PLN: eLearning Take-aways

My eLearning course is coming to an end, and it is a little nerve-racking because I am going to be on my own to continue learning and growing my PLN. However, the awesome group of educators I've communicated with over the past 6 weeks have given me ideas and confidence to forge ahead. I thank each and everyone of them for allowing me to look over their shoulders.

My take-aways from this course have to include podcasting using Audioboo. This tool has impacted me the most because I immediately saw quick and easy ways to fit it into communications with faculty and parents. I have been given the duty of keeping our school webpage up-to-date so I hope adding podcasts will quickly become a habit for me.

Another take-away is to keep blogging. I started my blog last year after attending an AETC session in Birmingham led by Dr. Frank Buck (@DrFrankBuck on Twitter and http://www.frankbuck.org/blog/) but as the school year started the blog slid off my To-Do list to make room for activities I felt were more important. Now I realize I must take time to reflect on events, activities, strategies, etc. and I do this best when I write. I have published several posts this summer--both professional and personal matters--to represent time spent away from school. It has been inspiring to tweet links to my blog and get feedback from my extended PLN.

MY PLN has grown from being just my faculty and admin team plus a few educators I followed on Twitter to now over 100 I'm following and 50 that are following me. More than this, the information I have gained has grown exponentially. I plan to continue growing my learning network by blogging about relevant education issues and then tweeting the links to targeted audiences using hashtags. I have found more people to follow by doing this and they follow me, too. I hope to contribute to encourage my principal to use these tools as she sees my tweets, podcasts, and blog entries.

For my course mates, here is my action plan for using 2.0 tools this year in school:

GENERAL INFORMATION
1. Name of Organization: Kitty Stone Elementary
2. Project Title: Growing & Modeling My PLN
3. Project Location: Jacksonville, AL
4. Contact Person: Rhonda Tinker
5. Contact Information: 115 College Street SW, Jacksonville, AL 256-782-5191
rtinker@jcsboe.org
6. Project Timeline: 2014-15 school year
7. Amount Required: None
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Provide a brief overview and summary of the project. It should provide a credible statement that describes your organization and establish the significance of the project
In my elementary school of approximately 825 students, communication is not always clear or timely in nature. The faculty has assumed our communications to stakeholders are adequate but through this eLearning course I have realized we fall short of communicating in the preferred ways of our parents/families. Using Web 2.0 tools will allow families and community to get information in a much more timely fashion.
PROBLEM STATEMENT:
State the challenges identified, the rationale/need to address these challenges and the conditions to be changed by the project
The main challenge of this project will be my dedication to continue using these 2.0 tools in a variety of communications. Since these tools are still relatively new to me I must remain diligent so I will not fall back on more familiar, comfortable means of communicating. By modeling podcasts, tweets, and blog posts in my communications with teachers I hope to change their methods of communicating with students and parents.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES:
The objectives should describe the intended outcome of the project and should be SMART (Simple, Measurable, Accurate, Realistic and Time Bound)
During the 2014-15 school year I will use Web 2.0 tools, podcasting, tweeting, and blogging to communicate with teachers, students, and parents. My actions will:

1.    provide timely information to school and community stakeholders,

2.    model for teachers how these tools can be used, and

3.    encourage stakeholders to engage in events/activities of the school.

I plan to post podcasts on the school website and also provide links to my blog when there is a post of importance to students and parents. I will tweet links to the school website and/or my blog to point stakeholders to the information of interest to them.
Indicate how the objectives will contribute to the achievement of the project, what difference the project will make and the time frame during which this will happen.
By the end of the school year I will poll teachers to find out their opinions about my communications and also how many of them used these same 2.0 tools in their communications with students/parents. Gathering this data will help me evaluate the effectiveness of this project.
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN:
Describe the project activities indicating how the objectives will be accomplished, what will be done, who will do it, who are the implementers, partners and beneficiaries and when it will be done. Describe how the project will be sustainable after the funding period.

1.    Several “Back to School” podcasts will be posted by me on the school website to give students and parents information/reminders to begin the year smoothly.

2.    I will post my facebook, twitter, and blog information during the first faculty meeting and request teachers to follow me on each one, as well as send me their info so I can do the same for them. I will explain I will be using these means throughout the year to improve communication.

3.    I will create a weekly or bi-weekly podcast to teachers which will include timely information of upcoming events, reminders, etc. These podcasts will be tweeted, emailed, and/or embedded in my blog to ensure all faculty members receive them.

4.    Any items with more details will be posted on my blog so teachers. Students, or parents will have a complete picture of a topic.

PROJECT MONITORING AND EVALUATION:
Describe how you are going to monitor and evaluate the project so as to assess progress during implementation and improve the project efficiency as the project moves along.
Comments will always be encouraged so stakeholders will have input throughout the school year. This will help me tweak my practices to more accurately meet their needs. Also, I will poll teachers at the end of the year (as mentioned above) and survey the other stakeholders by posting/tweeting a SurveyMonkey link.
DOCUMENTATION AND SHARING RESULTS :
Describe how you are going to document the progress of your project during and after implementation. State how you will document and share your results and let others know of your purpose, methods and achievements.
The comments stakeholders share will serve as documentation during the project. I will also elicit informal feedback from teachers. At the conclusion of the project the poll and survey will provide the documentation I need. I plan to share my results with teachers at the end of the school year faculty meeting. This may include asking any teachers who began using the same tool(s) to share their results as well.

PROJECT BUDGET: No Cost.