This semester I have been given the task to build my Professional Learning Network. Through Twitter, Slack, blogging, and commenting on my classmates blogs I have worked hard at making sure I have contributed to the learning of others while trying to do my own learning. This blog post is dedicated to highlighting how I have contributed to the learning of others in my EDTC 300 class.
Twitter was the place I was by far the most active. I went from not tweeting since 2018 on my personal account to tweeting over two times a day on my new professional twitter account. I was so surprised with how resourceful twitter is, I found so many articles, resources, and tools that I have added onto my teacher tool belt. It has proven to be a great professional development tool that I plan on utilizing for the rest of my life as an educator. I also learned that there are specific live Twitter chats that you can join.
One chat I joined in on multiple times was the #SaskEdChat. The chat allowed me to connect with and follow other educators from Saskatchewan. Building my professional learning network on Twitter became very important to me over this class. Not only did I participate in education chats and follow other educators, I also contributed to others’ learning by tweeting articles, videos, TED Talks, my own blog posts and other ideas that I thought would be useful. I really enjoyed connecting with other educators, retweeting their posts, commenting my ideas, and engaging in conversations to contribute and grow my perspective.
I also really appreciated how Twitter allowed me to connect with my classmates in a more personal way. Having to interact with one another and support each other was a great way to build up our class community despite the lack of in class opportunities. Here are some snapshots of my Twitter contributions:
Slack
EDTC 300 introduced me to Slack and I’ve got to say, it was extremely beneficial when I needed help or had any questions related to the course. I also tried to answer questions when possible. I thought slack was a really great way to build a classroom community despite classes being moved to online due to COVID. I will consider using Slack in my future classrooms as it was an easy way to connect with my peers and have an organized space to chat or question anything related to the course without having to ask the instructor. Here are some examples of my contributions to the Slack community:
Commenting on Blogs
Throughout the semester I aimed to comment on at least 3-5 of my classmates blogs per week. I really enjoyed reading and keeping up to date on my classmates learning projects and offer my encouragement. I also liked reading what my classmates opinions were on the weekly blog prompts given in class. I liked how I could consider their perspectives and relate them to my own to form a deeper understanding of the concepts. I also liked to give my opinions on their blogs to provide them another viewpoint and hopefully enhance their understandings as well. Here are some screenshots of how I contributed to others’ learning through commenting on their blogs:
Blog Pingbacks
I also included a few of my classmates blogs within my blog posts to refer classmates to read their blogs:
I also had classmates recommend reading my blog posts:
It is important to note that within my blog I also created a ‘Resources’ tab where you can find sub categories including lesson plans and teaching resources. This blog post provides a breakdown of all the resources and edtech tools we were made aware of in class.
Thanks to EDTC 300, I have started my professional learning network and have come to realize how there are endless opportunities for professional development online using resources like Twitter, Slack, blogging, and connecting with others. I am grateful to my classmates and instructors for contributing to my learning and I hope I was able to do the same for some of them as well!
