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Today's students must be prepared to thrive in a constantly evolving technological landscape. The ISTE Standards for Students are designed to empower student voice and ensure that learning is a student-driven process. Connect with other educators in the ISTE Standards Community and learn how to use the standards in the classroom with the ISTE Standards for Students .

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Today's students must be prepared to thrive in a constantly evolving technological landscape. The ISTE Standards for Students are designed to empower student voice and ensure that learning is a student-driven process. Connect with other educators in the ISTE Standards Community and learn how to use the standards in the classroom with the ISTE Standards for Students .

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Developing your personal learning network

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A few years ago, when Angie Miller, middle school ELA teacher, was invited to join Twitter, she refused. "I was anti-social media," remembers Miller, who was concerned about safety. After some convincing, Miller created a Twitter account that, says Miller, "has become my greatest professional development resource, period." Miller is not alone. Thousands of teachers are using social media as teacher PD for idea sharing, professional development, and even to make extra money.

Whether you're new to using social media as a professional development tool or you're looking for more places to plug in, here's everything you need to know about connecting with other educators online.

Twitter is tops

Despite the short, snappy micro-blog format, Twitter has become a must for educators. "Nobody ever expected teachers to adopt Twitter as the backbone of the professional learning network. But it happened," says Thomas Whitby, founder of the EducatorPLN and avid Tweeter.

Joining Twitter can feel like opening the nozzle on a firehose, says Jessie Arora, founder of TeacherSquare. The trick is to build a core list of educators that you want to follow. (We've rounded up our favorite teachers on Twitter here.)

Even if you don't feel like you have a lot to say, there is power in retweeting. "If we all retweet good things," says Vicki Davis (@CoolCatTeacher), "that's going to spread."

Once you've mastered the tweet and want to expand, you can try joining some Twitter chats. Twitter chats are big group discussions that occur online. You can see what education chats are happening on any given day here and learn more about how to participate in a Twitter chat in this blog post.

Social media just for teachers

If you're looking to get really educator-specific here are four other must-know sites just for teachers:

1. Classroom 2.0 is a community of more than 80,000 educators who engage through web casts, conversations, online forums, and posts on topics from the future of education to digital storytelling. When teachers connect, their awareness increases and they reengage as learners.

2. Joining an education-focused network, says Lisa Schmucki, Founder and CEO of EdWeb , eliminates the static that you'll find on mainstream sites. At EdWeb you'll connect with thousands of members and engage in chats and webinars on topics from the Common Core to school gardens.

3. Since its start in 2008, Edmodo has grown to more than 20 million users around the world. Edmodo is focused on connecting, not only teachers, but students and parents. Teachers post and monitor student work, engage students in conversation and discussion. The benefit of Edmodo is its expansive reach and the differentiated platforms for students, teachers, and parents.

4. The WeAreTeachers HELPLINE! group on Facebook is a closed group just for teachers where you can idea share, ask for help, vent, or have a laugh.

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How to Use Social Media as Teacher PD - We Are Teachers

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Whether you're new to using social media as teacher PD or looking for more places to plug in, here's everything you need to know.

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3 Steps for Building a PLN

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Recently, a colleague asked me, "What is a PLN?"

She was taking a graduate course on technology implementation and was required to form a "PLN" using digital communities and tools. But after signing up for various wikis, Nings, and virtual professional groups, she was overwhelmed: "Do I have to actually log in and check all of these things on a regular basis?! Is that what 'having a PLN' means?"

Her question prompted me to articulate how I define a professional learning network (PLN) and how I have shaped my own.

A professional learning network is a vibrant, ever-changing group of connections to which teachers go to both share and learn. These groups reflect our values, passions, and areas of expertise.

Teachers build PLNs the same way they build any network: by investing time to find and connect with people they trust, who have shared interests and passions. To me, a PLN includes the organizations, communities, and individuals who help me learn and grow as a professional. My PLN also provides me with a broader perspective on education-beyond my classroom, school building, state, and even nation. It is a blend of face-to-face and digital interactions with professional buddies, mentors, and rockstars.

Although technology is often the vehicle to build connections, a PLN is about relationships. To conceptualize a PLN, envision three layers like the ever-widening rings formed when a rock is dropped into still water. The smallest inner circle represents buddies and mentors; a middle ring holds niche passion groups; and the outer layer comprises professionals and rockstars. The smaller the ring, the closer that group is connected to you in your PLN.

Let's explore how to develop each of these layers of relationships and understand their role in professional learning.

Step One: Find the Professionals

Imagine you were moving to a new city. Initially, you would seek professionals to trust with home repairs, health, and even dry cleaning. You might find these people by asking neighbors and friends or using an online resource like Angie's List.

Similarly, finding professionals for a PLN begins by connecting with educational organizations whose mission statements and resources align to your personal beliefs about teaching and learning. Join these organizations, get on their (e)mail lists, and follow them on social media. You can also connect with published authors, researchers, or speakers who have earned your respect. Follow them on social media, find their blog, and set up an RSS feed to notify you when they post new content.

My PLN "professionals" include the following organizations and individuals. I have memberships with these organizations to receive their print and digital publications, when applicable. Additionally, I follow them on Twitter and attend their yearly conferences to physically connect with other like-minded educators.

* ASCD * The Center for Teaching Quality * National Board for Professional Teaching Standards * Edutopia * My PLN Rockstars: Pasi Sahlberg, Tony Wagner, Elena Aguilar, Daniel Pink.

Step Two: Find Your Niche Groups

In addition to establishing your professional contacts in a new town, you might begin to frequent places connected to your personal interests, like a gym, coffee shop, or church. In these places, you will likely find others who have shared interests in cycling, well-crafted drinks, or faith. These places make you feel comfortable.

In a PLN, these comfortable places are those where people gather around similar passions or experiences. For teachers, those places can vary based on grade level, subject area, or personal passions. For example, those who teach English may participate in Monday night's #engchat on Twitter or join author Jim Burke's Ning groups. to discuss topics related to teaching English. Fourth-grade teachers might participate in #4thchat on Twitter while following Fourth Grade Friends' Pinterest boards for great ideas to use in the classroom.

Educators who are are passionate about technology have, of course, many options for virtual connection: #edtech chat on Twitter, Google+ groups, and videos from the Teaching Channel on digital literacy.

There are literally hundreds of Twitter niche groups that hold regular chats. To add these communities to your PLN, you might attend a few chats a month that push your thinking and provide you with collaboration and resources around a shared personal interest. On Pinterest, you can do a simple search for terms that interest you and follow people or boards that provide you with great ideas.

Another way to find personal niche groups (without the frantic pace and public nature of Twitter) is through private communities like ASCD Edge, Edmodo Teacher Groups, CTQ Collaboratory, or Connected Educator's Book Club. These groups require a profile and provide a space for educators to go deeper in discussing topics and sharing resources.

Step Three: Find your PLN Buddies and Mentors

It's important to have individuals in your PLN who you respect highly and who will help you grow. Buddies and mentors are those people who you feel connected to beyond one shared interest; they "get" you in some important way.

These people are your closest group in your PLN. You will read almost every blog post they write, and you would probably feel comfortable calling them on the phone or inviting them out to coffee.

Finding PLN buddies and mentors often happens organically through interaction with other PLN groups. Maybe you're lurking on a Twitter chat and discover another educator who is sharing valuable resources, so you follow that person and thank them on Twitter. Perhaps you feel compelled to comment on a discussion thread that someone posted because it resonated with your own challenges or journey. Or you have an opportunity to chat with a rockstar at a book signing, and a more personal connection is formed. These are all opportunities to make and deepen connections over time.

These buddies and mentors become the foundation of any vibrant PLN. They expand your natural tunnel vision, transform your perspective, and encourage you when rock bottom seems near. You might communicate with them via Twitter, blogs, email, or Voxer. Or you could even ask them to go out for coffee once a month. Connection and interaction is key; the platform is merely the medium of convenience.

Feeling Overwhelmed? Stop!

The best part of a PLN is that it is personal. A "professional learning network" is ultimately a personal learning network.

It's important to build your PLNs in a conscious way that makes you feel comfortable. After all, not everyone builds their face-to-face networks the same way, so why would our virtual networks be any different? Perhaps it makes more sense for you to start with individuals and work outward to niche groups and organizations. Or maybe you don't like having your connections and attention divided into so many different directions. Join one organization, explore the niche groups, and connect with individuals who are already part of that community. Your attention will be focused in one place while your PLN still has varied levels of personal interaction and connection.

To my overwhelmed colleague who posed the question, "What is a PLN?" I replied with this: Find the virtual places that feel most natural to you. For me, that's social media like Twitter and Facebook. After you choose a platform, follow the people and organizations that push you to expand your thinking and move past your comfort zone. That's creating a sustainable PLN-one that will help you grow and feel more energized, not deplete you and create stress.

Like moving to a new place, the hardest part is the initial step. Stepping outside of your house to meet the neighbors, being willing to make a wrong turn to find your new doctor, or joining the local book club at the library all require risk.

But communities are essential for our happiness and survival. If your professional life feels stagnant and narrow, or your learning feels stale and predictable, perhaps it's time to step outside the door and seek people who can breathe new life into your professional growth. Perhaps it's time to build a personal, professional learning network.

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3 Steps for Building a Professional Learning Network

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Recently, a colleague asked me, "What is a PLN?" She was taking a graduate course on technology implementation and was required to form a "PLN" using digital communities and tools. But after signing up for various wikis, Nings, and virtual professional groups, she was overwhelmed: "Do I have to actually log in and check all of these things on a regular basis?!

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5 Ways to use Social Media

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Social learning is in, and teachers and administrators everywhere are enhancing their own personal and professional development by harnessing the power of social media. True or False: Educators around the world are using social media for their own professional development. And the answer is ... True!

If you need help getting started, check out the following 10 ways to start using social media as a professional development tool...

1. Twitter

Connect with like-minded learning professionals worldwide to start sharing news, information, ideas, resources, and advice. Actively participate in Twitter "chats" around a particular subject area. Lastly, be in more than one place at once. Ok not really, but did you know that if you follow Twitter backchannels while attending conferences and other events, you can keep up with everything that's going on? It's true!

2. Blogging:

Reflect on your work from time to time by blogging about your experiences. Decide what has worked and what hasn't? What should you do different next time? You can always draw from other people's expertise as well. Social media is all about collaboration, and what better way to do that then by teaching and learning from other passionate educators? Build a list of blogs to read for professional development purposes. Make sure you subscribe to them so you know when they've posted new content. There are many teaching related blogs out there; You have chosen a good place by starting with us @Simplek12.

3. Facebook

Join Groups and "Like" Facebook Fan Pages that will help you grow professionally.Both are great ways to directly communicate with experts to ask questions, get new ideas, build new contacts and try things out. Find out about exciting activities by searching for events. Keep an eye out for Education Webinars and local networking events, both of which are great learning opportunities, a lot of fun, and an awesome way to connect with others.

4. YouTube

Learn about every topic imaginable ...just kidding!But seriously, with the huge variety of instructional videos available on YouTube, you certainly could if you wanted to. If you're interested in teacher professional development videos, be sure to check out SimpleK12's YouTube Channel.

5. Google+

Use the Hangout feature to video conference up to 10 people and bounce around ideas. Find out what teachers and principals need and want, as well as offer solutions to existing problems. Arrange all of your connections into targeted "circles". This will help you quickly find the most relevant content and resources.

How do you use social media as a professional development tool?

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5 Ways To Use Social Media For Professional Development

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Social learning is in, and teachers and administrators everywhere are enhancing their own personal and professional development by harnessing the power of social media. True or False: Educators around the world are using social media for their own professional development. And the answer is ... True!

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Can Educators Ignore Social Media Any Longer?

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Can Educators Ignore Social Media Any Longer?

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Can Educators Ignore Social Media Any Longer?

April 3, 2017 by Tom Whitby @tomwhitby

A lingering general question hanging over the heads of all has been what effect does social media have on our society? That answer has never been so evident as it has been today as social media tools have been placed directly in the hands of the President of the United States, as well as foreign operatives. Social media is a very powerful tool that can have a lasting effect on what people do, and how they do it. Placing those social media technology tools i n the hands of some of the most educated members of our society who have the greatest effect on future generations has had somewhat mixed results.

Education as a profession needs to recognize and accept the fact that we live in the 21 st century and social media enables change that can happen much faster, and affect greater groups of people than any technology of the 20 th Century, including radio and television. Change has always come slowly over the centuries and that was what we expected, change happening slowly giving us more time to adjust and adapt. Technology has changed that paradigm. Change is coming more quickly than many can adapt to and creating an uncomfortable situation for any profession that has been slow to change.

Social media enables collaboration, which for adult learning is the key to success for most adults. The best form of collaboration comes through conversation, which is often enabled by various social media tools. The key to accepting social media as a tool for learning comes in the term "Social". This requires involving other people in order to have a conversation. This requirement precludes the use of social media being a passive endeavor. It takes time to learn the tools, time to learn the culture, and time to learn the strategies to effectively learn through social media. All of this discourages people from even attempting to change what has made them comfortable in their profession. It requires effort, time, and work.

This lack of engagement may be harmful to the profession of Education for two reasons. First, without social media access to collaboration, educators would be limited to face-to-face collaboration, which is provided by the everyday interaction with colleagues within a local area. It may be effective, but it is very limited when compared to the global collaborative opportunities and varied perspectives provided through social media. It is also limiting in the amount of experts in various aspects of education compared to that which are available provided by social media. Educators can use social media to hand-pick educators with like interests, and goals. Social media enables educators the ability to develop personal learning networks with hundreds of collaborative collegial sources to educate, critique, react, and generally engage for the goal of learning and collaborating professionally.

The second and maybe more important harm comes from the educator not modeling for students the need and the tools for collaboration as we move further into their future. The world in which our students will need to live and thrive will change even more rapidly than their educator's world is experiencing today. Educators need to prepare their students with the skills and abilities to collaborate and learn long after the students leave today's halls of academia. These skills and abilities will require digital literacy, for that will be required to use tools for communication, collaboration, consumption, curation, and creation.

There is no longer a debate as to whether or not social media is here to stay. There is no debate that collaboration is a leading method of learning. There has never been a debate over the need for professional development for educators to maintain relevance in their profession. Considering the seeming acceptance of all of this I question why there is still such hesitance on the part of so many educators to engage more in collaboration through social media? Limiting educators to the 20 th century methodology of face-to-face collaboration is far too limiting in light of the potential of the collaboration possible using tools from social media.

School administrators need to re-evaluate policies dealing with social media in education. Educators need to become more digitally literate in regard to their own personal and professional learning. Providers of professional development need to promote more digital connections among educators to develop and maintain collegial sources for professional learning. Educators need to be more open to students' use of technology for collaboration.

Failing to recognize the changes in the world and the effect of those changes on education and learning is a mistake that we can ill afford. Accepting the changes requires work on the part of every educator to learn, adapt and use tools that they may not yet be familiar with or may change along the way. This is hard and a true deterrent to real change. Our administrators and leaders need to take steps to support educators in making these changes. They may need to open some minds to incorporate that innovation that so many of our leaders say they want in education.

To better educate ours kids, we need first to better educate their educators.

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Can Educators Ignore Social Media Any Longer?

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A lingering general question hanging over the heads of all has been what effect does social media have on our society? That answer has never been so evident as it has been today as social media tools have been placed directly in the hands of the President of the United States, as well as foreign...

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Applied Digital Skills

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Students create an interactive, If/Then Adventure Story in Google Slides.

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Getting started with Twitter

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NEA

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Twitter can easily be dismissed as a waste of time in the elementary school classroom. Students will get distracted. They'll see tweets they shouldn't. How does one manage a room full of Tweeple anyway? Is it even appropriate for lower grades?

If you want Twitter in your class, as yet another use of technology in the classroom, here's ammunition for what often turns into a pitched, take-sides verbal brawl as well-intended teachers try to reach a compromise that works for all stakeholders on using Twitter.

Students Learn to be Concise

Twitter gives you only 140 characters to get the entire message across. Wordiness doesn't work.

At first blush, that seems impossible. It's not. It challenges you to know the right word for every situation. People with a big vocabulary are at an advantage because they don't use collections of little words to say what they mean; they jump right to it. All those hints your English teacher gave you -- picture nouns and action verbs, get rid of adverbs and adjectives -- take on new importance with the Twitter aficionado.

Twitter isn't Intimidating

A blank white page that holds hundreds of words, demanding you fill in each line margin to margin is intimidating. 140 characters isn't. Anyone can write 140 characters about a topic. Students write 140 characters and more, learn to whittle back, leave out emotional words, adjectives and adverbs, pick better nouns and verbs because they need the room. Instead of worrying what they'll say on all those empty lines, they think about conciseness.

Students Learn Manners

Social networks are all about netiquette. People thank others for their assistance, ask politely for help, encourage contributions from readers and learn to use technology in the classroom. Use this framework to teach students how to engage in the virtual community. It's all about manners.

Students Learn to be Focused

With only 140 characters, you can't get off topic or cover tangential ideas. You have to save those for a different tweet. Tweeple like that trait. They like to hear your main topic and your thoughts, not your meanderings. When you force yourself to write this way, you find it really doesn't take a paragraph to make a point. Use the right words; people get it. Consider that the average reader gives a story seven seconds before moving on. OK, yes, that's more than 140 characters, but not much.

Students Learn to Share

Start a tweet stream where students share research websites on a topic. Maybe the class is studying Ancient Greece. Have each student share their favorite website (using a #hashtag -- like #ancientgreece) and create a resource others can use. Encourage them to RT posts they found particularly relevant or helpful.

Writing Short Messages Perfects the Art of "Headlining"

Writers call this the title. Bloggers and journalists call it the headline. Whatever the label, it must be pithy enough to pull the audience in. That's a tweet.

Tweets Must be Written Knowing Tweeple Can @reply

Yes. This is a world where people read what you say and comment. That's a good thing. It's feedback (important in Common Core), builds an online community and is a great use of technology in the classroom. Students learn to construct arguments expecting others to respond, question, comment. Not only does this develop persuasive writing, students learn to take comments with a grain of salt and two grains of aspirin.

#Hashmarks Develop a Community

Create #hashmarks that help students organize tweets. #help if they have a question. #homework for homework help. Establish class #hashmarks for subjects you as teacher want students to address.

Students Learn Tolerance for All Opinions

Why? Because Tweeple aren't afraid to speak their minds. They only have 140 characters -- so they spit it right out. Because the Twitter stream is public (in a classroom, the stream can be private, but still visible to all members of the class), students understand what they say is out there forever. That's daunting. Take the opportunity to teach students about their public profile. Represent themselves well with good grammar, good spelling, well-chosen tolerant ideas. Don't be emotional or spiteful because it can't be taken back. Rather than hiding students from the world, use Twitter to teach students how to live in it.

Twitter Breaks Down Barriers When Talking to Other People

Students are less worried about typing 140 characters than raising their hand in class, all eyes on them, and having to spit out the right answer. With Twitter, students can type an answer, delete it, edit it, add to and detract from, all before they push send. Plus, it's more anonymous than class, with no body language or facial expressions. It's just words -- and not many of those. Students have their say, see how others respond, have a chance to clarify. What could be safer?

Students are Engaged

Twitter is exciting, new, hip. Students want to use it. It's not the boring worksheet.

Consider this: You're doing the lecture part of your teaching (we all have some of that), or you're walking the classroom helping where needed. Twitter is your backchannel. Students can tweet questions that show up on the Smartscreen. It's easy to see where everyone is getting stuck, which question is stumping them, and answer it in real time. The class barely slows down. Not only can you see where problems arise, students can provide instant feedback on material without disrupting the class.

Twitter Becomes the Classroom Notepad

Use Twitter as your classroom notepad. Have students enter their thoughts, and note reactions while you talk. By the time class is done, the entire class has an overview of the conversation with extensions and connections that help everyone get more out of the time spent together.

Twitter is Always Open

Inspiration doesn't always strike in that 50-minute class period. Sometimes it's after class, after school, after dinner, even 11 at night. Twitter doesn't care. Whatever schedule is best for students to discover the answer, Twitter is there. If you tweet a question students can join the conversation when it works best for them. I love that. That's a new set of rules for classroom participation, and these are student-centered, uninhibited by a subjective time period. Twitter doesn't even care if a student missed the class. S/he can catch up via tweets and then join in.
How do you use Twitter in your classroom? I bet there are some more great ideas out there. Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor of a K-6 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, creator of two technology training books for middle school and six ebooks on technology in education. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, Cisco guest blogger, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Technology in Education featured blogger, IMS tech expert, and a monthly contributor to TeachHUB. Currently, she's editing a thriller that should be out to publishers next summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.

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13 Reasons to Use Twitter in the Classroom

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Twitter can easily be dismissed as a waste of time in the elementary school classroom. Students will get distracted. They'll see tweets they shouldn't. How does one manage a room full of Tweeple anyway? Is it even appropriate for lower grades?

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A guest post
1- Create a strong profile page
The first thing to do is to let people know about you and your interests. The more descriptive your bio is the better chances you have to be followed by like-minded people . If you have a blog or website than link to it and let others discover it.
2- Keep your profile professional
One of the mistakes some teachers do is that they create one account and share everything in it. It is better to delimit your social networking territory by creating two accounts one for personal uses and another for professional development objectives, in this way you will have your tweets organized and you will get more focused.
3- Proper use of etiquette
As an educator , etiquette should not be an issue at all. You will not teach your students about ethical use of online information and breach it , it just does not make sense. Make sure you credit the sources of your tweets and avoid spamming. If you do not have anything to say then don't say anything.You should also be courteous, thank people when they help you and show gratitude for their assistance.
4- Know who to follow
Don't be obsessed with having a 5 digit number of followers. What counts is quality not quantity. Don't follow people just because they followed you, read their profiles, see what they tweet only then take the decision to follow or not. You should also use tagging appropriately and avoid using it to draw attention of others to follow you. If you want to know some of the must-follow educators on Twitter than I recommend you check this list.
5- Use Hashtags
Hashtags are a great way for engaging in professional conversations. Get to know the trending hashtags in your field and use those hashtags when you tweet. You can also create your own hashtag to start a new conversation. If you want to see the top educational hashtags then check out this list.
6- Use Twitter Tools
There are several web tools that have been created specifically for Twitter users. These tools can help you perform a wide range of activities you could not otherwise do using Twitter alone. Some of these tools can help you conduct effective searches on Twitter, others turn your twitter into a magazine with recent tweets as prominent headlines, and many more. Check out this List or this one to access some of these tools.
7-Use Twitter for research
Reach out to other educators and ask them for help when you need it, ask for guidance. Keep updated about what others tweet and always make sure you interact with their tweets by favoriting or retweeting. Use the research functionality in twitter to look for resources and links and again you can ask people for help.
8- Share what you read
If you read an interesting book or an article then make sure to share it on your Twitter. People will get to learn from you too and you will get to build an online reputation. This is also a good way to spark academic discussions with your followers.

9- Use Twitter for Teaching and Learning
Here is a great slideshow to walk you through the different steps of how you can use Twitter for teaching and learning.

10- More creative ways to use Twitter

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10 Ways Teachers Can Use Twitter for Professional Development - Educators Technology

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A guest post 1- Create a strong profile page The first thing to do is to let people know about you and your interests. The more descriptive your bio is the better chances you have to be followed by like-minded people . If you have a blog or website than link to it and let others...