1. Professional Development and Network Comparison by Julia Evans Lamar University EDLD 5362 Week 2

2. Professional Background and Goals Professional Background: – B.A. in Journalism with a Minor in English Literature, University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) – Alternative certification program completed through UTEP – Currently a second grade monolingual inclusion and Class Within a Class (CWC) teacher at Escontrias Elementary in the Socorro Independent School District – 3 years of teaching experience Goals: – Completing a DATE Grant study on the benefits of utilizing technology to promote reading skills in non and emergent readers.

3. Socorro I.S.D.’s Goals Socorro I.S.D. encourages have every teacher to be proficient in current district technology hardware and software. – Teachers are encouraged to take various technology workshops offered throughout the school year and summer. – In-service training s offered throughout the school year allows teachers the opportunity to learn new and current software applications that are available in the classrooms. – Campus Tech Pilots are available during the teacher’s conference times or after school to offer additional teacher training when requested or needed.

4. Network Choice #1 Moodle http://imoodle.ning.com/ Moodle is a Ning professional networking group that is a Learning Management System (LMS). “Technically, Moodle is a CMS or content management system for teachers. It is also referred to as a VLE or virtual learning environment” (Imoodle, 2012). The purpose of Moodle is to allow teachers to create and manage courses. They may invite students to participate in courses. This site also utilizes discussion groups in which users discuss content specific topics, the ability to integrate technology in the classroom, share ideas, pose solutions to problems encountered in the classroom, and most importantly to learn from other users.

5. Moodle Professional Reasons: – Our campus has been looking to methods of providing distance learning for our gifted and talented (GT) students as well as for our home-bound students. – Moodle also provides teachers with an avenue to share ideas with each other to enrich our students’ education.

6. Why Use Moodle? The Top Ten Reasons to Use Moodle Moodle is: 1.Free 2.User Friendly 3.Intuitive 4.Full of features 5.Pedagogy equipped 6.Student centered 7.Provides instant feedback 8.Integrated 9.Multi-functional 10.Interactive (Watchon, 2008)

7. Network Choice #2 Classroom 2.0 Classroom 2.0 http://www.classroom20.com/ Classroom 2.0 is for those people interested in Web 2.0, Social Media, and Participative Technologies in the classroom. The website provides discussion boards to share ideas, receive event notifications, and to find and connect with colleagues. Classroom 2.0 has over 65,000 members from 188 countries. The site is a free community-supported network. To avoid the spammers, all memberships are approved by the webmaster. (Classroom 2.0, 2012)

8. Classroom 2.0 Classroom 2.0 is a learning group that focused on the use of social media in the classroom. – My course work is designed to reflect the students need for social interaction in the learning environment.

9. Why Should We Focus on Social Media? “It is also important to keep in mind that as students read and write with greater frequency when they are on social networks, this can have positive impacts on their literacy skills” (Lenhart, 2008). Students need to learn how to communicate appropriately. By incorporating social media in the classroom students are learning much needed communication skills as well as improving their literacy skills.

10. Why Should We Focus on Social Media? Cont. “Social media tools have dramatically improved communication among professionals in education. This has occurred in the form of intense dialog through blog comment streams, as contributions to virtual gatherings like #lrnchat on Twitter, or via closed and tightly managed spaces such as Glow, the Scottish national intranet for schools that includes social media-like functionality” (Osborne, 2012).

11. Summary Networks provide a learning opportunities for educators and students. Networks provide education opportunities on new applications to utilize within the classroom setting. Networks allow educators to learn via social interaction with other educators. Networks allow lesson extensions for classroom students and home-bound students.

12. Resources Classroom 2.0. (2012). Retrieved April 21, 2012, from http://www.classroom20.com/ http://www.classroom20.com/ Imoodle. (2012), Retrieved April 21, 2012, from http://imoodle.ning.com/ http://imoodle.ning.com/ Lenhart, A. (2008). Writing, technology and teens. Pew Internet and American Life Project. Retrieved on April 21, 2012 from http://www.pewinternet.org/Experts/Amanda- Lenhart.aspx?start=41&x=x Osborne, N. (2012, Jan. 10). Using social media in education, Part 2: Tools, support, and technical issues, message posted to http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/industry/library/ind-educ- social-media2/index.html?ca=drs- Watchon, Chris. (2008, June 12). 10 reasons why you should use moodle (my personal thoughts on content management system), message posted to http://chriswatchon.blogspot.com/2007/08/ 10-reasons- why-you-should-use-moodlemy.html