I didn’t have to go to Jamie’s session, I wanted to go – and I’m glad I did. 

Jamie presented on the Open Professional Development (OpenPD) model that we were able to start working with last year. 

His goal for this session was to create a community in Texas where we can pool our resources, and compensate for the cuts in our travel and professional development budgets in Texas.  We can use free tools to provide PD, and collaborate/learn from people beyond our local districts.

Robin Ellis from Quakertown, PA and Darren Draper from Sandy Point , UT; the developers of the OpenPD Wiki Collaboration contributed to the session via VoiceThread and Skype.

The session was broadcasted using Ustream and ManyCam and embedded into Jamie’s wiki:  magnoliatech.wikispaces.com.

People can participate in this type of professional development either from home or school.  This allows everyone to receive training that may not be available in their own district.

One of the most powerful things about this type of PD is the connections that participants around the globe. Teachers that meet in these sessions have begun to collaborate in other projects involving their students as well.

ManyCam allows you to switch back and forth between your desktop and webcam.   Ustream and the wiki worked really well for allowing as many people as you want to participate. These aren’t the only services available, but these are the ones that we have used for the PD sessions. You don’t have to stick with one tool.

PD can be done in Second Life also. It used to be limited to text (which really didn’t seem to hold anyone back), but now that it is voice enabled it can be even more. Folks can meet and have opportunities to collaborate with colleagues around the globe. This also is a good way to participate in free professional development from you own home.

Great session, and a lot more people showed up than Jamie expected to see.

Take it from a long-term social networking hold-out, Twitter has proven to be the most powerful tool for professional development I have ever experienced.   Social Networking for the sake of socializing seemed to be a waste of my precious non-working minutes.  However, blog posts such as this Edutopia piece, “Twittering, Not Frittering: Professional Development in 140 Characters”  really helped dispel my concerns about wasting my time on the application.  

My first order of business after creating my personal profile, was to begin searching for folks to learn from.  I began by following the folks I met at NECC08 who already use Twitter as a tool for professional development and collaboration.  Then I looked at the folks they were following and added many of them.  Durff’s Blog gives some common sense guidance on making good “follower” decisions. Within minutes of engaging in the conversation, I had bookmarked at least 15 links to applications that would have an immediate and direct impact not only on my own learning, but also that of my students and colleagues. 

Of course, as with any application, there are draw-backs. Twitter is limiting. You are confined to the 140 character format and the real-time timeline makes conversations difficult to follow sometimes (which is why I also Plurk).  One of my favorite bloggers, wrote a great post, “What I Hate About Twitter”.  I really appreciate this post by Will Richardson, mainly due to the conversation it inspired. You will see the true value and depth of the piece if you read the comments section,  which brings us back to the power of all social media as a professional development tool.  It is, quite simply, about the conversation.  Well used, tools like Twitter can help you “hook up” with amazing folks from around the world in the 140 character format, but through links can lead you to collaboration in the deeper format of blogs, wikis, webconferencing, webcasting and other applications that I have not yet had the time or opportunity to explore.

Bottom line:  Twitter  is indeed the most powerful tool for professional growth that I have experienced. I now have access to a world-wide Personal Learning Network that is ever-growing, ever-changing, and ever-challenging.  My learning is no longer limited to budget, location, or availability.  I have the world in my laptop, on my couch, in my living room.  Give it a try – your world will never be the same.