educated” by John Abbott. I continue to lurk on Twitter during my ‘silent holiday’ (I’m not supposed to be interacting in this ‘switch-off’ mode) and this afternoon, I have researched a number of educational readings…I’m currently checking out a range of different teaching models including the Autonomous Learner Model and the Cognitive Apprenticeship Model (http://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/models/cog.html) with which I’m undertaking some action research in our ‘Confident Communicators’ Project’ (see previous post) at the moment and will be talking about at a number of conferences in the next few months.
I’ve also done some work on my book plus I’ve downloaded Dan Pink’s talk at the RSA (www.thersa.org), which has been added to the RSA Animate series – check it out if you’re interested in finding out about intrinsic motivation, with some powerful scientific evidence to support the case…it brilliantly enriches the TED talk (www.TED.com) he gives around the same issues.

I also went on a four mile walk this morning along Monmouth Beach, Lyme Regis and saw some spectacular fossils and the other side of the day involved a final circuit of the harbour and the Cobb. ‘Switching off’, it would seem, is very subjective…

Confident Communicators Project Is Go!

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I’m just recovering from an amazing day at Bath University where we launched our collaborative schools’ research project. I work with a wonderful, dedicated team who are making all of this innovative learning a reality.

The ‘Confident Comminicators’ project is designed to work on several levels:

1. Develop learners’ self confidence through their communication and collaboration skills.

2. Provide a learner-led research project which will run over the next five months.

3. Create opportunities for teachers to adopt the role of facilitator and observer of learning, using strategies adapted from EYFS practice.

4. Allow learners to work in teams to ‘research the future’.

5. Raise aspirations of learners & teachers.

6. Use podcasting to develop ‘quality learning conversations’.

What a day! A special word of thanks (tinged with buckets of awe) for the ‘glue’ of the day, Mr Jeremy Stockwell (follow on Twitter @jeremystockwell). He absolutely pinned down the essence of the day in what, how and why he said & did what he did.

Suffice to say, I now know how to breathe and, as one teacher reflected on how tired she was at the end of the day (the students were similarly exhausted!), “…it’s great to be tired in a different way.”

Indeed it is. More on the project as it develops.

Twitter does it again! The Most valuable professional Development

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I posted a comment on Miriam Tanti’s blog months ago, suggesting that she try out Twitter and here’s the result…

How about we give @miriamtanti a follow to let her see the REAL power of Twitter for educators now she with us?!

Thanks, Miriam, for the mention! Check out Miriam’s blog at www.miriamtanti.com


The Most Valuable Professional Development … Twitter

February16

I’d like to thank Zoe (@fullonlearning) and my colleague Joyce for getting me onto Twitter. I have to say that I was quite skeptical with the whole concept of twittering: Did I really care to be informed of the latest movements of a group of people, many of whom I have never met? I mistakenly made the direct connection between the Tweet and the Facebook status … regular updates of what people are having for dinner, the documentation of their attendance to their child’s athletics carnival, their wishes to leave work and go to the beach … I’m sure you get the idea. All bits of information that really have no impact on my life, and honestly could do without. But I was pleasantly surprised!

Several weeks ago I created a Twitter profile @miriamtanti and whilst I have not yet made any significant tweets I have managed to locate key stakeholders and ICT educators and read about their latest endeavors. In such a short time the global network I have joined on Twitter has allowed me to access a wide variety of the latest resources, literature and research that each of my global counterparts are pursuing. The hours that they have saved me from trying to locate such information on my own via search engines and online databases, and the new insights and perspectives they have exposed me to – my teaching and research is all the richer for it.

In terms of global collaboration, networking and professional development there is no ICT tool that has made a greater impact than Twitter, every educator should get an account!

Future learners, present learning…Generation M2

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I’ll be using this video in my work with teachers over the next couple of months and with the students who are part of our Confident Communicators’ Project which launches in February. They’re researching and developing their own future scenarios in response to the question… “What will life be like for an average 15 year old in 2025?”. I’ll be posting information about the project over the forthcoming months – I may start up a separate posterous blog to capture it all.

Anyway, the creators of this video and the report associated with it, The Kaiser Family Health Foundation, says, “…this video explores the powerful force that media can be in the lives of teens and tweens. The three young people who are profiled explain what types of media they use—such as smart phones, computers, TV, video games—how much time they spend with media and what impact it has on their lives.”

Simple, concise and insightful – it raises some interesting questions about future learners,  present learning.

Twitter Educators LOVE collaboration!

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I’ve just taken a screen break, which in truth means a task-switch…and found this great feedback on Twitter! Not only does it prove that Twitter is the most powerful professional development tool around but it reaffirms my belief in teachers-as-learners-as-sources-of-quality-feedback.

What a fantastic learning community I am part of. Need to stop now for fear of getting gushy about the whole thing!

  1. ededco 

RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitterhttp://post.ly/IxEyabout 2 hours ago from TweetDeck

  • Folens Publishers UKFolens 

    A tiny glimpse at what twitter can do for the future of teaching… RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitter http://post.ly/IxEyabout 6 hours ago from web

  • Audrey Naysandynay 

    RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitter http://post.ly/IxEy what a gr8 idea could process be explained 4 others to try #NSWDETabout 6 hours ago from Posterous

  • Roberto Mazzonifratel 

    RT @vahva A book made on Twitter with tips 4 teachers. RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitter http://… http://bit.ly/85vceGabout 6 hours ago from twitterfeed

  • Roberto Mazzonifratel 

    RT @vahva: This is brilliant! A book made on Twitter with tips 4 teachers. RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborat… http://bit.ly/6BCCkBabout 6 hours ago from twitterfeed

  • Humanities TeamHodderHumanity 

    RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitter http://post.ly/IxEyabout 6 hours ago from Posterous

  • SeanGreatTwitTips 

    RT @vahva: This is brilliant! A book made on Twitter with tips 4 teachers. RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborat… http://bit.ly/63FGjfabout 6 hours ago from twitterfeed

  • SeanGreatTwitTips 

    RT @vahva A book made on Twitter with tips 4 teachers. RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitter http://… http://bit.ly/6uGOIRabout 6 hours ago from twitterfeed

  • LJ CreateLJCreate 

    A book made from the Tweets of teachers in Twitterhttp://post.ly/IxEy (via @fullonlearning @hopkinsdavid & @vahvatter)about 7 hours ago from web

  • Twit ExpertTwit_Expert 

    RT @vahva A book made on Twitter with tips 4 teachers. RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitter http://… http://bit.ly/6uGOIRabout 7 hours ago from twitterfeed

  • David Hopkinshopkinsdavid 

    RT @vahva A book made on Twitter with tips 4 teachers. RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitterhttp://post.ly/IxEyabout 7 hours ago from web

  • Bryony Taylorvahva 

    This is brilliant! A book made on Twitter with tips 4 teachers. RT @fullonlearning Educators collaborate on Twitterhttp://post.ly/IxEyabout 7 hours ago from Posterous

    • Educators collaborate on Twitter

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    Having listened, once again, to yet another media commentator deriding Twitter as ‘pointless & banal’ I felt I had to post this. This fantastic collaborative piece of work is evidence of the quality of interactions that are shared every second of the day around the world by some of the most inspirational educators. 

    The document was put together by @dajbelshaw and @stuartridout (see their biographical information in the book). It came into existence after a collection of previously unconnected people joined forces and contributed to a Twitter Hashtag entitled, #movemeon. I have not met ANYBODY else who contributed to this document, other than by following some (not all) of them on Twitter. The people I follow share their thoughts and ideas about effective education , they provide links to resources, webpages, articles and events that they recommend. I use my Twitter account as a very specific, targeted search engine for everything about learning. For me, it’s the most valuable source of professional development in existence on the web. I hope you enjoy the publication.

     

    Taking presentation to the next level with the RSA Animated Series

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    I love using visuals in my work. When teaching, I’m never far from a board & marker pen to illustrate the concepts and ideas that I’m explaining. When I taught A Level Philosophy, I created a series of cartoon-based text books for students to support their understanding of different philosophical concepts. I guess I should dig them out and see if they could be digitalised in some way…a project for the new year, I think. Anyway, I now use keynote when I’m training, presenting and giving talks. It’s far more intuitive than PowerPoint and encourages lots of simple pictures, easily embedded clips and audio – oh, it’s a joy!
    BUT…I have now come across the RSA’s Animate series…and I want to start doing things a bit like this! Check this out for a fantastic, engaging and informative way to present information. I’m off to get started now! The content itself isn’t half bad, either!
    Thank you, RSA and Professor Stein Ringen (Professior of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Oxford)