Today was the 2nd day of iCTLT '10 conference and a lot more things to learn from all these incredible presenters. I'll attempt to summarize all the salient points that hit me hard.
Personal Learning Network (David Warlick)
I personally love hearing David speak. He speaks with such great insight and clarity (Prezi is an amazing presentation tool btw).
Anyway, David mentioned that as master learners (which all teachers should be), we should have our own Personal Learning Network (PLN). Now, this can be as easy as just going to your colleagues or friends nearby for help. However, with the internet, our learning network becomes almost boundless. Thus it is possible and important for us to find grow a network of people that can help us do our job.
So, how do we grow our own PLN. We start by looking at the tools available to us that we can use to collaborate and network with others.
Here are the list of possible tools we can use:
- Blogging - great way to share your ideas and learn what others have to say as well
- Podcast - some good podcast that talks about IT in education are edtechtalk.com, ted.com and epnweb.org.
- Social Networking - like Facebook, Twitter, etc
Now with so much conversations going on, what you need to do next is to Mine the Conversations. By using websites like technorati, which is a search engine for blogs, and search.twitter.com, which is a search engine for twitter, you are able to mine for the right conversations.
After mining the conversations, it is good to start Mapping the Conversations. One good way is to use RSS feeds and netvibes.com so ensure that you get the latest information.
I was totally blown away by David's sharing because I never saw the use of these tools in such a manner. He really used these tools so differently and to his advantage. It really showed me that learning is not difficult at all. It gave me a new perspective to the use of applications like twitter and blogs. I will blog and tweet more often as it will now be used for learning rather than just chatting with friends.
Problem Based Learning with Real Life Scenario (Michael Furdyk of TakingITGlobal)
This session really gave me better insights into how we conduct problem solving for our pupils. Do we just give them fantasy or outdated problems to solve? Or do we give them authentic and real problems to solve.
What are the real problems of today? Things like global warming, Tsunami, Earthquakes, Teenage Pregnancy, Drug abuse, etc. The list goes on and on. So why not get the pupils to look at these problems and think of ways in which they can help solve or create awareness.
"Problem Based Learning should be fertile, open-ended questions that is rich, real and relevant to pupil's life."
Michael's company TakingITGlobal is doing just that for pupils all around the world. With numerous projects and contests, pupils can look at these problems and try and do something about it. Michael suggests using the Guide To Action, found in the resource section of his website, to kick-start Problem Based Learning for our pupils.
I personally felt that this is just what our pupils need. They need to see that what they are learning is relevant to the real world. I think it's time we get our pupils to start making a difference in where they live and play. If we don't prepare them for the real world, then we are not teaching them anything worthwhile.
Conclusion
It has been a great two days at iCTLT '10. I will look back at this conference with great fondness. This conference has helped me formulate a lot of my thinking and planning. I can begin to effect some changes and set clear directions for my department to prepare our pupils for the 21st century!
I hope to go for iCTLT 2012.. hehe...
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