Sunday, January 27, 2013

Where's the Support?

Technology is changing constantly and that has been one of the reasons why I have found it difficult to integrate. Let's not forget the broken and missing-in-action technology! Once I get going, the computers crash or the bulb on my interactive whiteboard blows and I am back to square one! I have had my share of challenges as many of us do, but now more than ever, I believe that integrating technology is not an option, but necessary. We need to prepare our students for careers yet to be seen and they need to be able to compete globally.

Educators are resourceful, so besides infrastructure, we need support. We may or may not have the support of our colleagues within our school building, but there are educators around the world who are integrating technology in their day-to-day instruction and their students are engaged and excelling! How do we connect with these educators? An online PLN may be your answer!

A PLN is a Personal Learning Network. It is a group of online colleagues who share their methods, strategies, and resources. It expands your network beyond the school walls and provides on-going support and access to a wealth of resources, day and night. I connect with my PLN via RSS feeds.
Rich Site Summary

I admit that I wondered what was the purpose of this symbol and found out, in my online graduate course. A RSS feed symbol can be found on many websites and if you select the icon, you can receive updates automatically through a RSS reader. My RSS subscriptions help me stay updated on my favorite sites' postings without having to manually visit every site. I subscribe to Edutopia, Powerful Learning Practice, and the Educator's PLN and they form my PLN. I check my daily feeds through Google Reader and they are full of teaching strategies that support technology in the classroom. This short video explains how teachers can use PLNs to their advantage.




Blogger John Spencer lists reasons and descriptions about why teachers fail to use technology in their classrooms. Can you find your reason here? I did! For me, it has been Lack of Leadership and Lack of Technology. Like many other teachers, I am adding TIME!!!
  1. Fear
  2. Low Self-Efficacy
  3. Testing
  4. Consumerism
  5. Lack of Leadership
  6. Inconsistent Paradigms
  7. Personal Experience
  8. Humility
  9. It's Optional
  10. Lack of Technology
  11. Lack of Research 






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