My 25% PD

OK, so this week I missed my 525 minutes of PD by 205 minutes. It was a bit of a hectic week. Hopefully next week I can make up the minutes.

Here are the highlights from this week:

Podcasts via iTunes
March of the Penguin Podcast from David Thornburg-Moving at the Speed of Creativity
No shortcuts podcast by Rafe Esquith-Moving at the Speed of Creativity

http://www.edtechlife.com/-Mark Warner
Most of these links came via Mark Warner. I can’t keep up with that guy. Every day I swear there are 10 postings.

http://www.lifehacker.com/software/maps/how-to-measure-distances-with-google-earth-155751.php
How to measure distances in Google Earth I was just trying to do this the other day.

http://theory.isthereason.com/?p=749#comments
Intro to blogging workshop @ ETC

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8748
Teens gain social skills online

http://www.ncrel.org/engauge/skills/skill21.htm
Worth a good long read, especially the literacy skills part

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/14/blogging-for-beginners-2/
Great resources to get started, or to learn from one of the best.

http://www.listible.com/list/windows-opensource-and2For-freeware
133 Open-Source or Free software applications for Windows

http://education.guardian.co.uk/teachersworkload/story/0,,1715414,00.html?gusrc=rss
Teachers work 11 hours unpaid in the U.K. interesting article.

http://www.getdemocracy.com/
Open-Source TV for your computer. Just downloaded it weÂ’ll see how it works.

http://www.danah.org/papers/AAAS2006.html
“Identity Production in a Networked Culture: Why Youth Heart MySpace”

http://knowledge.emory.edu/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&id=950
Is Your Firm Ready for the Millennials?

My favorite of the week is Pandora. What a great web 2.0 tool! IÂ’m having some fun with this one.

Last week Christopher D. Sessums left a comment that I thought was interesting.

I am curious what your schoolÂ’s administration feels about this.
Here in Florida, PD for teachers requires certain approvals and formalities that makes your model somewhat unlikely for those teachers needing to renew their teaching certificate.
I suppose if the school district could formalize a similar approach it would go a long way and make many practicing teachers quite happy.
Should your model include some kind of assessment of your learning?
Will reflective blog entries suffice?
Could this work its way into a community of practice where other educators respond to your reflections?

WouldnÂ’t this be great if teacher really could get recognized for the PD they do online? Instead you have to attend a conference and sit through sessions. Gee, kind of reminds you of seat time needed to graduate high school donÂ’t it? It doesn’t have anything to do with learning, just as long as you attended. Could this from of PD be assessed? Sure, I could create a portfolio, or give an in-service in my school teaching others what I’ve learned and have been exploring. Would reflective blog entries suffice? Not in todayÂ’s word, but we can hope. Reflecting on ones learning is how you show understanding of concepts and stretch your own knowledge. How far away is education from this model? We talk about changing education for the students, but what about the way we learn as educators? There are some new ways popping up here in the blogoshpere like Shifted Learning and other PD opportunities on the web. But will teachers get the paperwork and credit they need to renew their certificates? We talk about a shift in education could it start by shifting the way WE as educators learn, attend conferences, and apply reflective models and social connections to our own learning? Could that be the key, to first change our model of learning before we change it in the classroom. HHHMMM, makes you think don’t it?

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