Comments on: PD Cafeteria Style: Picking and Choosing What I Learn (and whom I learn it from)

By: Beth Still

Beth Still — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:48:05 +0000

@Wes
I think so much of it comes down to schools taking the easy way out. It is easier to ban everything outright than change policies or make exceptions. I wish schools would at least allow teachers to use these tools so they can see how they work and that they have legitimate educational value.

@Mobbsey I rely on my PLN for nearly everything I learn. I feel like I am reading words that came out of my head when I read your reply.

@Mary I don’t understand how schools can ban these sites. The draft of the Nebraska Language Arts standards states that students must learn how to use things like social networks, videoconferencing, online collaboration, etc. Very frustrating!

@Richard
I wonder what would happen if teachers tried to submit attendance at webinars as proof of professional growth? I cannot think of many formal sessions I have sat through where I have learned more than I do when I participate in these activities. Seems reasonable to me.

@Cory I have attended one inservice in 4 years that is worth my time. It was the one I attended early last spring and Howie DiBlasi was the presenter. He talked about digital story telling, blogging, wikis, and interactive video conferencing. I was just starting to dabble with Web 2.0 tools at that point so I was completely impressed. This year McRel has been asked to do the ONE session that focuses on technology. I do not know much about them, but they seem very data driven. I don’t need to sit in a room all day and listen to statistics!

By: Cory Plough

Cory Plough — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:58:02 +0000

On top of it all, there is no evidence that formal PD actually leads to student achievement. Then again, there is no evidence that informal PD does either, but I like to think that me being a better learner transfers over to my students. Even if the research cant isolate that. I can tell you this, I am not a better learner from anything my school does in inservices.

By: Mary Cooch

Mary Cooch — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:38:44 +0000

Just to say I can relate totally to your post. I’d never have thought (coming from a 1970’s education with text books and lecturers) that I’d end up learning virtually all I now know in my current role from networking – and our students should do this to, but with our guidance .(It is after all very easy to get distracted by the likes of Twitter, hugely useful though it is!) Banning sites such as twitter/ning/blogger/ et al deprives students of the means to learn how to sift through and evaluate the vast range of information available out there – and of course it cuts off us teachers too. Why should I have to take in my laptop with my mobile broadband dongle in order to access an educational website blocked by county?

By: Richard Platts

Richard Platts — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 13:52:56 +0000

My school has attempted a more flexible method of PD, though I don’t see it revolutionizing the way we do things. Teachers are required to do between 12 – 18 hours of PD which they select from a menu of offerings, mostly after school sessions. The downside is that those sessions are frequently canceled and not well attended, as the vast majority of teachers choose to complete these hours during the summer on departmental projects and planning. The sad thing is that this means that almost no technology PD is done in the school.

I too have found that my PLN leads me in directions that I would never go if I relied upon my school to provide me with their in-house training. This is not a knock on my school, per se, but nobody can provide in-house, that which is abounding in spaces like this, interactions between engaged professionals.

I’m fortunate enough that most of the sites you mentioned are not blocked. Though I would bet that there is a pretty significant chunk of my (and your) colleagues who are not “engaged professionals”, they may be good teachers, well meaning and caring people, but you know there are plenty who don’t have the same thoughts about online networking as us. What do w do to convince them? Without making it look like a lot more ‘work’ or a ‘fad’?

By: Mobbsey

Mobbsey — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 12:42:08 +0000

My response as pormised – http://mobbsey.blogspot.com/2008/11/professional-developmentmade-for-me.html

By: Wesley Fryer

Wesley Fryer — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:50:24 +0000

Beth: I think fear of lawsuits as well as a lack of vision explain a lot of the behavior you’re asking about when it comes to school policies and social networking. I also think it comes down to school officials often taking the easy way out. It’s easier to ban all cell phones than try and implement a policy where we help students learn how to appropriately use them. Same goes for social networking sites. It is more difficult to operate in the grey areas of what is appropriate / not appropriate than just outright ban everything.

By: Lawsuit Fear and Lack of Vision Explain a Lot » Moving at the Speed of Creativity

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:47:42 +0000

[...] her post today “PD Cafeteria Style: Picking and Choosing What I Learn (and whom I learn it from),” Nebraska Change Agent Beth Still asks: If it is possible to gain good and useful information in an [...]

By: Mobbsey

Mobbsey — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 01:00:55 +0000

There’s an urgent need for social networking and PLNs which go beyond school, district and even national boundaries to move from being feared by administrators to being embraced.

Without my online PLN I’d be stagnating – there are very few opportunities for me to have the level of conversations I need to have about the future of education, the tools available online, the possibilities, within my own school/district. Either my direct colleagues aren’t interested or aren’t yet able to extend me beyond where I’m at.

Look for a deeper reflection on this topic later today on my blog – you’ve hit a nerve! Thanks!