Educators Connecting Online

At a meeting recently, a colleague crinkled her nose at the thought of collaborating and PD online.  I smiled and agreed to disagree on that point, but thought to myself that I too, not too long ago, shunned the void-of-personal-connection-online-learning world.  Yet, for me, this has been perhaps my BIGGEST PD year.....and I have my Twitter/Facebook/TwoWritingTeacher/NerdyBookClub world to thank for all the time I have spent online and in learning! 

This article, about this subject, popped up the other morning The cost of being a collaborative, connected educator. 
http://tomwhitby.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/the-cost-of-being-a-collaborative-connected-educator/

 

I felt like Whitby was talking to me as he said, "Although sharing is the key element to collaboration there is more to it than just that. Feedback is important for additions and subtractions for improving ideas. If one is to be a successful collaborator then responding in some way to other educators becomes essential. Without responding, there is no collaboration."

Whitby suggests that educational sharing should include:

• specific information pertaining to your field of endeavor
• general information pertaining to education, methodology
• links to websites, articles
• blog posts, videos, podcasts
• tweets
• successes in the classroom

Then he wraps up the article by saying, "Collectively we are all smarter than we are individually. Our common core would be developed by the connection and collaboration of educators.

I agree!