Stefan Cowper
PLN Network Response Sheet
1. On
feedly I discovered three different teaching blogs that discussed various
methods and tricks for teaching students just about any subject. Edudemic was
one such blog which had a great range of subjects such as increasing student
productivity to preventing plagiarism in your classroom. Free Technology For
Teachers is a fantastic blog that has an aura of life hacks in its articles. The
blog goes over various sites like twitter, and useful apps that may be new for
teachers. MindShift, one other blog that I subscribe to, discusses current
events and shares personal stories that prepare teachers for the future. The
blog has a wide range of topics.
2. On
twitter I have been following Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) and Bill Nye (@BillNye).
Although both are more science based (and I am a literature major), they both
talk about current events that are quite important. Tyson likes to tweet more
random facts that are interesting but valid, and Nye is quite vocal about
climate change. I also follow New York Times books, which discussed current
books that are coming out, or have come out, and their relevance to our culture
and other cultures. This is a fantastic way to keep up on current publications
of fiction and nonfiction that can be useful in the classroom. One recent post
gave a link to an article in the N.Y. Times titled “Does Fiction Have the Power
to Sway Politics?” Articles and other relevant tweets like this will be fantastic
in the classroom. Lastly, one of the other twitter accounts I am following
(which I got from Professor Anderson) is Tom Barrett (@tombarrett). Barret has
worked on several education projects, and his tweets are fun and uplifting at
times. He gives sometimes will point to useful apps he has found, but some of
his great tweets lead to articles on his blog, The Curious Creative. These blog
posts discuss teaching, and his evolving outlook on the art of pedagogy.
I was honestly quite skeptical of
twitter at first. My thoughts were along the lines of “how can little bouts of
text be useful in any setting?” But now I see that there is quite a lot more to
it. Being able to access professionals’ thoughts, ideas, and guidance is a monumental
thing. The way that twitter makes it so easy is quite magnificent, albeit quite
time consuming depending on how many people you follow and how much they tweet.
3. Diigo
is an interesting tool that I plan to use to my advantage while performing
research or organizing information to share later. I love that you can takes
notes right on the websites you have bookmarked. It reminds me of another
application called Zotero, which pretty much does the same thing, minus the
updates and in-page annotations. A few of the more interesting sites that I
have been following include slate.com’s educational section that posts useful
articles about current events in the teaching world; and teachthought.com,
which posts articles that aim to improve teachers’ effectiveness in the
classroom while introducing them to useful/ helpful new technology. While slate
can help keep a teacher informed in the present shock of now, teach-thought
helps teachers deal with new and popular websites like twitter, and bend apps
and sites like these to their advantage.
4. Ning
is a fantastic, easy way to create a social website that can be molded into a
variety of forms that will suite the users. I explored the Educators PLN
learning network, which is a fantastic place to get information on emerging technologies
and current events in education. I particularly liked the organization of the
blogs on the site. One can search for keywords and popular topics that are listed
in the blogger section. The site also has over a thousand videos that discuss
education in relation to technology, history, and current events. I watched a documentary
posted on the site called Internet Rising
that takes a really interesting look at the internet and the pros and cons
of its existence. It relates to a book I’ve been reading in my cultural studies
class called Present Shock by Douglas
Rushkoff. The ability to have access to any and all information at any time,
and the digital universe in all its power has had a huge impact on our culture.
This video talks about this topic on a global level.
5. I
have learned quite a lot through my experience in creating a personal leaning
network. I think that these sites are a great way to keep up with current
events and apply them to our classrooms. On the other hand, I fear that overuse
of technologies such as these will keep us in an ever sprinting present, unable
to plan for the future, and only focusing on the immediate. Diigo is, in my
opinion, one of the most useful tools that we have explored; it’s incredibly flexible,
and can help a teacher alleviate some stress while trying to make lessons, and
juggle a million different tasks at once. I’m about half and half with twitter.
Tweets, although surprisingly interesting and useful at times, are completely random
at other times. Using all of these sites together would conglomerate a
ridiculous amount of information for one to absorb (i.e., an impossible
amount). To use these sites effectively, one must be quite organized and
particular about the few sites the he or she frequents. Through this project, I
have taken my first steps in that endeavor.
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