Wednesday 16 January 2013

Dean Shareski SHARES All!


Dean Shareski presented a topic today in my Internet for Educators class about the "Confessions of a Networked Learner."  I was fortunate enough to listen to Dean last year when our class was invited to listen to his presentation, (in which he was presenting to this particular class last spring) and it really hit home.   Last year he spoke to us about sharing and how important it is to create a sharing network between people.  Sharing not only encourages yourself to think critically about topics and issues, but encourages and supports others throughout their learning and understanding.

Today, Dean presented on how he developed his personal learning network and how he came about being so knowledgeable in networked learning.  He has a very interesting and knowledgeable blog and is an avid tweeter!  Dean talked about how technology is always changing and it is hard to be "good" at current technology since it changes daily.  Once a person has learned something new with the iPads, the next day an update is made and they have to  learn new tools and tricks.  

Dean spoke about the three lessons he's learned around the notion of network learning.  First he stated to think differently about literacy.  Students need to learn to use media and stories to develop their literacy.  Secondly, teachers are everywhere.  This statement means that you can learn from anybody, even a 10 year old boy who posts youtube clips on "how to use an iPad" and the video has over a million hits!  Finally, Dean is passionate about the third lesson to be learned with networked learning and this is, you are what you share. Any contribution is valuable.  It may not seem valuable to you at the time, but to others it may be amazing to someone else.  The education profession is all about sharing  and he emphasizes that the time you put into a lesson or a piece of work will feel like nothing if it is shared with everyone in the world.

To follow Dean's Blog click here: Ideas and Thoughts by Dean Shareski 
Follow Dean on Twitter! @shareski 
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3 comments:

  1. Unknown16 January 2013 at 10:12

    I like how he stated that anyone can be a educator. How even a video of someone showing people how to change a lightbulb is educating. It's even empowering to people. It may make someone feel really good to know that they have helped someone , somehow, by just posting a video about a few guitar chords. It is just amazing how uplifting that can be for someone.

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  2. Erin Duchart20 January 2013 at 16:18

    I too really like how Dean emphasized that we can learn from anyone. This is really important for me, and I think educators in general. I know that there will be times (probably many) that I will rely on the students in my class to teach and guide me in the world of technology. They may not (or maybe they will) teach me directly how to use technology, but I know that I will be learning about new technology concepts from them on a daily basis. They will be the driving force behind me learning new and different ways to use technology so that I can relate easier to them and their learning styles. I believe that educators need to be open to learning from anyone in any environment in order to successfuly educate the students we have in our classrooms.

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  3. Unknown21 January 2013 at 18:41

    I think your point about the futility of trying to know it all when it comes to technology is very important. If we can become learners of technology we can ride the wave of progress and help our students learn with technology too.

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