Becoming a Connected Educator

Overview of Challenge 1

This 5-week challenge required me to develop a Personal Learning Network (PLN) that is fostered through regular and meaningful connections and contributions with educators through Twitter and a personal blog that show evidence of digital citizenship. This challenge started by exploring Twitter. I made a Twitter profile, followed some educators, and explored hashtags! We were asked to participate in multiple Twitter chats during this challenge. I had no clue what a Twitter chat was, so some learning needed to take place! Essentially, a Twitter chat is a way for people to have real time discussions and debates, while sharing ideas, resources, links, and videos with each other. Twitter chats have a designated meeting time each week, and they are identified by their hashtag. For example, I participated in the #21stedchat Twitter chats. From the Twitter chats I was participating in, and through my own research, I was asked to start curating resources in Pearltrees. Pearltrees is an online curation tool that allows you to create multiple different ‘collections’ to organize resources found online. You can also connect with other users on Pearltrees, and view their collections as well.

You can learn more about my reflections on Challenge 1 in this blog post, and you can check out the video below!

Standards Met

1. Promote and model digital citizenship. (ISTE Teacher Standard 4)
2. Engage in professional growth and leadership. (ISTE Teacher Standard 5)