Professional Development Opportunities With Blogs and Wikis

Using 21st Century technology to embrace continual professional development

SourcesArticle: Education Leadership – February, 2009Author: Bill Ferriter

In response to an article by Richard Elmore – Professor of Educational Leadership; Harvard

Elmore reported in 2002 for the Albert Shanker Institute.

Elmore Writes

As expectations for increased student performance mounts and the measurement and publication of evidence about performance becomes part of the public discourse about schools, there are few portals through which new knowledge about teaching and learning can enter schools; ……………… so the brutal irony of our present circumstance is that schools are hostile and inhospitable places for learning. They are hostile to the learning of adults and, because of this, they are necessarily hostile to the learning of students.

Ferriter Explains: Because we are in a sprint through the day, worried about leaving no child left behind, adult learning is often pushed aside. The few minutes of professional development are spent on silver bullets . Teachers rarely get to self-select learning opportunities pursue meaningful passions, or engage in meaningful discussions on instruction.

Ferriter Writes;What makes professional development so frustrating ismost of it comes from the business world. It has littleImpact on student learning. But teachers do not challenge the status quo.

A history of poor professional development experiences has left teachers jaded and stagnant, groaning, when given opportunities to learn.

Statements like:•Nothing is going to change•This is how professional development has always been done . Bring a big stack of papers to grade and you will keep busy. •Discipline again (msk)•Why can’t we just work in our rooms. I need to be there (msk)

There is a new emphasis on the importance of collaboration learning among member of close knit teams in schools – opportunities to reflect on

instruction together

Digital tools now help fulfill fresh portals through which new knowledge

about teaching and learning are discussed. Thousands of accomplished educators are now writing blogs about

teaching and learning.

Educators are reflecting on instruction

Questioning policies

Designing Solutions

Offering advice

Educators are challenging instruction

Ferriter begins each morning -

Looking at blogs for 20 minutes, sifting through the thousands of practitioners he might never be able to learn from except for this method of interaction.

As one becomes familiar with blog sites, users get faster as their comfort increases. Ferriter stresses the point that the practice of using these sites is not difficult.

* # ^ @ > + @

Patrick Higgins ( http:// chalkdust101.wordpress.com)

This blog emphasizes characteristics of effective professional development

Dina Strasser (http:// theline.edublogs.org )

Elements of high quality instruction for middle grade students.

Scott McLeod ( www.dangerouslyerrelevant.org )

Discusses driving school changefrom the system level

Nancy Flanagan ( http:// teacherleaders.typepad.com/teacher_in_a_strange_land )

Discusses the connection between education policy and classroom practice.

John Holland ( http:// circle-time.blogspot.com ) and ( http:// inpractice.edublogs.org )

This discusses the challenges of working in high needs communities.

Blogs create conversations from all over the United States.

Blogs can narrow in on specific discussions

Prepare for class

Grade papers

Raising a family

Investigate where your teachers are with the comfort of using websites.

Use an example of an issue that your campus is working through.

Go to a blog during a faculty meeting and view comments and writings concerning this issue.

Demonstrate the use of participating in these discussions.

Alleviate the fears.

Introducing the Blog Professional Development Phase

Using technology to scan blogs for you

Page Flakes ( www.pageflakes.com ) Teachers ( http://teacher.pageflake.com )

These include a grade tracker, task list, and built in writer tutor.

Steps to incorporate blogs into your daily efforts to grow as a professional

1. Start by using a feed reader as a learning tool. These can locate several blogs that target educators grade level, content area, ect..

Example: Support Blogging Wiki (http://supportblogging.com

Caution: You are about to enter the spin zone.

Bloggers should be prepared to agree, disagree, get angry, want to engage in conversations and write their own opinions.

2.Dedicate a few minutes each day to browse the changing content on blog sites.

make comments to authors engage other readers

3.Discuss material with others about what you are learning create discussion groups present at faculty meetings steal the good ideas

4. Express your ideas. develop curriculum and instruction materials

review research and debate its merits ask about issues troubling yourself or school

Additional Blog Services

Type pad ( www. typepad.com ) Requires a paid subscription, come with technical support and file storage.

Blogger ( www.blogger.com ) It is a free Google based product. Google users only need a username and password to sign in.

Edublogs ( www.edublogs.org ) free blogging service that is dedicated to educators.

Using

Wikis

Are editable web sitesRequire little technical skillWiki tool bars look just like a word processing tool barDesigned for collaboration among groups of usersThe writer is not responsible for an entire selection all by themselves.The writer can reflect with colleagues.

WikiSites

P B Wiki ( http:// pbwiki.com ) very popular website for educators because it is easy to use.

Wikispaces ( www.wikispaces.com ) One of the first wiki services that educators embraced. This site has thousands of spaces to look to for samples.

Wet Paint ( www.wetpaint.com ) One of the newest of the websites with an emphasis on tools for collaboration and professional templates.

Summary

In an economy that has the legislature asking all agency heads to cut budgets across each program

Where time is short and mandate lists for student improvement are long

In a stimulus world where it takes stimulants to be stimulated and not become stymied

Summary

Administrators are always looking for innovative, cost effective, sustainable, professional development initiatives.

Assign random groups monthly to research a specific topic and report at monthly faculty meetings

Put a specific question out there for feed back to address an issue the school is having

Give professional development hours for quality on-line discussion

Summary

Use this to discuss instruction techniques, classroom management, and content expansion.

Check with your technology support to ensure blog and wiki sites are virus free

Remember some blogs are opinionated, learn to analyze what you read before you take it to heart

and tell others to take it from you.

Bill Ferriter teaches 6th grade science and social studies in Raleigh, North Carolina and is a Senior Fellow in the Teacher Leaders Network. His blog, The Tempered Radical, is found at :

http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/the_tempered_radical or

wferriter@hotmail.com