Today I was working on lesson plans when a well-known educator (Shell Terell @shellterell) tweeted about the keynote speaker (Dr. Alec Couros) beginning in 10 minutes. The presentation was oing to be on “The Networked Teacher.” I wasn’t doing anything so I figured I’d log in, give it a listen while I went along with planning, after all it was free. Next thing I know it’s an hour and a half later and I haven’t planned a thing. It’s was awesome:
His presentation resources are here: http://goo.gl/ARHaK I’m going to highlight a few of them here…
1. Tools that exist for free on the web make it too easy not to network in some way. Working alongside some of the best of the best makes you a better teacher.
2. The monopoly is ending – too much is free and too much is open to everyone, people are less held up in their classrooms doing only what they know. Teachers are starting to reach out to other teachers across the world to share resources.
3. We are smarter together – If we all continue to build the collective intelligence items on a DOK of less than 2 will be simply something we call can easily find and we can devote more time to sharing at a deeper level.
4. Some fo the best teachers aren’t our teachers – you have to be willing as a teacher to know what you are good at, what you know, and not be afraid to go out and bring in or go to the best of the best to teach our students.
5. Geography doesn’t matter – There’s skype, google chat, etc. to go to others and bring people from all over the world into the room.
6. Audience makes a difference – Don’t be afraid to publish your thoughts on the web. You never know when an idea can find an audience and go viral. The passion to collaborate is necessary.
7. Sharing is vital to learning – in today’s world we learn and grow more in a collaborative environment. The sharing of one’s ideas and publishing of not only how you teach but how you learn benefits the common good.
8. Network literacy and digital literacy – As a crucial part of 21st century skills we must educate students, teachers and community about how to interact in a global, flat, and digital society.
9. Networks allow us to make the world better – Being careful not to fall into a world of passive activism networks allow us to help each other out and build a Professional (personal) learning Network (PLN) that will enable use to be better educators for our students
10. The end of education and the beginning of learning – As we continue to revise what education looks like in the 21st century it is paramount for us educators to strive to open doors for others, be a gateway to a better world. Education is no longer a “sit and get” process like it was when I went to school. Learning needs to happen at school and learning can’t happen without collaboration.
Resources I learned about:
Ridiculous Youtube videos:
If you are on twitter and would like to check out the notes from the conference search twitter hashtag: #rscon11
