Evaluating Technology Tools for Global Learning Communities

Online professional learning communities (PLC’s) are more flexible and personalized than in person communities. Educators can access these communities on their own time, from their home, school, or local coffee shop while waiting for their coffee or tea. Each educator can pick and choose networks to participate in. Online PLCs allow educators to easily and quickly pool their resources regardless of geographic location. Three of the primary tools I use for professional learning communities are Twitter, Teach Engineering and Google for Education.

Twitter

Source: Edudemic.com 

Twitter is everywhere. You see hashtags in television commercials, television news, movies and shows, and included in blog posts. News breaks on Twitter. It is too big and too powerful to ignore. Using Twitter, educators can live Tweet from conferences, follow similar educators and organizations, and collaborate with other classrooms.

Twitter can be used in the classroom with students as well. Students can Tweet responses to quick response questions, and communicate directly with teachers and peers. Teachers can even create a classroom hashtag to keep track of classroom interactions.

Edudemic has some great “rules” for using Twitter in education. (Edudemic, n.d.) Social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Ning, Edmodo and Linked In, as well as interest based groups such as Google or Yahoo! Groups provide an online environment for educators to collaborate, write blogs, join and communicate in special interest groups and more. Personally, I use social media networks for collaboration, and research on emerging trends in science and education.  While, I admit I am not always the most consistent tweeter, Twitter is a tool that can not be ignored.

Teach Engineering

TeachEngineering (TE) is an online space for engineering teachers to collaborate and share lesson plans. Their digital database contains engineering lesson plans, activities, units and living labs for grades K-12. Through TE, educators create myTE workspaces to connect and share lessons. Teachers who use the lesson plans communicate through discussion forums, and lesson plan comments on best practices,

lessons learned and more. Additional online resources are often shared through discussion forums. (TeachEngineering, n.d.)

Many of my lessons have started with lessons from TE or have supplemented activities I institute in class. Personally, I find the suggestions and additional sources that educators who implement the lessons the most helpful in my lesson planning. There are other sites such as PBS Learning Media, Discovery Education, NASA and more that provide lessons and activities that I use as resources but I find TeachEngineering has lessons that are closest to my teaching style and curriculum needs. . 

Google for Education

Google for Education is a powerful tool for all educators. Not only does it provide digital classroom tools but includes Google Educator Groups (GEGs) for teacher collaboration. GEGs have events that are free to attend. These event might be in-person workshops or after school meet-ups or they could be entirely online through Google+ Hangouts. An educator just needs to find a group and start following them on Google+ to participate. (Google for Education, n.d.)

Educators can participate in Google on Air workshops. I recently took part in the two day May workshop. Workshops covered a multitude of topics from technology integration to policy. Thousands of educators from over 185 countries participated in the workshops over the course of the two days. Collaborating via live chats and via live tweeting during the event allowed connections to educators I otherwise would have never corresponded with.

There are numerous tools for global learning communities for educators. The Educational Networking wiki has a comprehensive list of additional social media networks that educators can join and use for collaboration.  

References

Edudemic. (n.d.). The Teacher's Guide to Twitter. Retrieved from Edudemic: http://www.edudemic.com/guides/guide-to-twitter/

Google for Education. (n.d.). Google for Education. Retrieved from Google : www.google.com/edu

TeachEngineering. (n.d.). About TeachEngineering. Retrieved from TeachEngineering: https://www.teachengineering.org/about.php