0:00:00.089,0:00:04.600 Welcome to the video series explaining some of the basic concepts and tools 0:00:04.600,0:00:06.570 of the aPlaNet project. 0:00:06.570,0:00:08.869 One of the main goals of the project 0:00:08.869,0:00:13.448 is to show teachers how to keep up with[br]that professional development 0:00:13.448,0:00:16.289 through the use of social networks. 0:00:16.289,0:00:21.569 Social networking as a tool for learning[br]is relatively new but today 0:00:21.569,0:00:25.122 hundreds of thousands of educators are connected 0:00:25.122,0:00:28.309 through various social networking sites 0:00:28.309,0:00:31.310 and hundreds are joining everyday. 0:00:31.765,0:00:34.452 What is a social network? 0:00:34.452,0:00:38.648 It's a website which allows you to connect with other[br]users 0:00:39.010,0:00:47.935 and share information, activities, interests, news, phtographs, and ideas or viewpoints. 0:00:47.935,0:00:51.017 Chances are, you already belong to one. 0:00:51.194,0:00:56.388 According to wikipedia, at the time of creating this video, 0:00:56.490,0:01:04.237 46% of the world population belonged to some social network or other. 0:01:04.310,0:01:08.909 But why should we use social networks for professional development? 0:01:09.678,0:01:14.175 How do social networks respond to the way we learn 0:01:14.175,0:01:18.830 and the way we hope to develop as foreign language educators? 0:01:18.830,0:01:23.615 Perhaps the answer lies in social groups theory which tells us 0:01:23.819,0:01:27.260 that people learn best in social groups, 0:01:27.260,0:01:32.130 beginning with the family as the first social unit or group we belong to; 0:01:32.130,0:01:37.097 school later, university, teachers' assosciations. 0:01:37.097,0:01:42.082 This is an idea that was carried forward into the digital age 0:01:42.082,0:01:48.327 and expressed by George Siemens in his theory of connectivism. 0:01:48.346,0:01:51.848 All this points to networked learning 0:01:51.848,0:01:56.210 as a great way to keep up with our[br]professional development 0:01:56.210,0:01:58.584 in a free and autonomous way. 0:01:58.584,0:02:02.450 And this is where social networks can help you. 0:02:02.450,0:02:08.435 Language teachers, always amongst the first to embrace innovative ideas, 0:02:08.435,0:02:11.359 have started using these social networks 0:02:11.359,0:02:14.426 to communicate with colleagues all over[br]the world 0:02:14.426,0:02:21.082 creating their own personal learning networks, PLNs for short, 0:02:21.113,0:02:28.815 exchanging ideas and resources as well as discussing issues of interest to educators, 0:02:28.815,0:02:33.408 putting connectivist theory into their daily lives. 0:02:33.995,0:02:38.221 Let us begin with Facebook, which is perhaps 0:02:38.321,0:02:43.859 the most popular social networking site amongst teachers. 0:02:43.859,0:02:49.156 Many have started using it already to connect with friends and family. 0:02:49.156,0:02:55.107 It's very easy to join and use, and perhaps that's why it's so popular. 0:02:55.459,0:03:02.202 Once you get started, it's very easy to share links, photographs, videos, 0:03:02.208,0:03:06.019 and even documents with your friends. 0:03:06.019,0:03:13.425 You can also join facebook groups created by other teachers, by educational institutions 0:03:13.456,0:03:17.424 or any other group you share a common[br]interest with. 0:03:17.424,0:03:21.339 And of course you can create your own pages and groups 0:03:21.339,0:03:26.442 for your own students or for sharing ideas with your colleagues. 0:03:26.688,0:03:32.875 On Facebook, teachers can join open as well as closed or even secret groups: 0:03:32.875,0:03:39.049 something which is very popular amongst educators who use it with their students. 0:03:39.664,0:03:43.049 One suggestion we would make is that 0:03:43.049,0:03:48.230 if you plan to use Facebook as a teacher for your professional development, 0:03:48.248,0:03:53.577 it is a very good idea to create a separate teacher account 0:03:53.577,0:03:58.370 and keep your personal account only for family and friends 0:03:58.430,0:04:02.083 private and separate from your teacher account. 0:04:03.079,0:04:07.167 Nings are also very popular amongst educators 0:04:07.767,0:04:11.494 especially because they are standalone networks, 0:04:11.494,0:04:17.214 with a very sharp focus on a common goal within each online community. 0:04:17.214,0:04:20.684 Nings are also highly user-friendly. 0:04:21.075,0:04:26.658 They are professional-looking platforms that allow sharing resources 0:04:26.719,0:04:30.777 and organizing online content and events. 0:04:31.100,0:04:37.079 Each Ning is separate and it can be made public or private, 0:04:37.079,0:04:43.300 allowing anyone or just invited individuals access to its content. 0:04:43.320,0:04:47.340 Once you are a member you get your own personal page 0:04:47.340,0:04:52.669 where you can upload documents, photographs and videos, write blog posts, 0:04:52.669,0:04:55.529 organize or participate in events, 0:04:55.529,0:04:57.879 take part in forum discussions 0:04:57.879,0:05:00.830 and easily invite your contacts. 0:05:00.830,0:05:04.777 You can even create special interest groups within the Ning, 0:05:04.807,0:05:08.565 or join existing ones created by colleagues 0:05:08.595,0:05:13.015 and share ideas and content or specific interests with them. 0:05:13.559,0:05:21.559 Last but not least: twitter, a major tool for continuous professional development 0:05:22.052,0:05:26.860 Twitter is excellent for the immediate sharing of[br]ideas and opinions 0:05:26.860,0:05:30.639 as well as links to interesting resources. 0:05:30.639,0:05:38.581 Since it's only allows you 140 characters per tweet, as status updates are called, 0:05:39.229,0:05:43.028 what you write has to be brief and to the point. 0:05:43.189,0:05:46.926 This is what makes it ideal for the busy professional. 0:05:46.926,0:05:53.585 You can ask your colleagues a brief question and get a dozen answers within minutes. 0:05:53.634,0:05:57.320 Many users follow twitter in their browser 0:05:57.320,0:06:01.110 and you can also follow it on your[br]mobile phone 0:06:01.110,0:06:04.289 but by using an application like tweetdeck 0:06:04.289,0:06:08.119 you can easily monitor different threads of discussion 0:06:08.119,0:06:10.449 usually beginning with the hashtag. 0:06:10.449,0:06:12.569 You can check your direct messages 0:06:12.569,0:06:19.412 and even share photographs, videos and documents with just a couple of clicks. 0:06:19.445,0:06:22.745 All you have to do is find teachers to follow - 0:06:23.207,0:06:29.860 something which will be an important focus of the mentoring process of the aPlaNet project. 0:06:30.389,0:06:35.534 Through participating in one or more of these social networks, 0:06:35.534,0:06:42.562 you will be able to learn when and where free online events are happening, 0:06:42.588,0:06:49.702 access useful links on language teaching, find great resources for your lessons 0:06:49.719,0:06:52.389 which are tweeted around the clock, 0:06:52.389,0:06:57.146 follow blog posts written by teachers for teachers 0:06:57.219,0:07:03.014 connect with inspiring and passionate educators who are keen on sharing, 0:07:03.619,0:07:07.434 find out about the latest web tools, 0:07:07.849,0:07:10.740 make your lessons more motivating, 0:07:10.740,0:07:14.918 connect your classes with students from around the world, 0:07:15.550,0:07:20.139 manage your professional development in an autonomous way. 0:07:20.555,0:07:24.430 To be in charge of your and professional[br]development 0:07:24.430,0:07:31.051 is the major goal of aPlaNet, an EU-funded project whose ambition 0:07:31.110,0:07:39.162 is to give you the tools and knowledge to participate in all these exciting and informative conversations, 0:07:39.662,0:07:43.339 in order to become a connected teacher 0:07:43.339,0:07:49.830 It is up to each individual teacher to decide whether to use 1, 2 0:07:49.830,0:07:53.286 or all these social networking tools, 0:07:53.802,0:07:59.129 exercising choice and autonomy in their own development. 0:07:59.129,0:08:06.538 You can find more information about all three social networks in our teacher guide 0:08:06.777,0:08:12.851 as well as through joining our Ning and connecting with a mentor 0:08:12.907,0:08:18.012 who will help and guide you on hpw to use each tool. 0:08:18.159,0:08:21.099 both for your own professional development 0:08:21.099,0:08:27.001 as well as a teaching tool with your own foreign language students. 0:08:28.069,0:08:35.852 Thank you very much for listening and we[br]look forward to meeting you in the aPlaNet Ning.