Aside from learning how to integrate technology into the classroom in appropriate and innovative ways, one of the main focuses of ECMP 355 was social learning — that is, becoming a connected educator. Throughout the course, I participated in different online spaces such as Twitter, blogs, and the ECMP Google Plus community in order to try to build my PLN, or my personal learning network. By participating in these online spaces, I also contributed to the learning of others!
Here are some of the ways I did this:
Blog Comments
I regularly commented on my classmates’ #LearningProject blogs to offer words of encouragement and support, as well as to provide feedback and suggestions to help further their learning:
This comment appears on Angela’s blog post “Mixed Emotions…“
This is a response to Amie’s blog post “Why do I HAVE to learn this?”
This comment is in response to Matt’s post “Finally starting to come together…“
I often made comments and posed questions on my classmates’ blogs to help encourage deeper thinking:
This comment appears on Matt’s blog post “Tweet Tweet“
This is a comment on Brooke’s post “Snapchat: Classroom tools for the 21st century“
This is a response to McKaila’s blog post “Maximizing Muscle Growth“
I also contributed to my classmates’ learning by providing resources and tips where I thought they might be helpful:
This is a response to Kelsey’s blog post “Digital Citizenship in the Classroom“
This is a comment I left on Aysha’s post “The Light at the End of the Tunnel (Week)“
This is a response to Shelby’s blog post “Stress Ease“
Twitter Interactions
Another way that I contributed to the learning of others was by regularly and consistently sharing articles and resources on Twitter that pertained to course content and class discussions:
https://twitter.com/amypmartin/status/746732101903351808
https://twitter.com/amypmartin/status/744614216259166208
https://twitter.com/amypmartin/status/744253171430658049
https://twitter.com/amypmartin/status/740771296850673664
On Twitter, I also shared articles related to topics/issues that I am passionate about. This allowed others to engage with the content and become informed about various social justice issues:
https://twitter.com/amypmartin/status/740320829402025985
https://twitter.com/amypmartin/status/747482714735992833
https://twitter.com/amypmartin/status/742582474828451840
In order to open up a space for discussion, I posed questions to my classmates and my PLN in general. This often led to conversations with my classmates, some graduate students, and others outside of the course:
https://twitter.com/amypmartin/status/738937316849262593
I also used Twitter to answer some of my classmates’ questions:
By being an active participant on Twitter, I went from having 138 Twitter followers to having 207 followers in just six weeks!
Google Plus Community:
I also contributed to others’ learning by being an active member in the ECMP 355 Google Plus community. In the course community, I regularly answered people’s questions and provided resources where I thought they might be helpful:
I also helped a classmate out with one of her assignments by voting in the poll she created and by leaving a comment:
Blog Posts:
During the semester, I wrote a blog post in response to my one of my classmate’s posts. In my post, I linked to my classmate’s post and explained my thoughts in relation to her’s.
I was also excited to see that some of my blog posts contributed to the learning of others outside of ECMP 355. My instructor, Katia, shared one of my posts on Twitter, and over 15 people retweeted it — including Carol Todd and Monica Lewinsky!
This post highlights some of the ways that I have contributed to others’ learning in different online spaces this semester. That being said, I would like to thank my ECMP 355 classmates and others for contributing to my learning this semester through Twitter, blog posts/comments, and the Google Plus Community. I look forward to continuing to connect with educators and continuing to build my PLN throughout my teaching journey!
Amy Martin 