Twitter For Rich Professional Learning Starts Today

OSSEMOOC (Awesome-MOOC) is committed to providing OPEN, FREE and relevant professional learning for all educators, with a focus on Ontario Education Leaders.

Today we begin our 4th mini-MOOC of the 2105-2016 school year.  Please join us for 15 days of Leveraging Twitter for Rich Professional Learning. You may register for the course here*, or simply follow along as we post learning opportunities each day.

Stay tuned for more information on our provincial online book club: The Innovator’s Mindset**.  Sign up here for full email information on the book club events.

 

 

 

 

 

 

More details here – Check out this flipagram.

Also, remember that the #OneWordONT word cloud deadline is January 15.  Share the one word that will guide your growth in 2016 using the hashtag.

 

*If you have registered, and you do not receive an email welcome by tomorrow at 8 a.m., please contact ossemooc at gmail dot com.

**Please note that there is a discount if you order 10+ books.  Contact ossemooc at gmail dot com for more information.

Day 14: All a twitter about curation

Yesterday we looked at curating information purposefully using Scoop It as a quality tool for this purpose. In some ways, Twitter is a multi purpose tool belt. Today we return to twitter to examine ways to use it as a curation tool.

As part of the Day 14 activities, we introduce you to  Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano  who has written extensively about using Twitter for curating information.

Graphic adapted from https://twitter.com/langwitches/status/525916565170966530

We look forward to hearing about your curation experiences.

Happy learning!

Day 6: Developing your PLN

Yesterday,  the Day 5 activity  explored the idea of twitter being a large online library.

Today we look at moving from searching and finding information, to building and leveraging people connections. This brings is to a big question – who should I follow?

Creative Commons image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/markwcarbone/23373163706/

In terms of making connections, it is natural to start in a comfortable place,  perhaps by following people in your own organization and/or noting people with similar interests or professional focus.  Over time, you will be strategic about developing your network with some consideration to ‘access’ as noted in our day 2 post – “access to people, their time and expertise, questions, answers, viewpoints, resources, and new ideas”.

Enjoy an opportunity to explore new connections through the day 6 activity.  

Resources:

Tom Whitby has created a valuable resource for educators: Whom Should I Follow on Twitter?

Day 5: We’ve Arrived! It’s Time to Talk Twitter!

When we mention Twitter, many people think of celebrities and wasting time.  They don’t see the value in being on Twitter.

But Twitter is where educators are.  It is where they are sharing, learning and moving thinking forward.  As a professional, you need to be part of that conversation.

If you are nervous about being on social media, begin by using Twitter anonymously, “lurking” until you feel more confident.

Twitter is a Public Library of information, available whenever and wherever you are connected, and updating every second.  You need to learn how to navigate this library of information, and more importantly, your students need to access it.

Day 5 of 10 Minutes a Day to Becoming a Connected Leader is our most popular resource.  Please take time to use it and spread it.

We need your voice on Twitter.

#OSSEMOOC at #BIT15

Welcome to #BIT15!

Be sure to follow the #BIT15 hashtag and the #OSSEMOOC hashtag over the next few days as we lead learning here in Niagara Falls.

Today, @OSSEMOOC is at Minds on Media, supporting educators in learning to connect and self-direct their learning in online environments.  Please drop in, have a chat, and share some learning.

Thank you to Brenda Sherry and Peter Skillen for inviting us to take part in their amazing learning event.

OSSEMOOC will also be supporting a blogging cafe at #BIT15.  Drop in and visit for a chance to have some quiet time to share your learning or to get some personal support in learning to blog.

We look forward to learning together at #BIT15!  Please drop in and make the f2f connection with your “online” PLN.

 

Busting Down Language Barriers

It’s time for French-language and English-language educators in this province to learn together.  Thanks to Marius Bourgeoys (@bourmu) and his Twitter challenge from #GAFESummit Ottawa, we know have a fabulous way for everyone to collaborate through images and short Tweets that can be easily popped into Google Translate for clearer understanding.

Here are the results of our first day of learning together, sharing an image that inspires us.

Why not join in? What a simple way to start collaborating!

New Twitter Courses Starting

Thanks to Peter Skillen and Brenda Sherry for leading the #CE15L chat last night, digging into the topic of “Learning”.  We have many thoughts and ideas to pursue as we continue through our knowledge building together this month.  Please register here if you want to join the conversation.

#OSSEMOOC has new “mini-mooc” courses starting in the next few weeks.  Please show your colleagues our offerings and invite them to register here to receive instructional email messages.  Of course anyone can follow the learning without registering.

Twitter for Absolute Beginners Starts Today

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.

What is Your #oneword for 2015?

Instead of a resolution, we asked what your one word would be for 2015.  What word will drive your professional practice this year?

We wondered what Ontario education leaders would answer.

Thanks to Julie Balen for collating the responses.  You can still tweet them or read them on twitter using #onewordONT

 

Ten Minutes of Connecting: Day 14 – Twitter as a Curation Tool

We have now hit the two week mark since we started spending 10 minutes each day getting connected together!  Congratulations on your progress so far.  Please remember to ask for help by leaving a comment on the blog.

If you are a connected educator already, please feel free to add more to our “10 minutes” by sharing your learning here as well.

Today we go back to Twitter.  Last week we asked you to create an account, and we demonstrated how to start following some of the learning on Twitter.

We use what we learned this week about the value of curation as a skill and practice, and we consider how Twitter can be used to access curated content and contribute your own curated content.

Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano has written extensively on this topic.

 

We have already considered how to collect information and learn from others on Twitter.

As we build our PLN,  we are, in a sense, customizing the information we receive on Twitter.  We follow people with similar interests, who act as curators for us.

For example, we follow ECOO Director Alana Callan on Twitter, because we know that most of  what she posts will be of interest to us.

Last week, we shared how “real time curation” works to allow us to be part of a conference or event we could not otherwise attend, or to share with others from an event we are attending.  ECOO Director Colin Jagoe demonstrates this at the BIT14 conference:

Today, consider how you are acting as a curator on Twitter.  How are you sharing the resources that interest you?  Do you select a quote from a resource as you share it?  Perhaps you add your own thinking to challenge the thinking of others.  Do you ask questions to promote deeper thinking and invite conversation?

How can you leverage your presence on Twitter to take ownership of your own professional learning?  How can you be a valuable contributor to the professional learning of others?

 

Further Resources for Consideration:

Langwitches Blog: Twitter as a Curation Tool

 Curated learning

Digging Into Curation