21st Century Learning and Teaching

For the past several weeks, I have been preparing a series of workshops for school and community leaders who are ready to embrace social media and explore the powerful ways new social technologies and platforms can be used in classrooms and schools.

A MUST read:

http://blog.teachercast.net/an-open-letter-to-school-leaders-by-angelamaiers/

It's Connected Educator month here in the United States, which has me thinking about how we get more educators connected to one another. There are a number of sources of inspiration for Connected Educator month, but one important one is the National Education Technology Plan. The National Ed Tech Plan was written by an outstanding team of researchers including Chris Dede, Barry Fishman, David Rose and about a dozen others. The plan has a specific section on helping educators in "Connecting to Content, Expertise, and Activities Through Online Communities," with the this recommendation:

3.2 Leverage social networking technologies and platforms to create communities of practice that provide career-long personal learning opportunities for educators within and across schools, preservice preparation and in-service educational institutions, and professional organizations.

And sure enough, the U.S. Department of Ed is a co-sponsor of Connected Educator month. It's actually really great to see the DOE taking the ideas from the National Ed Tech Plan and bringing them to life.

Read more:

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/edtechresearcher/2012/08/teaching_teachers_to_tweet.html