Work samples
My tools
Virtual learning network
Philosophy of education
Bio
Research & Scholarship
Interests
My primary interest is understanding how to be a "lead learner" in a 21st century educational context, be it a classroom or virtual learning environment.
Other interests include: secondary language arts, media and information literacy, multiliteracies, adolescent literacy, digital citizenship, web-based and social media, teacher professional development, mentoring, eMentoring, virtual learning communities and networks and their implications for the induction of new and novice teacher/learners.
Spring 2008 Comprehensive Exam, Projects and Questions
- ePortfolio
This ePortfolio, which I began in the summer of 2007 as a project for IT 575, has grown into a personal web site of sorts. It, along with my blog, ThinkTime, serves as the anchoring node in my virtual learning network. With the exception of some table code "stolen" from Mozilla, I generated all the HTML code for the pages inside a simple text editor on my MacBook. Recent additions to my ePortfolio include a tools page and a revised page featuring my virtual learning network.
- Webinar: Solving Professional Development Challenges
After attending a webinar on solving professional development challenges with "on-demand" learning, I wrote a personal reflection in which I consolidate what was learned from the webinar with what I already knew about online PD. Based on my prior research related to the potential of online PD, I will summarize what prior knowledge was reinforced, what was new learning for me (or new insights), what information was countered (or not consistent) to what I know, and what questions still remain.
- Multiliteracies
I prepared a review of the literature in answer to this question: In what ways can social networking and content creation on the Web be used in classroom practices?
"Using 21st Century Tools to Enhance Mentoring and Induction of New and Novice Teachers," independent inquiry in PDF
Special Topics, TPTE 595, Fall 2007 & Spring 2008
In this report I sought to understand how communities of experienced and novice teachers might enhance their practice through Web 2.0 technologies. I reviewed popular web-based applications, such as Wikispaces, Ning, and Edublogs, with a specific eye toward how these tools might support traditional face-to-face mentoring models. A companion wiki supplements the content of the inquiry with a collection of related links, videos, slideshows, and other web-based artifacts.
"Lurking and Linking: How I Built my Virtual Learning Network," essay in PDF
Supervised Readings, IN TE ED S 594, Summer 2007
This is a narrative essay describing my journey as a teacher/learner using 21st century information and communication technologies to supplement my personal and professional development. The title is borrowed from John Seely Brown who discussed eLearning as a practice involving "linking, lurking, learning and acting or leading" in an interview at LineZine.com. This spawned the development of the "4L Model" for online communities of practice, posted by Dave Lee at the Learning Circuits Blog in 2006. Lee's model provided a much-needed structure around which I organized my reflections on a year spent "playing" with Web 2.0 tools. In my essay I maintain that the terms "lurking, linking, learning, and leading" not only describe the roles and interactions within online communities, but also serve as road markers for individuals as they construct personal virtual learning networks.