Professional Learning Networks
My Personal PLN
All the information on this page relates to my personal PLN. Over the years, I've been slowly joining Groups and following other Educators through Social Media. Here are just a few examples of groups I am a part of and educators I follow.
On Facebook, I am a member of several closed groups specifically for music educators. One of the groups is specifically for my county, started by other music teachers who were looking to connect us all together throughout the year, and not just during our Professional Development days. The top group is a Global Music Educator group which lets me connect with hundreds of other music educators at a time. The bottom group is specific for teachers who were in the AKI Program offered at Loyola University.
I have two Twitter accounts:
@SOMusicalMoss and @HVSymphonicBand
Both Twitter handles are professional. The first one is for school, which includes #'s that connect with the BCPS network (ex: #BCPSMusic). We share activities happening in the classroom, ideas for our classroom, fun bulletin Board ideas, etc.
The second Twitter handle is for the Community Band I am a part of. We tweet concert dates, pictures from rehearsals, and other important information about the band. On Twitter I can be a part of TwitterChats (ex: #edchat) where we post a questions and answers, there are Technology chats, Grade Specific Chats, Global Educator Chats, etc. If you can think of it, you can probably find it!
People and Groups I follow on Twitter...
@edu_match
@MusicEdTech
@EdTechCoaches
@CASE_Leaders
@eschoolnews
@Isteconnects
@TEDTalks
@edutopia
I started using Linked In with my first Masters program through Loyola University. At first, it was because I was not on Facebook, and I wanted to connect with the other educators in my Cohort. However, as I started to become more familiar with LinkedIn, I've found multiple resources, groups, and possible uses for the program. I'm part of a Music Educator Group, I can find resources for my classroom, I can create slideshows within the site to share with other Linked In members not connected specifically to me, etc. The best part about the program is it is completely professional, which makes it a little different from other social media like Facebook or Twitter.
Pinterest is an excellent way for Educators to share ideas and learn from each other. From Bulletin Boards, to lesson plans, and beyond there is no limit to what you can find for your classroom on Pinterest.
Google+ is a fantastic way to connect with other educators. Google is a cloud based program, which will let you collaborate on Documents, Power Points, Excel SpreadSheets, etc. Google has a Global Collaborating capabilities with the Google Hangouts, which will allow you to connect with other educators and classrooms. You can have video chats, post on discussion boards, or even collaborate and create different kinds of documents to share. I've been utilizing Google+ mostly with my different classes for my Master's program, but there are other ways to use it as well. If Baltimore County didn't have it's own learning network for students, I would be utilizing Google Education/Google Classrooms.
I utilize YouTube primarily for my students. I have a YouTube channel, with closed videos that I can send out to students to use when practicing specific music concepts or instruments at home.
Baltimore County Public Schools utilizes Vimeo as a source for assessment Videos, and How to Guides for using BCPS technologies or Databases for educators.
