We have updated this site with curated, active Ontario blogs that can act as a model for your own blog, or a source of learning to inform your teaching practice.
If you are a blogger and you have not yet added your blog to this site, please fill out the form here.
As we continue our focus on blogging, today we feature the reflective practice of KPDSB teacher Michelle Parrish. We can learn so much from teachers who openly reflect on the work they do with our young people.
You might remember Michelle’s insights as she also generously shared with us as a guest panellist during the Innovator’s Mindset book club Google Hangouts on Air.
Thanks, Michelle, for your generous open practice that helps us build knowledge together.
Please take a moment to read and comment on Michelle’s blog, or the blogs of her students, here: https://mproom31.wordpress.com
If you are just joining us today, please refer to this post where we share what we are up to!
Never before has there been such an abundance of information to contribute to our learning. At the same time, there is no doubt that our collective plates are brimming over with things to do. As a positive, we challenge ourselves to think differently and explore ways to learn on the go.
I thought I would share a couple of ideas that have improved my mobile learning. Part of my practice is to capture information using Notability on my iPad. This is a powerful app that allows me to write, record, and insert images in documents that I can refer to at any point in time. One of the things I like to do is re-listen to my recordings in the car. You can apply this idea to other mediums too, such as a livescribe pen.
Enjoy Day 4: Listen While You Work. We look forward to hearing about your learning on the go ideas too.
Oh yes. If you know a colleague that might like to participate in the 30 days of connected program, give them a nudge!
We did it!
After 4 months of collecting stories from our courageous and inspiring Ontario education leaders, we have submitted the collaborative video to the K12 Online Conference.
Be sure to watch the presentation on October 30, 8 a.m. ET here (we are third in this time slot so actual time will be closer to 8:30).
The Conference started today. Please see the rich learning available online – with no conference fees and no travel costs! The schedule is posted here.
Do you know someone who wants to learn about Twitter but can’t find the time?
For the next three weeks, OSSEMOOC is curating resources on getting started with Twitter, and offering a MOOC-style opportunity to learn on your own time, and at your own pace, how to get started learning on Twitter.
The course home page is here: https://twitterforabsolutebeginners.wordpress.com/ and if you want to receive information by email, please register with your email account here (scroll down).
Please share this with colleagues who might not yet be online and who might want to learn with us.
As you think about your role as a leader during the 2015-2016 school year, you know that being connected is an important part of your work. A simple first step to connecting with other leaders around the province and around the world is learning to leverage social media for professional learning.
Educators learn and share together on Twitter.
Update: CBC’s interview on why principals and teacher must be on social media
OSSEMOOC is an open support system for leaders to learn to connect and self-direct their professional learning. A perfect starting point is to get connected on Twitter.
If you are uneasy about getting on social media, here are some steps you can take to access professional learning anonymously. This is a great starting point for beginners.
On May 5, 2015, we shared how you can use Twitter as a public library. Read the full post and access all the resources here or start with just the short screencast below.
Once you are ready to be a participant on Twitter, this resource will help you get started.
This short screencast shows you what you will learn.
Check the OSSEMOOC site daily for more support in becoming a connected leader in 2015-2106.
Yesterday we looked at the important digital literacy skill of curation. Today, we learn to use a popular curation platform (Sccop.It) both as a place to gather curated material in areas you are interested in and as a place for you to share back content that you want to curate.
As a resource, we are using Day 13 from our 30 Days of Getting Connected: Curating with Scoop.It.
As a challenge today, set up your own Scoop.It account and share a link you have found valuable this month. Then, share back on Twitter using the #OSSEMOOC hashtag.
As we work through this week, we are looking at a digital literacy skill called curation.
Briefly stated, curation allows us to share resources that we feel are valuable to our practice. When others curate resources, the wide stream of information on the web is filtered for your personal needs.
In order to get the idea behind “curation” as an important digital literacy skill, we ask you to refer to and read – from our November series – Day 9: Beginning to Share Content,
and Day 12: A Deeper Look at Curation in Professional Practice.
As a challenge, consider the kind of information you are looking for in your professional life, and the kind of information that you would be able to share back to others with similar needs and interests.
Today we continue our series on how to make connections online.
Blogging is a way for educators to share their thinking, their learning and their practice. When we read a blog, and something resonates with us, we can start a conversation by leaving a comment on a blog.
Bloggers often set comments so that they will not appear until the blogger has had an opportunity to read and approve the comment first, so don’t be frustrated if you can’t see your comment on the blog right away. This is a way to prevent spam from being posted on the blog.
Resources: Day 15: Commenting on Blogs
In particular, check out the student created list of success criteria for blog comments.
This screencast features the connecting by video work done on Tuesday night. Keep in mind that our final task for May will be creating a similar video where we ask you about “What is Your Next?”, and this will be our submission to the K12 Online Conference in 2015.
This screencast includes some brief learning about commenting on blogs.
Challenge: Take some time to read student blogs and make a valuable comment for their learning. Some examples can be found on Comments4Kids, Kathy Cassidy’s Class Blog, Karen Lirenman’s class, or ask on Twitter for some links to class blogs.
Then, take some time to read and comment on an educator blog. Links can be found on both margins of this page.
Today we look at how we can connect with other educators by taking advantage of online learning opportunities.
If you are a connected educator and leader, you will often hear of opportunities to learn online through, for example, MOOCs, webinars, internet radio, and Hangouts on Air. Taking part in these learning events allows us to connect through the chat or by taking a leading role, and often these connections lead to ongoing conversations, blog posts, and other forms of sharing.
Tonight, OSSEMOOC is offering and opportunity to learn about digital storytelling with two of the best in the “business”!
Join us here at 8 p.m. EDT for a fun look at digital storytelling. Our group task, and your challenge for today, is outlined here. Bring your phone or tablet, or do the task in advance, but be sure to participate!
More details here.
OSSEMOOC 