Saturday, November 16, 2013

For EDU5506EA FA13 PLU Requirement

Synopsis: My action plan for the remainder of the 2013 - 2014 school year is to use this blog as "homebase" for providing training, assistance, tips and tricks for creating and growing Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) for educators in the Cullman City Schools System.

Web 2.0 tools (blogs, wikis, Twitter, podcasts, etc) will be used for these PLNs.  Information about the use of these tools as a vehicle for growing a PLN will be presented here.  Invitations to receive assistance and/or training in one-on-one, small group or whole group settings will be issued through this blog, system emails, and face-to-face meetings.

Please read my previous post for more information about this PLN initiative.



ACTION PLAN     Sharon Drake

GENERAL INFORMATION                                                               
Name of Organization: Cullman City Schools 

Project Title: Personal and Professional Growth Through a Personal Learning Network (PLN)

Project Location: Cullman City Schools, Cullman, Alabama 

Contact Person: Sharon Drake 

Contact Information: Cullman City Schools
          301 1st St NE #100
          Cullman, Alabama 35055
          256.736.3659
          sdrake@cullmancats.net

Project Timeline:  November 20, 2013 - May 20, 2014

Amount Required: $0 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: 
Educators in the Cullman City School System will be provided with an opportunity to create or further develop a Personal Learning Network that will allow them to be deliberate and focused in using Web 2.0 tools to connect and share with others to grow personally and professionally.

PROBLEM STATEMENT: 
Working through the massive amount of information (and the incredible number of resources for accessing that information) can be overwhelming and time consuming.  Educators often feel overwhelmed when trying to weed through information/resources that help them grow professionally. Educators need guidance in using Web 2.0 tools to create a Personal Learning Network that is deliberate and focused on their specific professional learning needs and interests. 

PROJECT OBJECTIVES: 
The Blog “12 Other Ways” will be used to provide assistance, information, training, and resources for using Web 2.0 tools to create and refine a PLN.  

By May, 2014 a minimum of 10 educators will use the blog to gain information for creating and/or refining their PLN.

Page views, comments, follow-up email contact, Google Calendar and documentation from face-to-face meetings will be used to measure success. 
In addition, those involved will be surveyed to determine the efficiency of a refined PLN and whether that positively impacts the use of the educators time.

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN: 
Once time per week, new entries will be posted on the “12 Other Ways” blog site.  These entries will include instruction, tutorials, examples, etc. of the various Web 2.0 tools and how they can be used within a PLN.  When appropriate the specific tool will be used/embedded within the blog (i.e., podcast).  

The blog posts are automatically posted to Sharon Drake’s Google + feed, which is accessible by all employees within Cullman City Schools.  

Follow-up emails will be sent to educators and messages will be posted to members of Mrs. Drake’s Google+ Circles encouraging them to take advantage of invitations for individual, small group or whole group training on specific Web 2.0 tools and how they can be used to improve a PLN. 

PROJECT MONITORING AND EVALUATION: 
Blog post page views, comments, follow-up email contact, Google Calendar posts and documentation from individual, small group or whole group meetings will be used to measure success. 

In addition, those involved will be surveyed to determine the efficiency of a refined PLN and whether that positively impacts the use of the educators time.

DOCUMENTATION AND SHARING RESULTS : 
Progress of this action plan will be posted to the “12 Other Ways” blog site. Mrs. Drake will blog and others will be encouraged to post their own personal results with their PLN.

PROJECT BUDGET: 
Total cost - $0


4 comments:

  1. Sharon, Great Post! I like the format. From reading over it, you have a very good plan. Do you have to get approval from anyone above you to implement your plan or is it up to you only?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am fortunate that, through my position as technology integration assistant with my school system, I have the ability to initiate this action plan because it focuses on teachers/administrators and opportunities that [facilitate and improve the use of telecommunications networks (phone/Internet/email) among educators, students, and parents/community to improve learning.]

      The previous bracketed statement comes from the accountability section of the AdvancEd, system-wide technology plan.

      Delete
  2. Your project sounds wonderful. It reminds me of the saying, "Watch one, do one, teach one." Taking what you have learned back and offering training in the use of these Web 2.0 tools is great. I like that you have posts automatically sent to your Google+ feed and that you will include email follow up. I wish you the best of luck, and I hope to hear in the spring how it has gone.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sharon, This sounds like a great opportunity that I would like to try! Please add me to the list. I think this will be a very useful resource as I begin using Google Apps for Education in the classroom. Thanks for creating it! I am enjoying your new blog too!

    ReplyDelete