From Dan Pink: To Sell is Human
Ever feel overwhelmed by your personal learning network? Sometimes there’s just too much good stuff out there and it’s hard to know what to filter out and what’s a real nugget worth keeping. This week the TID committee has created a post with some of our favourites: the people and blogs we follow.
In the book What Connected Educators Do Differently the authors recommend finding 5 and following 5 people to get started and to keep the quality high it makes sense to get recommendations from others you trust or who share your interests.
Some of us are heavy Twitter users, others prefer Google+, others Facebook. Hopefully you’ll find some ideas here for people to add to your PLN regardless of your preferred platform.
John’s Favourites: John is the Director of eLearning at Intercommunity School in Zurich
John curates a fabulous Facebook group ‘International Schools Technology Leadership and Integration‘ High quality content and a one-stop shop for a wide variety of ideas, articles, inspiration and resources. Also a great group to get feedback from.
Will’s Favourites: Will is at Zurich International School working as the Primary School EdTech Coordinator
I found it super hard to narrow this list down. I am the sort of Twitter user who goes for broad coverage and then narrow down from there. Below are some of my favourites:
- Kath Murdoch @kjinquiry The “inquiry” guru shares some great nuggets of wisdom
- Keri-Lee Beasley @klbeasley Digital Literacy Coach shares great pieces from the elementary school
- Tricia Friedman @FriedEnglish101 A Digital Literacy Coach with her finger on the pulse
- Dr Alec Couros @courosa A professor with a passion for media literacy and technology integration
- Steve W. Anderson @web20classroom One of the originals and the creator of #edchat
Stephen’s Favourites: Stephen is the Tech Director at the American School in Milan
- @willrich45 – Will Richardson is an amazing speaker and progressive thinker about education. He has also started modernlearning.com
- @TheLevel5 – An initiative with ISS to create innovative learning events for teachers in ASIA. Inspiring new approach to PD.
- The brothers Couros – @gcouros and @courosa following these two is a roadmap to innovation in education
- Scott McLeod – @mcleod – Author of dangerouslyirrelevant.org and trudacot (Technology-Rich Unit Design And Classroom Observation Template)
- A Twitter list of every Learning2 leader and Precon leader @javajive/L2 Leaders & Facilitators on Twitter: From breaking news and entertainment to sports and politics, get the full story with all the live commentary.
Kim’s Favourites: Kim is the Primary School EdTech Specialist at Bavarian International School in Munich
- @langwitches – Silvia Tolisano is all things around documenting learning. She’s my guru when it comes to ePortfolios. Very inspirational! That in connection with Tricia Friedman @friedenglish and your ePortfolio/blogging needs are complete!
- @kjinquiry – Kath Murdoch is the goddess of all things inquiry. She has wonderful perspectives on modern learning.
- @whatedsaid – Edna Sackson is learning leader at a PYP school in Australia. She always hits the mark with what real teachers do and what classrooms and learning looks like. Her blog is excellent as well and full of resources and ideas as well as thought provoking articles.
- The brothers Couros – @gcouros and @courosa–agree with Stephen: Essential reading for any change makers out there! They are on the forefront of what education should look like now and in the future. George Couros’ blog is excellent reading.
- @alicekeeler – Keeps me up to date on all things Google and has great tips, tricks and practical advice. Very much a “read it, do it tomorrow in your lesson” approach.
Sarah’s Favourites: Sarah is an MYP Design teacher at the International School of Amsterdam in the Netherlands
- MYP Design G+ community – I post here and read every post. There are many wonderful members and very little I need to filter. It’s an absolute must if you are teaching MYP Design. I keep notifications on for this group as every post feels directly relevant to my work.
- GSuite Update Alerts – Google updates their products all the time and these short email keep me on top of all the newest features. The link is to the blog page that you can dip into when you have a minute or you can subscribe by email (which is what I do) and you’ll always know about cool new stuff!
- AppsEvents G+ group – This is a wonderful group of people from all around the world using GSuite at school. This global participant base means that questions get answered at any hour of the day. I tend to dip in and out of this group as needed.
- #edtech – When I do dip in to Twitter, I often will scan recent posts on the edtech hashtag. It not only gives me lots of great ideas, but also an indication of people to follow. Tips and tricks about all different kinds of tech by people actively using them in the classroom
- #mypdesign – I just stumbled on this one while looking for resources to share. Already I have some interesting ideas for my classes and some people to follow. What a demonstration that there’s a hashtag for anything you’re interested in and a wealth of information right at your fingertips!
Aaron’s Favourites: Aaron is the Technology and Innovation Coach at the International Community School of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia
- Scratch EdTeam is a must-follow for anyone teaching (or learning) Scratch.
- MIT AppInventor is a great place to find inspiration and ideas for your own app development.
- Media Lab is the “mother ship” of great ideas (like Scratch and the AppInventor) and a great follow for those who want a bit of a challenge.
- Gary Stager hosts Creating Modern Knowledge every summer in the States and tweets frequently on social-constructivism and the life work of Seymour Papert.
- Nigel Winnard is principal of Khartoum International Community School and tweets with a critical voice about trends and ideas in education that go beyond the tips and tricks of many school-related tweets.