What?
Social media is constantly part of our daily lives these
days, and there aren’t many people who don’t know about Facebook, Snapchat,
twitter, Linkin, and Pinterest to name only a few. Since the advent of the NZ
Teacher’s Page on Facebook, I have used Facebook more to gain knowledge
professionally and to contribute and collaborate around points of view and even
to be in ‘touch’ with what is happening as far as professional readings. I am
one to use and collect professional readings sourced by others to share with
colleagues as part of their upskilling in my role as a Team Leader.
So What?
Being time short in our role as teachers, we tend to rely on
what we know and this is where we become attached to what we know. I know that
I am no exception to this rule as I find Facebook to be easily accessible and
both socially and professionally I am able to be connected. Often in these
forums, like minds will comment, collaborate and sometimes there is even a question
or point of view that may ruffle feathers. As part of the online participation
for Mindlab, the comments have been of a similar style mainly due to the facts
we are all madly trying to finish the course and gain some time back to do the
usual. Being connected is is grow as indivials we will grow and maintain our
professional learning network. With Mindlab completed, will this still happen?
Now what?
I need to invest time and effort into continuing being
connected to other professional educators through a personal and professional
learning network. By making this commitment I am serving a greater cause than
myself (Whitaker, T., Zoul, J., & Casas, J., 2015) and I can bring the best
of what is ‘out there’ into to my classroom, and grow my practice as well as
other educators. As a profession, we are being constantly bombared that
teaching is too hard and curently there is a lack on people wanting to become teachers,
which is all the more reason to share the knowledge and support one another. I
need to be mindful that what I share is backed up by research and evidence, and
is ‘do-able’ and not a fad, as teachers are already full.
References
Siemens, G. (2014). Connectivism: A learning theory for the
digital age.
Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm
Solis, B. (2018). The Conversation Prism.
Retrieved from: https://conversationprism.com/
It is interesting that you mentioned staying in touch with other Mindlabbers. We have definitely learnt how to use social media to keep in touch through connectivism . It is something I have tried to work on through my Mindlab journey however its quite difficult to change my mind set. If we want to grow professionally in the 21st century it does seem the most effective way. I think this is a good point "I need to invest time and effort into continuing being connected to other professional educators" an its something that teachers lack. Making time to do this will be a priority Well done pointing this out.
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