Here is the first of five submissions I made for NECC 2008. As I shared earlier, for me this is an opportunity to dream it all up again and infuse new life into my repertoire of presentations and workshops. Like the other four submissions I made, this session is one I have never presented before. (I figure at this point, there are literally hundreds of people who can lead workshops on blogs, wikis, podcasting, RSS, and so forth.) In this case, though, I submitted something very similar for the 2008 CUE conference last month. With a few more weeks to chew on these ideas I think this has become an even better submission. I’m also aware that this could come off as most arrogant submission I’ve ever made – so I hope it’s seen as me just wanting to share with others what I’ve learned and what has worked to some degree in my experience. Teachers often ask me about this sort of thing, so I thought it might make a good session. Let me know what you think.
Title:
Be an Edublogger: Techniques for Joining a Global Learning Community
Description:
Read, write, reflect, and respond! Hundreds of educators around the world network and learn using online tools. Discover how you too can connect and contribute.
Outline:
An interactive welcome activity will begin this session. Then the presenter will briefly introduce participants to the read/write web, blogs, and the blogosphere. This will be followed by an overview of what makes edublogging, edubloggers, and the edublogosphere different. Participants will then learn about a combination of tools that they can use to become a member of the edublogging culture. A brief overview of blogging (using edublogs.org) will include a discussion of best practices and blogging ethics. Tips for commenting will be covered as well. A quick introduction to reading RSS feeds (using bloglines.com) will follow, complete with tips for organizing and processing the deluge of information. Then the participants will learn about a trio of social tools: social bookmarking (using del.icio.us), social networking (using ning.com), and social microblogging (using twitter.com); in each case they will see how the tool can be used to connect with other educators. Finally, a brief discussion of instant messaging and videochatting (using skype.com) will complete the list of tools. The session will conclude with a discussion of the edublogging process and key edublogging philosophies, such as the focus on making connections and making contributions. An interactive reflection activity will follow.
In the interest of sharing – and in hopes of receiving feedback – I’ve made an archive of the complete submission available, too:
Be An Edublogger (NECC 2008 Submission).
The thing I’m most excited about though is this bit I appended to the outline portion of the submission:
Interactive Elements: This was not submitted as a bring your own laptop session because a laptop is not necessary. However, participants with their own laptop will be able to take advantage of many interactive elements. Presentation of concepts and examples will take place using a Google Docs presentation and a wiki. Participants will be able to chat synchronously throughout the session using the Google presentation, and they will be able to post and share their own examples (and questions) on the wiki both during and after the session. In addition, the presentation and wiki urls will be posted to twitter (and at edtechlife.com) so that edubloggers from around the world (including those in attendance elsewhere in the conference) will be able to contribute their insights in the chat and on the wiki as well. If the network connection in the room permits, the audio (or video) of the session will also be webcast so that the virtual attendees can hear (and see) what is happening in the room. This session will model teaching and learning in a permeable classroom.
As usual, I’d be thrilled to get any feedback, suggestions, or comments on this idea. I know that the more I share with others about this session the better it will be by the time I get to present it (if I get to present it, that is). Please leave a comment with your thoughts.