For a long time, I have been kind of snobby about deciding where I can learn. I had made the decision that I could only learn when I am with people who have the same vision for education as I do, and after going to Educon 2.1, I think that this was both reinforced and destroyed. It was reinforced because I was in a room with a whole bunch of people who do share my vision for connected learning and it was wonderful to push the boundaries of my thinking. However, it was completely destroyed because I realized that in saying we have a monopoly on the future of education, we are shutting out nearly every voice that will actually make that future happen.
Today I am sitting in a training for Digital Educators in Douglas County. I started with this group when I was teaching 7th/8th grade and even then I was frustrated by the skill set of my cohort. Now though, with a lot of reflection and some understanding about how we all learn (connected, just-in-time, etc.), I realize that I have just as much to learn in this environment as I do at Educon 2.1. It is my job to hear all of the voices around me and to synthesize it into my own learning environment.
This is my learning network too.
I never understood that before. I always just made it about my online PLN. It is my job (not because it is in my job description, but because it is the way that I will be a better learner) to connect all of my learning network to one another. I need to share what I learn from Twitter with the people I see and the people that I see need to be able to reach my Twitter network. Why has it taken me this long to figure this out?
(I guess this isnât the revelation that I am making it out to be. I have been tweeting about what Iâm learning for a while now and I have been sharing links and resources with my district as well, but I donât know that I ever made it a goal that I would try to create continuity between those two spheres. How have you connected your virtual networks and your real-life networks? How can I do it better?)
