Those that learn together... inspire together!

I ran an online course for our K-12 teachers called "23 Things" in 2009 to encourage development of this week's CCK11 concepts. 

The idea started with Stephen Abram's article,"43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year", to Helen Blower's 23 things for Librarians, to my take on 23 things of a Connected Educator. 

It was less about the tools, and more about the philosophy of "connectivity" through the current tools to improve education.

23 things for a Connected Educator by Jennie Scott-McKenzie 2009

Thing 1 Creativity - Watch video & comment -Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity.

Thing 2 & 3 Blogging - Start new blog and post a video on it.
Thing 4, 5, 6 & 7 Browsers 2.0 - Firefox/add-ons, gmail contact groups, google talk/video, igoogle.
Thing 8, 9, & 10 Photography 2.0 - Picasa shared photos, slideshow gadget on your blog.
Thing 11, 12 & 13 Sharing - Google shared docs, google reader (RSS feeds), google shared calendar.
Thing 14, 15, & 16 Tagging - Delicious, tagging sites, and create an avatar.
Thing 17, 18 & 19 Twitter and Twits for students - Watch video & comment -Mark Federman's Educational Changes, Twitter widget, Twitter in your field.
Thing 20 & 21 Open source knowledge - Creative commons vs copyright and free itunes podcasts
Thing 22 & 23 What did you learn? - Reflect & recruit new member.

I plan to update that 2009 list. I would love to run another session with parents.

• Personal Learning Environments (PLE - tools and platforms)
• Personal Learning Networks (PLN - people and networks)

The difference between the two is, as Dave Cormier explains, and I would agree, that a PLE is the tools and platforms we choose (blogger or wordpress, Facebook, pearltree, buzz, etc) and a PLN is the people and networks we connect to with those PLE tools and platforms.

PLE (tools and platforms) 

I am coming to appreciate Facebook more and more as the best (current) learning tool. It brings together so many features of a great Learning Management System with the automony to pick and choose applications that can "amplify" a personal experience. When I look at discreet tools like twitter, buzz, seesmic, or even my latest tool, pearltrees... not one of them can bring it all together like Facebook.

Back in the day, I would have said it was igoogle. But, I had to remind myself to start there each morning. Once you feel you "should", it doesn't naturally become part of your day. This is my litmus test on effective PLEs.

PLN (people and networks) 

The people I am finding on LinkedIn turns out to be the best way to connect to big thinkers; people that are really fired up to make things happen (and they probably CAN make real change) in this world. It is more global than many other platforms I use as an English speaker. 

LM-Net is a 12,000 member Librarian group that you do not want to piss off! This is a group of people that gladly share and care - but aren't afraid of a good "gloves off" argument. I have learned so much from this network and love to give back when I have something of value.

And of course... my new MOOC #CCK11 network. This is a collection of people from all areas in all fields which would otherwise have been impossible for me to connect to. This has whet my appetite for more and more open online learning. Those that learn together... inspire together (and then connect).

-Jennie