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Thinking SMALL: Realizing Ongoing Professional Development through Grassroots Social Networking in the UAE
The document discusses the importance of grassroots social networking and ongoing professional development in the UAE education context, particularly emphasizing the shift from traditional pedagogical methods to more constructivist approaches. It highlights various platforms and models for creating personal learning networks and innovative professional development opportunities that enhance teacher and student skills. The authors argue that effective conferences should integrate interpersonal connections with robust networking opportunities to remain relevant in the evolving educational landscape.
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Thinking SMALL: Realizing Ongoing Professional Development through Grassroots Social Networking in the UAE
- 1. Thinking SMALL Realizing OngoingProfessional Development through Grassroots Social Networking in the UAE Vance Stevens and Phil Cozens Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi Jim Buckingham Zayad University, Abu Dhabi Prepared for the Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaima ELT Conferences Aprll 10, 2010 Zayad University, Abu Dhabi and HCT Men’s College RAK
- 2. Guiding Premise From StephenDownes, Learning the Web 2.0 Way And … to TEACH is to LEARN - Vance http://www.slideshare.net/Downes/personal-learning-the-web-20-way Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 3. Paradigm Shifts inEducation http://prosites-vstevens.homestead.com/files/efi/papers/2007alexandria/web20arabia.htm Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 4. 10 Aspects ofParadigm Shift • Pedagogy: • Heuristics: Didactic --> constructivist Client server --> • Modeling: peer to peer Do as I say --> AND as I do • Sharing: • Transfer: Copyrighted --> Technology enjoyed at creative commons leisure is F.U.N. --> also, • Classification: applied to professional Taxonomies --> practice folksonomies • Trepidation: • Directionality: Will they find out? --> Push --> pull ok to say “I don’t know!” • Ownership: • Literacy: Proprietary --> Print literacy --> open source multiliteracies Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010 4
- 5. What is TESOLArabia? • A group? • A community? • A network? Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 6. Configurations • Groups Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 7. Configurations • Groups • Communities Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 8. Configurations • Groups • Communities •Communities of practice – Domain – Practice – Community Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 9. Configurations • Groups • Communities •Communities of practice • Networks can include overlapping communities Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 10. Configurations • Groups • Communities •Communities of practice • Networks and sample Connections Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 11. What is aconference? • What is an appropriate metaphor for conference attendance? – Group? Community? Network? • Should teachers / students be cut off from their networks? – At school? Meetings? Conferences? Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 12. Alternative models forprofessional and student skills development • Use Nings / Moodles / wikis / Google Wave / Jing / uTiPu / or other LMS/CMS to replace outmoded email attachment systems • Hold un-conferences and other grass roots events such as • Bar camps • LAN parties • Speed-geeking • Speed Lifing http://advanceducation.blogspot.com/2009/06/speedlifing.html Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 13. Keep current, participatewith peers around the world in: • Social networks: Ning, TappedIn, EVO, WiAOC • Social bookmarking: Delicious, Diigo • Groups: YahooGroups and GoogleGroups • Microblogging: Twitter, Plurk • Instant messaging: Yahoo Messenger, Skype Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 14. Keep current, participatewith peers around the world in: • Blogging and podcasting: keeping current via RSS • Wikis: PBWiki, Wikispaces • Aggregation: Technorati, Pageflakes, Netvibes, Protopages, iGoogle, http://addictomatic.com, http://spezify.com Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 15. Personal Learning Networks ScottLeslie's PLE (above) and more PLE diagrams: http://edtechpost.wikispaces.com/PLE+Diagrams
- 16. Nings http://cck2009.ning.com/ http://multiliteracies.ning.com/video Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 17. Webcasts, Podcasts http://ed te chtalk.co com/ m /live evens.podomatic. http://vance_st Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 18. Microblogging: Twitter Our dailynetwork interactions; e.g. Morning Tweets Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 19. Microblogging: Edmodo Modeled anddemonstrated by Nicky Hockley, #Socialnet09 Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 20. The not-yet future:Waves Who are the early pouncers? http://wave.google.com Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 21. Organizing through Wikis http://webheadswave.wikispaces.com/ Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 22. Future of Learning ina Networked World http://flnw.wikispaces.com/Brazil Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 23. PD models for Networked Interaction • Growing numbers of teaching practitioners no longer focus professional development activities on annual conferences • Professional development is done – daily (weekly, etc.) – for free – at individual's pace and convenience • Via Twitter, Ning, Skype, YouTube, Facebook, YahooGroups, TappedIn, WiZiQ ... Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 24. PD models for Networked Interaction • Electronic Village Online (EVO, since 2001) • Webheads (1998, WiA since 2002) • Steve Hargadon Classroom 2.0 • Free online conferences – George Siemens’s many conferences – WiAOC (Webheads in Action Online Convergences) – K12 Online Conference – 2010 #iatefl conference in Harrogate Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 25. How EVO modelssocial Networking • Almost all start with an email list, usually Yahoo Groups – http://yahoogroups.com • Many have Nings – http://ning.com • Most use wikis; e.g. http://pbworks.com or http://docs.google.com • Many use microblogging; e.g. http://twitter.com • Many socially bookmark URLs using http://delicious.com or http://diigo.com • Most encourage reflective blogs; e.g. http://blogger.com Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 26. Key to successin keeping current Expanding productive contacts within a network Attribute: d'arcy norman touchgraph: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dnorman/436670816/ Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 27. TESOL Arabia Conferences and Chapter Events • In future, successful conferences and professional organizations will combine • opportunities for interpersonal connection • with connectivity and • seamless interaction with distributed personal learning networks – Those that do not will be decreasingly relevant • If conferences are networked? – Who benefits? Who loses? Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 28. Model Conferences • OngoingPD requires connection to a network • Conferences are good for face to face interaction and interpersonal networking – But inefficient for sustained professional development – Many conferences / schools etc require participants to leave their networks at the door Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 29. Model Conferences • F2Fconferences with rich networking potential – Learning 2.0 (Jeff Utecht, set up in Ning, Podcast) – IATEFL right now, getting better – NECC – Educon 2.0 THINK SMALL Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010
- 30. CALL? Think SMALL… • Social networking via social media is the new CALL • Now that the C in CALL is almost seamless, almost taken for granted, – Social networking is the new front-line – SMALL? (Social media assisted LL?) (… enhanced … won’t work) For an online explanation of this presentation http://tinyurl.com/ta10april2010 Vance Stevens - TESOL Arabia 2010