Key Activities
1. Investigate some of the following resources
-
Australia Series. Read about the Australia series here. -
TED Talks. Here is a list of recommended TED Talks for teachers. -
FUSE professional learning links 
The State Library of Victoria’s Programs and Events
TL Virtual Cafe. Read about the TL Virtual Cafe here.
2. Select one or two Australia Series, TL Virtual Cafe and/or TED sessions and ‘attend’ them this week. As learners, we are observers first. Once we feel more comfortable, we then participate and/or contribute.
3. Write a blog post about the sessions. Have you ‘attended’ any of these professional learning activities before? What did the session/s focus on?
4. How can these tools contribute to your PLN?
5. How could you use these tools to enhance teaching and learning? Can you provide examples of how they could be used?
6. 
Elluminate session on Professional Learning on Thursday 12th August featuring Anne Mirtschin. The link will be available in the Ning.
Extension activities
7. Investigate some or all of the following tools:
#edchat and #tlchat. Shelly Terrell explains what Edchat is all about and Joyce Valenza shares her ideas on #tlchat.
Elluminate webinars. Steve Hargadon’s website lists free and live webinars for educators (beware that many, but not all events are in US time zones, however you may find something that suits). These are excellent.-
Edtechcrew podcasts sessions that focus on using technology in education. These guys are Victorian, so most of the sessions will be relevant to the VicPLN group. You can subscribe to podcasts via your iTunes account (if you have one).
8. Are any of these of use to developing your PLN or enhancing teaching and learning? Were you surprised by the offerings of any of these sites? Can you explain your answer? Please rank your top ‘professional learning’ tool that you have experienced this week?
9. 
Read about the Professional Learning resources available from the State Library of Victoria. Which resources could you or your colleagues make use of?
Checked out the resources above. Joined Learn Central and loved the Viktor Frankl: Why to believe in others on TED Talks. Aim high and you will reach your potential”.
Thanks for including the Ed Tech Crew in your resources. We try to give an Aussie perspective on ICT in Education.
Cheers
Darrel
Attended the Web 2.0 and Humanities PD at the State Library on 18 May. Excellent hands-on session, from which a Year 9 Migration project was born. The Booktalkers evening on 25 May featured Dirsty Murray, David Levithan, Carole Wilkinson and Craig Schifton. I’ll be attending a talk by three interior architects on 22 July, so it’s great to know that the SLV hosts events for the general public, as well as educational professionals.
Love some of the ideas for using iPods/phones in classroom – too often we throw out potentially fantastic tools because of the possible issues that may arise, rather than tackling ways of dealing with the issues, thereby developing an educational experience that is rich, meaningful, relevant and also provides best practise in real world application.
Sorry – forgot to give URL for iPods classroom – http://web.me.com/jenashby/iPodTouch_Project/Blog/Blog.html
Thanks for the link Colin, I have linked to it. Going to comment on my use of podcasts in the classroom in my blog tomorrow. At present its all just go go go sorting out twitter groups and learning about the ning potential!
I found the elluminate session really insightful. Have used skype with a class to discuss celebrationsin different countries. Although it did take a long time for the students to get passed waving at the webcam!
Checked out the resources above.
I am intending to use Skype for my Lote students to communicate with native speakers in order to enhance their oral skills.
My LOTE students will enjoy using Skype. I have to now get it up and running.
I’m certainly agreeing that we are observers/listeners first. Once I feel more confident and comfortable then I’m sure to feel that I have something to contribute. The TED programs and other conference type programs can certainly add to the learning experience. I had some initial connection problems with the Elluminate sessions in this PLN. It was unfortunate for me that all the sessions were on Thursdays- but at least I was able to listen to the program afterwards.
Many thanks