ED+PLN

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**Calling all Staff Leaders (Principals, Asst. Principals, Master Teachers):**
Are you interested in engaging your teaching staff in a free professional development course over the summer? Do you want to help your teachers find resources and connect with educators worldwide through social media tools?

I am looking for staff leaders that would be interested in having their teaching staff pilot a **free, new** e-course for building a **Professional Learning Network (PLN)**.

Thousands of educators around the world are connecting with each other through social media (Edmodo, Twitter, Ning) and Web 2.0 (RSS Readers, Social Bookmarking) tools. These educators are sharing their expertise, asking for help, looking for ideas and feedback, and learning from others. The teachers that use social media and Web 2.0 tools are participating in professional learning networks.

A Professional Learning Network (PLN) is a teacher-driven, global support network that helps decrease isolation and promotes independence. Teachers that build PLN's are able to get instant access to experts in the field when they need advice or support. They can also use their PLN to stay up-to-date on the latest teaching techniques, pedagogies, and changes in the field of education.

Some of the benefits of a PLN include:
 * Crowdsourcing ("none of us are as smart as all of us")
 * Flexible, practical, and personalized learning (not a one-size-fits-all Professional Development workshop)
 * Find solutions to classroom problems in real-time
 * Global support network (instant access to thousands of educators worldwide)
 * Give and receive help (share your expertise and learn from others)
 * Reduces feeling of isolation

**e-Course Outline**
The goal of the e-course is to connect teachers with resources and educators worldwide so they can get help when they face a challenge in the classroom.

The e-course will provide daily challenges, interactive content, and discussions that will help teachers learn the following skills:
 * **Digital Citizenship** (Information Literacy, Ethics & Privacy on the Internet, Networking & Netiquette)
 * **Professional Learning Network Tools** (RSS Readers, Social Bookmarking, Twitter, Edmodo, and Ning)

Teachers that participate in the e-course will be asked to do the following:
 * Take a 5-minute pre-course survey
 * Participate in class daily at their own time (15-20 minutes Monday-Friday)
 * Take a 5-minute post-course survey

e-Course Details
The e-course will be available mid June and it will last 3-4 weeks.

If you are interested in having your staff pilot the e-course (or if you know of any other principals that may be interested), please email me and I can provide you with more information. I would prefer to have at least 1/4 of the staff members in your school willing to participate. First come, first serve: 1-2 staff leaders for each level (elementary, middle, high school).

Thank you,

Torrey Trust Ph.D. Student Teaching and Learning Department of Education University of California, Santa Barbara ttrust@education.ucsb.edu []