Maxim: “Give Me a Unit I’ll Learn for a Day…”
Monday, 14 January 2008 Clay Burell 
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Give me a schooly unit, I’ll make an ‘A’ for a day. Teach me how to make a Personal Learning Network, I’ll learn for a lifetime.
–from a comment I left on David Warlick’s riff off my podcast conversation with Chris Craft yesterday. Exciting times.
- Give Tuna a Subscribe: She’s a Natural Student Blogger
- Open Lesson to Students Everywhere: This is Real Learning, Quick-in, Quick-out
- Beyond Global Collaborative “Units,” on to Real PLN’s: Podcast with Chris Craft
- “Quick In, Quick Out” Podcast: PLN Class Design Discussion with Cleveland, Maryland, NYC, Qatar, and Seoul
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No. 1 — January 14th, 2008 at 4:43 am
This quote really struck a chord with me. I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the idea of a PLN in the classroom and what that means, and how and why it might be done. This focused me back upon a key goal I hope to achieve in my classroom:
While learning specific content using a PLN is good, the specific content is just a sideshow. The main event is teaching students how to effectively and efficiently access, analyze, and create new information without my intervention.
I’m going to have to do some more thinking on this one. I’m off for a run, and I’m glad I now have some things to keep my mind busy during that time.
Ben Wildeboer’s last blog post..The New Endeavor
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No. 2 — January 14th, 2008 at 5:48 am
Thanks, Clay. I am grabbing this one for a preso I am doing on Thursday.
Patrick’s last blog post..Two Questions from Dr. Tim Tyson
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No. 3 — January 14th, 2008 at 6:08 am
@Ben: You and I are wrestling with the same question, it seems: How to balance content (“testable”) knowledge-teaching with teaching how to find your own learning pathway. We have to fine-tune this to address specific age-levels, don’t we? I say the older they get, and the more grounded in basic skills, the more we steer them into open, self-directed learning.
@Patrick: I owe you so many for stuff from your own blog, it’s a pleasure to reciprocate.
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No. 4 — January 16th, 2008 at 6:58 am
It seems now, more than ever, we need PLNs to “push” useful information to us. With the constant demand on our time, we are less able to walk across campus to get something or chat with a learned colleague. I’ve found that a lot of the best stuff that comes onto my radar screen these days is due to someone in my PLN sending it to me. Clay’s blog is a good example of this. I might have never bumped into it had a colleague not sent me a link to a post. What’s good for students is also good for teachers (which then helps students…)
Bill Farren’s last blog post..Circles Not Lines
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