Wednesday Dec. 8th

To Share or Not to Share....

I confess I am a sharer! I feel that if I have something others might use it is only logical to share with them....
Recently at the 2010 ATLE conference I attened a session on Social Media with the Couros Brothers... although the topic was about Social Media, we engaged in the conversation of sharing. It has had me reflecting and thinking about this not so new idea but one that faces many of us in Ed Tech, Teaching and Learning. So this is my ponderings, please let me know your thoughts.

Do I need credit?.... not really.
Do I like it when people are grateful for the sharing? Of course, we all like our work to be appreciated. But is the simple act of someone using your material evidence or a sign of gratefulness?

When is sharing going to get easier for those that feel they put the hours into the work and therefore others should work for it too? Am I old fashioned, idealistic to believe that once we share, we will receive, and then we share more and we receive more.... crazy cycle but I like it!!

As educators we teach our students to share, we ask them to collaborate, to work together, to work cooperatively, to develop group working skills, yet often the concept of sharing with each other is a challenge to many teachers.
My question is why?
Is it greed?
Is it a need to be acknowledged?
Is it fear that their work/resources are not good enough and don't want to take the next step?
Is it horading ?
Is it competition?

What do you think?

December 3rd, Twitter and it's role in Education

I have had a twitter account for some time but didn't really begin to use it for educational purposes until this summer. We were participating in the Emerge Conference in Banff Alberta and it was exciting to use the hash tags (#emerge2010) to follow along. We also introduced peers to the program. Once back at work though it became hard to follow.
My personal committment has been at least once a week check, comment and tweet. Sometimes I have many more, other times hard to get one in.

I have found some interesting people to follow in education, they have inspired me to create some lists to organize those I follow. I have also been introduced to Tweet Deck, Twitterfall and the idea of reviewing other lists to determine who you would like to follow. However the question we often here is, but what do you get out of it???

Well,

• I get a chance to meet peers I might never meet and hear their great ideas.
• I follow individuals who point out great lessons for smartboards and other technology integration.
• I am directed to blogs, wikkis, articles and webspaces that have some very interesting trends, research and reflections on educational technology practices.
• I feel like I am a part of a larger community, beyond my jurisdiction.

What do I want to get from it?

• connections to people, places and practices.
• enrich my understanding of content, concepts and issues facing educators.
• challenge myself, discover new interests, reflect on my practice.

How will I get there?

• Well, my plan is to learn to use Tweet Deck and Twitter Fall efficiently.
• To find individuals to follow that inspire, motivate and give me cause to reflect.
• To share what I learn along the way and hope that others will provide me with guidance and advance.
• To committ to checking my twitter account regularly and to add it to this blog.

Let's see what happens, how are others using Twitter? Any advice out there or suggestions?

M