Technorati Tags: openpd education technology professionaldevelopment

My eight-year-old sits, painfully crafting every letter of every word. Cursive. Three pages of it.

He looks up, I smile.

"Now you know why I always type. My handwriting is terrible," I tell him, trying not to laugh at his plight.

"I would type it, Dad, but we don't have cursive on our computer."

He continues, "Why do I have to learn cursive anyway, Dad?"

"Why, back in my day," I explain in my best Grandpa imitation, "we practiced cursive until our fingers were bleedin'. And we liked it!"

I laughed.

He didn't.

And now I don't blame him. Because it's four hours later, and I still can't figure out why he will ever need cursive. Ugh.

I'm no longer laughing.

Technorati Tags: 21stCenturySkills cursive education technology

I crafted yet another (hopefully) persuasive email.

Enter Mr. Jones.

Jethro Jones is a teacher in the Jordan School District that is doing absolutely amazing things with his students. Wikis and blogs and Teacher of the Month. If only all teachers were so eager to Pay Attention. If they were, then they to would likely reap the rewards of engaging their students - and parents alike. How many teachers to you know that get feedback like this?

I am very impressed and grateful to you for your efforts on our child's behalf and on our behalf as parents. My husband popped in for lunch just as I had sit down to watch Cam do his presentation, so we got to watch it together, while still being able to be here and complete our jobs and be productive right after he was done. Watching our sons presentation like we were right there without having lost any time traveling etc., was fantastic!

You see, Jethro has taken his teaching to the next level. He's thinking out of the box. He's discovered many new technologies and the resulting opportunities afforded through integrating social software into his curriculum - and he has yet to look back.


Enter Ustream book reports - and a few concerned administrators.

In a fascinating attempt to take book reports to the next level, Jethro has decided to use Ustream to broadcast student reports so that parents can participate - not only in the viewing of the reports, but also in the grading. Brilliant. The explanation he gives to his students' parents is great:

Students will be presenting their book projects and I will be doing a live webcast that you, the parents, can go to. It will be on a password protected website that will be given to those who will be watching their students. I have attached a permission slip that needs to be returned by February 15th. Earlier is of course better. Only parents of my students will be able to watch the videos. You will need a highspeed internet connection to view it. The videos will not be recorded, they will only be broadcast live.

As you are watching the videos, I would like you to grade your student. There will be a rubric that I will post online and email to you later.

Great! But scary, I guess. Or so thought one of our district's administrators.

My phone rings.

"Hi Darren. What can you tell me about Ustream?"

I answer that we use it for Professional Development. It's great for streaming content from your webcam out to an audience on the Internet. Among other things, I also explain that it can be password-protected.

"But if I send that password to five people and each one of them sends it on to another five people... Hmmmm. We really can't control who watches the stream, can we."

"Not really, no. Anyone with the password can watch the broadcast," I answer.

"Hmmmm. We'll need to discuss this further," I'm told - not meaning "we" as in "you and me, Drape" but rather "we" as in "those that make the decisions".

I then asked if he would like me to send him additional information about Ustream. He said "yes, very much so" so I said "Great!".

And so I did. Below is what I sent.


Additional information about Ustream:

• The Ustream website can be found at http://ustream.tv.
• A sample Ustream channel can be found at http://ustream.tv/channel/open-pd.
• Ustream makes it possible (and very easy) to stream any video content from your computer to an audience via the Internet.
• You may password protect your Ustream content - requiring users to enter a password before viewing.
• In a teacher professional development setting, we have used Ustream to connect teachers from all around the world in a classroom setting. See our page here to view past classes.

In my professional opinion:

• Content published by a teacher via Ustream falls under the same guidelines specified in our District's acceptable network use policies as any other online activity - namely policies DP371, AA445, and chiefly policy number D212, II, D (regarding safety):

D. Safety and Privacy of Students, Teachers, and Staff

1. Personal contact information about students, teachers, and staff members must not be published on school or District Web sites. This includes addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, or any other personal information that could be used by unauthorized persons to identify or make personal contact with students, teachers, or staff members.

2. Student names, student photographs, personally identifiable student work, class participation, activities, projects, etc., may be published on school or District Web sites with a signed release from the student's parent or legal guardian. Without a signed release, no personal information about specific students can be used on school or District Web sites. This policy does not apply to student information systems where information about student's attendance, grades, and assignments is accessible using login and password information.

• Thus, it seems to me that if a teacher obtains prior written parental consent, then Ustream use is no different than any other online use.
• To fall within the guidelines of Policy AA445 II B 2 d then the teacher must ensure that student names are not mentioned during the broadcast. Doing such, in my opinion, would eliminate any inherent safety risks.

II B 2 d. Students may not reveal personal information such as names, addresses, telephone numbers, passwords, credit card numbers or social security numbers. Releasing personal information of others or that of organizations associated with the district is prohibited.

• Our current policies are actually quite solid. As long as teachers and students comply with established policies, the students will be safe and the District will be covered.
• Finally, requiring password protection for Ustream (and similar broadcasts involving students) will ensure added security - and should be considered in future policy revisions.

Please let me know how else I might be of assistance, Darren


No good?

• Do you think our district's policies are adequate in ensuring safety?
• How about you and your situation?
• What issues have you seen arise in your schools?
• What have you done to ensure a safe (and still engaging) online environment for your students?

Image Source - Flickr user eschipul

Technorati Tags: ustream policy education technology

Round Two of Open Professional Development ended on a very high note, representative of the entire Round Two experience. In preparation of future OpenPD efforts, I hope to open discussion in what we could do to improve the experience for all parties involved. Remember, the whole purpose in providing an open professional development environment is to encourage participation from educators around the world.

Please consider the following talking points as that: No-holds-barred, let's-make-it-better, feel-free-to-speak-your-mind, talking points.

• What has worked well?
• What hasn't worked well?
• What can we do to encourage other participant sites?
• How can we best address time zone differences?
• Should we work toward asynchronous activities that could be used to ensure participation between various PD classes, regardless of time zone?
• What about curriculum? Robin, Kelly, and I have decided on most of the curriculum - but the whole idea of "open" screams of the requirement to be more open. How can we best involve others in curriculum decisions?

Your participation in this discussion would be greatly appreciated. If you would like to participate in this discussion through posts to your own blog, please tag any related posts as 'improveopenpd'.

Technorati Tags: openpd improveopenpd education technology

In this admittedly limited literature review I explore online social networking and how it might relate to teacher professional development.

• I would very much welcome any feedback you have concerning what I have written.
• I would equally appreciate additional references to related scholarly writing.

Furthermore, I welcome a review of the literature as it might appear from "non-scholarly" sources (i.e. blogs, wikis, etc.) and feel that in this subject area, the online writers will likely do a better job than the peer-reviewed Academics.


Interesting shifts have been taking place recently in relation to the use of computer-assisted professional development, specifically in the form of online social networking in education. MySpace and Facebook are two popular examples of social networking websites, but unfortunately their early reputation – and ofttimes negative publicity – have created a stigma around social networking that the technology itself doesn't deserve (see Hargadon, 2008). The understandable concerns created by these and similar networks have concealed amazing changes that are taking place in educational environments as the tools provided through social networking are being used by teachers and students alike. Nevertheless, as one reviews the academic literature associated with these new technologies and possibilities afforded through online social networks, a dearth of quality research is discovered – suggesting the need for further research in this open field. For as Pohjonen (1997) suggests: “Networking is an important feature of the new learning environments” (p. 372).

Social Networking In General

To begin with, the literature is replete with discussions centered on social networking in general. Mark Newman (2003), for example, discusses the different types of networks, elaborates on the structures of networks in the real world, and even analyzes the history and makeup of social networks (pp. 174-176). Ronald Breiger (2004), Linton Freeman (2004), and John Scott (2000) have all done significant work related to social network analysis. Moreover, Thomas Valente (1995) has furthered the work of Everett Rogers (2003) in treating diffusion tendencies throughout various network models. Thus, social networking on the whole has received generous treatment in the literature and throughout academia.

Newman’s definition of social networks summarizes the direction of most research related to social networking. Take particular note of the lack of references to any online networking.

A social network is a set of people or groups of people with some pattern of contacts or interactions between them. The patterns of friendships between individuals, business relationships between companies, and intermarriages between families are all examples of networks that have been studied in the past. (2003, p. 174)

In spite of the many angles at which researchers have approached social networking, however, very few have studied online networks until recent years – as online social networks have only recently sprung into existence.

An astoundingly high number of studies centered on the topic of online social networking involve youth and their affinity for such online behavior. Equally surprisingly is the relatively high frequency of related research employing qualitative methods. Using a survey methodology, Lenhart and Madden (2007), for example, report that “more than half (55%) of all of online American youths ages 12-17 use an online social networking sites” (p. 1). To continue, Rex Heer (2007) utilized qualitative methods to examine the use of a virtual community environment (orkut.com) to assist first year college students’ social and academic transitions to a large university. And similarly, Heer’s 2005 ethnography of the Friendster service followed a 9-month participant-observation and included interviews, qualitative surveys and focus groups with over 200 Friendster early adopters. Each of these studies has added much to our knowledge of online social networking practices while also bringing unique perspective.

Professional Development In General

The topic of professional development, similarly, is an equally oft-studied subject throughout academia. Among oceans of similar literature are studies done by Robert Fortenberry (1985) and Gary Griffin (1983). Fortenberry, for example, identifies components of effective staff development:

An effective staff development program must attend to substantial issues of teaching and learning, adult development, and organizational processes. Primary is a bi-focused commitment to the principle of individual fulfillment, emphasizing self-realization and professional enrichment on the one hand and an improved pedagogy that promotes student actualization on the other. (p. 432)

While in this explanation Fortenberry does not focus on computer-assisted professional development methods – it was hardly developed in 1985 – the components listed can be easily applied to online settings.

Social Networking In Professional Development

As was stated in the beginning, there have been precious few studies conducted that relate to both teacher professional development and online social networking. Nevertheless, there have been many researchers with efforts leading to such a discussion. The work of Lave and Wenger (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1999), for example, provides a good base for studies related to networked learning in their exploration of what they have termed “communities of practice”. The concept of a community of practice refers to the process of social learning that occurs when people who have a common interest in some subject or problem collaborate over an extended period to share ideas, find solutions, and build innovations. It refers as well to the stable group that is formed from such regular interactions. Lave and Wenger conclude that a “community of practice is an intrinsic condition for the existence of knowledge, not least because it provides the interpretive support necessary for making sense of its heritage” (1991, p. 98). Thus, in order for successful professional development to take place, an effective community of practice must be established, whether that be through online or face to face interaction.

In 2005, Steven Downes elaborated further on the idea of communities of practice and how they had translated into online learning communities.

In the world of e-learning, the closest thing to a social network is a community of practice, articulated and promoted by people such as Etienne Wenger in the 1990s… For the most part, though, what constituted "community" in online learning were artificial and often contrived "discussions" supported by learning management systems. These communities were typically limited to a given group of learners, such as a university class, had a fixed start and end-point, and while substantially better than nothing, rarely approached Wenger's theory. (p. 4)

Downes goes on to admit, however, that as students and teachers continue to use wikis, blogs, and other interactive online tools “a network of interactions forms – much like a social network, and much like Wenger's community of practice” (p. 4, see also Sims & Salter, 2006).

To continue, many current researchers have agreed with Downes’ descriptions of both present and future environments of learning. One particular case in point is that of Bernard Cornu (2004). In his discussion of networking among teachers and learners, Cornu suggests that “collective intelligence” should first be developed for teachers and that “the classroom is the first place where collective intelligence should be addressed, developed and improved” (p. 4). Pettenati and Cigognini (2007) likewise continue on Downes’ work stating that learning trends favor the informal approach afforded by online social networking.

The emerging domain of study of informal e-learning is receiving greater attention because of the widespread of social networking practices and technologies… Social networking is emerging as a highly natural practice because it is deeply rooted in our daily behavior; spontaneous relations, interactions and conversations support informal learning practices, contributing to the creation and transmission of knowledge. In informal learning practices the social behavior and the support of technologies converge toward the “network”; a network made by people and resources, a social network, unified by personal needs or common goals, interaction policies, protocol and rules and telematic systems all together favoring the growth of a sense of belonging to the “net” community. (p. 17)

Hence, because of its natural, informal nature, online social networking has tremendous potential for utilization among teachers worldwide in staff development and other efforts.

In conclusion, as further research is centered on the potential possibilities and pitfalls of incorporating online social networks in learning, we will hopefully gain a better understanding of how such technologies can be utilized to enhance pedagogy. Furthermore, such efforts should provide insight and additional answers to a research question that has gained in importance as educational technologies have evolved: How are online social networks best utilized to enhance teacher professional development?


Breiger, R. (2004). The analysis of social networks. In M. Hardy & A. Bryman (Eds.), Handbook of data analysis (pp. 505-526). London: Sage Publications.

Cornu, B. (2004). Networking and collective intelligence for teachers and learners. In A. Brown & N. Davis (Eds.), Digital technology, communities and education (pp. 40-45). London: Routledge Falmer.

Downes, S. (2005). E-learning 2.0. eLearn magazine (2005, 10), 1-8.

Fortenberry, R. (1985). Successful staff development for effective schools. The journal of negro education (54, 3), 431-437.

Freeman, L. (2004). The development of social network analysis. Vancouver: Empirical Press.

Griffin, G. (1983). Implications of research for staff development programs. The elementary school journal (83, 4), 414-425.

Heer, R. (2007). My space in college: Students use of virtual communities to define their fit in higher education. In C. Crawford et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of society for information technology and teacher education international conference 2007 (pp. 2357-2363). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning. Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.

Lenhart, A. & Madden, M. (2007). Social networking websites and teens: An overview. Retrieved February 9, 2008, from Pew internet and American life project: http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/198/report_display.asp

Newman, M. (2003). The structure and function of complex networks. SIAM Review (56), 167-256.

Pettenati and Cigognini (2007). Social networking theories and tools to support connectivist learning activities. Journal of web based learning and teaching technologies, 17.

Pohjonen, J. (1997). New learning environments as a strategic choice. European journal of education (32, 4), 369-377.

Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). New York: Free Press.

Scott, John. (2000). Social network analysis: A handbook, 2nd Ed. Newberry Park, CA: Sage.

Sims, R. & Salter, D. (2006). Blogging for learning: Integrating social networks for staff development. ascilite.org.au, 775-778.

Wenger, E. (1999). Communities of Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Valente, Thomas. (1995). Network models of the diffusion of innovation. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Technorati Tags: drapespapes socialnetworking professionaldevelopment pd education technology