We all know the value of a PLN - we all have our own individual one now. We also have it informally at school when you run down the hall and ask a quick question.
However, at my school, I think people are starting to recognize that some of us who have a fantastic PLN are further ahead of the rest. They just know we are ahead. They really don't get the PLN.
Though they do not recognize the little bit of time that blogging takes can yield such huge rewards, I at least have the attention of the CFF coach. She is excited about my recommendation that instead of publishing a newsletter to show all the cool tools I know, websites, tips, etc. that we should create a group blog (thanks Claire for this recommendation).
I offered to manage it and bring people in. So here is the question:
How do you get them in? I know, put cool stuff in, get them a reader, teach rss, build it and they will come...
What other tips can you suggest for lighting that fire and changing the world (okay, our school, but you get it!)
I look forward to any responses. I really want to make a change.
Tag: comment08
Louise,
ReplyDeleteGreat questions, and ones I struggled with mightily last year and this year. I can't give you the magic bullet, here, because I didn't have one; some things worked for some, others didn't see value in it.
I think that is the key: value. What are you going to show them or teach them that will add value to THEIR lives or THEIR classrooms? That is the angle that worked best for me. Showing teachers my RSS reader did little to get them on board; however, showing them how I can use a del.icio.us tag search and the RSS feature to get consistent resources delivered to them with little or no effort, did.
Hope this helps.
Louise, I'm struggling with this too. I'm doing a full day hands on 'Blogging 101' session during summer Pro-D this year. I want to get people to sign up for Google Reader, give them some blogs to start reading (and hopefully commenting on), and get them to set up their own blogs on Blogger. But how to show them the real power of the network? I'm not sure. Perhaps if I could get some network friends to drop in via Skype and share some insights? I know that it took me a while to start to see how powerful a PLN can be. Maybe it just takes time? Best of luck!
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