TheMarsh

Note: If you would like to contribute to this wikispace's content/pages and need assistance contact Jack Barrett (AHS/DCHS), Catherine Shelton (AHS), or Jennifer Higdon (DCHS).
==Hello! Welcome to TheMarsh - Where Eagles and Panthers live and learn! A freshwater marsh is a biome, or habitat, where both eagles and panthers thrive. This wikispace is a collaborative effort among the staff developers and tech integration specialists at all of the DCPS high schools to promote the sharing of resources amongst the faculty of the schools.==



==This wikispace is meant to be a first stop for professional development and technology integration resources for DCPS high school educators. This wikispace is meant to encourage educators to begin to develop a PLN (personal learning network), defined as==

> n. – the entire collection of people with whom you engage and exchange information, usually online. > ===**As teachers explore the articles and resources found here, we hope they are encouraged to interact with colleagues, experts in their field, and master teachers online. Online learning is easy, much of it is free, and it is a great source for 21st century professional development opportunities. A true PLN allows users to connect with others around the globe and has limitless opportunities for growth.**===

At this link, The Innovative Educator shares five useful tips for building a PLN:
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Below is a chart that illustrates the various online formats one may choose to include in the building of a Professional Learning Network:
(see this video ‘ [|RSS in Plain English] ’)  ||   [|Netvibes], ( [|My Netvibes] ), [|PageFlakes] , [|Google Reader]   ||
 * ** Category ** ||  ** Value **  ||  ** Examples and Guides **  ||
 * Social Networking ||  Keeping up with personal, more social contacts like friends, family, and former students  ||   [|Facebook], [|Myspace]   ||
 * Microblogging ||  Populated with educators from around the world who share best practices and resources in short bursts  ||   [|Twitter], [|My guide to Twitter] , [|Plurk] , [|Utterli]   ||
 * Professional Profiles ||  Find other professionals and experts in your field  ||   [|LinkedIn], [|Brightfuse]   ||
 * Wikis ||  Community-monitored sites that can function as websites or for group organization and projects  ||   Wikispaces, [|pbwiki] , [|wetpaint]   ||
 * Blogs ||  Great sources of information such as classroom best practices as well as personal opinions; Blogs monitor the heartbeat of new trends in education and the commenting back and forth leads to many great ideas and relationships  ||   [|WordPress], (check out my ‘Blogroll’ to the right – they’re my favorites), [|Blogger] , [|Typepad] , [|Alltop] – top blog headlines by subject, [|Technorati] – a blog search engine  ||
 * RSS Reader ||   RSS means “Real Simple Syndication” – an RSS reader is a tool that allows you to keep up with many of your favorite blogs, all in once place
 * Nings ||  Communities of people interested in similar topics, with forums and messaging  ||   [|Classroom 2.0], [|Future of Education] , [|Ning]   ||
 * Social Bookmarking ||  Share bookmarks with others, see what others are bookmarking; you can join groups and get email updates on new bookmarks  ||   [|Diigo], [|Diigo Groups] , [|Delicious]   ||
 * Webinars ||  Live, on-line presentations or conferences, with real-time chat, hosted by experts on specific topics; Great way to learn about new things and to meet new people  ||   [|Classroom 2.0 Live!], [|EdTechTalk Live] , [|Elluminate] – host your own!, [|Dim Dim]   ||
 * Backchanneling of conferences ||  When there are neat (and expensive) conferences that you can’t attend, follow conversations and links about the highlights  ||   [|Twitter search] – use acronyms like ‘NECC’ or ‘SXSWi’  ||