Blog Renovations and Improvements

This weekend I started to make this blog my blog instead of a blog that I am creating for a University course.  I started by adding a tag cloud and a widget that shows the blog I follow.  I also personalized the blog by adding a Professional Development page.  All teachers in Regina Public Schools are required to document their Professional Learning and Development.  In the past, I have completed a goal form that I have shared with my administrator and colleague.  I wanted to show my learning in a digital format.  I have added the University classes I have taken and the Provincial Math Learning Community that I am a member.  I am thinking about the format that I want to use to add my Professional Development goals to the page.

Another decision I made was to add a digital citizenship resources page.  I thought it was important to compile some resources for teachers and parents to help them feel comfortable having their children become members of the connected world. While I am helping my son develop his digital identity through his YouTube channel and I work with my students to send out Tweets and comment on blog posts I often thought about what I needed to say to make sure that the children and I had the necessary skills to be good digital citizens.   I created a blog page for this and started to embed videos and links but I found the list complicated and hard to scroll through so I decided to try livebinders. I have had a livebinders  binder posted on my literacy links page of my classroom blog for the last number of year.  I had never created my own livebinders binder.  As I was reading blogs, I noticed that Greg, Lyane, and Rochelle  all mention using it to organize resources.   I liked the tutorial livebinders provides when you first create your account.  I found them helpful but not too complicated.  I embedded the binder into my digital citizenship page and deleted all my other links that I had added earlier.

I would love to hear any comments you have about my blog improvements.

Related articles

• LiveBinders (cis220fall13.wordpress.com)
• Digital Curation: Putting the Pieces Together (suewaters.com)

A new way of learning.

I was nervous starting #eci831.  I had never taken an online course and I wondered if i would miss the face to face interactions with my peers.  As I learn more about online learning and listened to Daphne Koller TED talk about Coursera I was amazed by the possibilities of global education and connectedness.  I had never thought about taking a class with people from another university yet along taking one with people from all over the globe.

I wonder what discussions about education would occur in this format?   I realize that part of the experience of #eci831 will introduce me to a connected learning environment.  I wonder how it will transform my future professional development?  I wonder from whom I will be able to access courses without leaving the comforts of my home?  I wondered about what possibilities if any does this type of program structure has for Early Childhood Education?

Related articles

• Coursera Hits 4 Million Students – And Triples Its Funding (forbes.com)
• Female-Founded Startup Receives $43 Million in Funding (women2.com)
• Coursera Takes a Nuanced View of MOOC Dropout Rates (chronicle.com)