After some feedback and comments from Ben Barton and Sarah Brownsword on my previous post, I have begun to see another side to the third idea I outlined. The web application I proposed would provide teachers the opportunity to find resources, connections and ideas all in one place – from one search query.
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However it occurred to me that although there are existing tools that perhaps do these things, they are just diluting the process. Another web application doing this will just multiply this further, resources and people will be in another place to join and search – spreading the network even more thinly.
Maybe I was coming at this from the wrong angle. The emphasis should be on teachers developing network capabilities that allow them to tap into and find all of this and not a tool or system that does it all for you.
I consider the journey to where my network is now to be just as important as anything I gain from it. The experience of virtually meeting and connecting with literally thousands of educators from around the world has been amazing – shortcutting to a prefabricated, ready-made, network denies people that opportunity.
Someone mentioned that this type of web tool (content management and social networking combined) is a sort of “holy grail” – but on reflection I think that the real treasure is a network that invariably yields value for the user in construction as well as in use.
I am just jealous of all of those trainee teachers who are establishing their networks whilst they are training. They are tapping into the insights from working teachers and no doubt benefitting from it in their own practice. Just imagine what their network capabilities will be like when they are 3 years or 5 years into teaching.
Every teacher training course in the world should encourage and teach students to build a network to support them professionally.
I am convinced. It is not a case of finding a single tool, system or platform that seeks out content and connects teachers – it should be down to us to make the journey to those different destinations ourselves and learn as much as we can along the way.
In our EDM class we are working on our networking so we are getting ahead for other future teachers. It’s a great idea to have for entering our classrooms.
Judging by the FIshBowl experience last night I think now is the time more than ever where this should happen. I am convinced the key is to build on hyperlocal networks and then build out from there. Just getting teachers to communicate locally within the school and interschool locally can be a challenge. Being able to magnify or amplify this through FishBowls, TeachMeets and other types of social activity blended and face to face is vital in the coming curricular climate. We've been here before in the 70's – it's just that there wasn't the technology to facilitate and broadcast activity then – a lot of good practice was being done and shared in teacher centres up and down the UK until they were all cut. The advantage now is that these networks can be controlled and made more persistent by the aid of new tech like twitter and smart phones. People are able to organise and facilitate in highly ad hoc but very efficient ways unbelievable only a few months ago. Most teachers need these new processes modelled for them but first they need to find their way to the network or be shown how to build one for themselves. ITT should, as a priority, include a way to do this – the more these social change events can be modelled for people the better – local CLCs and LAs should also be doing this as a matter of course as should senior management as part of professional development. It's too valuable to let slip through our fingers again.
Oh – by the way. In my discussions with trainee teachers and NQTs there is very little networking going on. From my limited research there don't seem to be any central hubs that an NQT can attach themselves to in order to start learning from others in the same situation.
Hi Tom,
I've been thinking along exactly the same lines – trying to work out how we can develop a tool that helps teachers to plan and share. In some ways I agree with your conclusion – that actually teachers just need to learn to plug into the network (See http://bit.ly/d10UTG for my take on this).
But I do think there's still room for some sort of social lesson-planning tool. We need something to help make the planning & documentation process less onerous and time-consuming. It should help individual schools do the top-down allocation of skills and objectives to individual teachers/year groups and then ensure that teachers in the same schools aren't using the same ideas and activities from one year group to the next.
Tom, this is only part of what you looking for, but have you tried Google's custom search? I made one for my website. You designate which websites you would like to search – I added IWB resource sites, primaryresources etc. Then entering a search term such as 'Ancient Egypt', 'Area', will only return links from those sites. Saves you trawling through lots of non-education sites.
Interesting ideas here Tom.
I do a lot of sessions with PGCE colleagues, and also presented a session at the Teacher Educators' conference last month where most of the Geography PGCE colleagues attended – my session looked at the networks that new teachers form (in fact, this might be an area which I focus on when I start an MA later in the year…) and the way that tutors support them when they become NQTs.
Facebook and e-mail groups, plus Google Docs, seemed to be quite common as methods of keeping in touch – less so Twitter, Nings etc…
Having said that, the good folks at UEA the other day had some Twitterers amongst them…
You are so right about the potential for trainee teachers yet in my experience there are a considerable amount ignoring such networking opps. Whether this down to time commitments elsewhere, discouragement from institutions or other nay sayers it's hard to say. I have lectured to PGCE ICT students at Hudds Uni and to York Uni PGCE students of a whole host of subjects yet their take up on Twitter and other areas of networking as been hot and miss. Perhaps they will come back to it or maybe they are lurking without me knowing
My Twitter based PLN has transformed my classroom practice since September. I am in my fifth year of teaching, as a Returner to Teaching in my 50's. However, I am an open minded and creative individual who has grasped new ideas and technology in order to add to my creativity. There are sadly too many who cannot think or act 'outside their box'. I try to lead by example, by being seen to try new things, so that others may realise that it is 'doable'. I recently had an excellent 4th Year B Ed student on her final practice – I showed her Twitter, and explained where I used what I learned. I don't think she 'got it' though…