Primary Purpose Tools for General Use

Services that offer a primary purpose tool, such as video sharing, may offer secondary features or services as a complement, but the main focus is on the original tool or intention. For example, YouTube is a video-sharing tool that also allows users to engage in discussions via comment threads. However, the primary purpose for YouTube is video sharing. The discussions are a secondary feature.

Eric Sheninger, in his keynote presentation at Learning Forward’s 2012 Annual Conference in Boston last December, noted that using readily available social media tools can help educators create a professional learning network and overcome resource limitations. “Social media is a dynamic resource that allows us to get involved, discuss, and create,” said Sheninger. “I harness and leverage social media tools to connect myself to smart people who give me ideas, knowledge, and strategies to do what I do better.

“When you harness the power of free social media,” Sheninger said, “you are put in the center of your learning, and you form a professional learning network. … It’s about sharing, getting resources, support, informal learning, self-directed learning, and acquiring knowledge. When you put it all together and find different tools that function in different ways, you create portfolios, resource libraries, and modes to communicate.”

Primary Purpose Tools for Educators

Not all primary purpose tools are for the general public. Many have been created specifically for educator professional learning. Jennifer Wolf, a 6th-grade math teacher at Stewart Middle School in the Hillsborough County School District in Tampa, Fla., uses MyLivePD for one-on-one consultations to help her with classroom practices. “I like MyLivePD because it offers personalized coaching on my time,” said Wolf. “If I have a question about teaching, I can go online and get connected to a coach in two to three minutes.”

Wolf sees clear benefits in being able to collaborate with a live expert on demand. “Before we started using MyLivePD, if I wanted to learn about something, I would have to search online, figure out what I needed to know, and then search for where to learn it or find someone who would be willing to spend an hour with me after work to teach it to me. Now I get information that addresses my personal needs from a live expert who can sit and work with me for an hour if I need it, at a time I choose.”

Suite of Tools

Software and services in this category offer multiple tools that work together. Sometimes these tools are intended for one specific purpose, such as course creation, and sometimes they are suites of tools that are adaptable to a broad range of applications, such as project management tools that can be used for a variety of project types.

Comprehensive Systems

Comprehensive systems are designed to meet all of the needs of an educator professional development process. Supporting a range of learning stages, from initial induction to observations and follow-up paperwork, these systems are designed specifically for educator professional learning.

Marguerite Dimgba, director of the professional learning center for Greece Central School District in New York, uses MyLearningPlan as a comprehensive system for the district’s professional learning.

Dimgba cites the system’s ability to reduce paperwork, centralize resources, and link multiple activities. “From a management standpoint, we can upload documentation that comes with the course, so we no longer have paper files. Everything is stored in a team room, so it is a communication tool and an easy way to retrieve data on courses, proposal forms, or notes for date changes. For evaluations, we used to scribble notes to leave for the teacher, but now we can complete a course evaluation and collect data on impact and student performance. It makes it easier to link teacher impact with teacher effectiveness.”

The reduced fragmentation is a huge benefit for Dimgba. “We have 1,100 teachers and 12,000 students, so (MyLearningPlan) was a way for us to make everything work together. It has benefits for communication, such as for committees or for people to pose questions. It allows dialogues outside of committee and coursework and puts a structure in place. I know there are other tools out there, but you don’t want people to log into yet another system. This gives us a one-stop shop for our professional learning needs. Now our teacher conferences, in-house learning, and teacher evaluation system are all tied together. It used to be that some things were in an old database, on paper, or in different departments.”