A goal I have set for myself this spring is to build myself a network of teachers, including Global Learners, to engage in student-led projects with other teachers around the world and to share ideas. A year ago, this goal would have seemed impossible... but within the last few weeks, I have been making some connections with extremely smart, creative educators. I thought I would share...
Classroom 2.0 is a social networking site for educators. There is a post where you can introduce yourself and then subscribe for responses to your post via email. I have received four responses since Saturday, including one who knows our exchange teacher from Melborne, small world indeed. They have posts organized by tool, flickr, podcasting, wikis etc. They are also in the process of organizing "live" events, one coming up in San Francisco. There is a teacher at Rocky Mountain School for the Gifted in Boulder who has volunteered to do one there.
From Classroom 2.0 I received a introduction from Jeff O'Hara who is developing Edmodo which is advertised as a free web service to connect schools, teachers, parents and students. It is still in development and you can add your email to receive updates, they also have a blog. The cool thing about finding someone like him on Classroom 2.0 is you can be stay in touch with the development process and provide input.
Finally, I am back on Twitter and amazed at the networking possibilities. I don't have very many followers but have found it to be a great impromptu meeting place for educators discussing, not so much what is happening right that second, but what ideas are crossing their minds and what challenges they are grappling with. I didn't see its value when I was introduced to it in August, now I do. Also my class is tweeting and it is embedded in our blog.
Anybody have experience with these tools they would like to share?
2 comments:
Jeff,
I am an avid Twitter follower. I find tons of great stuff by following some really amazing people on Twitter. I appreciate how open and collaborative people can seem in 140 characters.
I am not as active on Ning. I have joined several communities, but I must admit I am deadweight in those communities. I even started a Ning for Global Learners last April (http://globallearner.ning.com/) However, as you can see I didn't get far with it. Keep up the awesome work!
Jeff,
I'd like to thank you for writing about edmodo and pointing other educators to us. We are working hard at building and making a great service for the education community. The power of social media is truly connecting people together.
Post a Comment