Crowd Sourcing in Education

Wednesday 7 November 2012 @ 8.30

CROWD SOURCING IN EDUCATION

‘I not only use all the brains I have, but all the brains I can borrow.’

 (Woodrow Wilson)

This Wednesday’s #Niedchat is a little different to our previous chats.

I’m proposing that instead of discussing a topic of educational interest, we spend our sixty minutes crowd sourcing and creating a collaborative document that can be referred to and used in each of our classrooms.

The philosophy for this week’s #Niedchat is firmly based in the maxim ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ – and that when we harness the phenomenal experience, expertise and ideas that exist in the #Niedchat ‘community’, we have the potential to create something huge that will exist as a lasting document.

So… to specifics – over the sixty minutes of our weekly #Niedchat I’d like to run a collaborative Google Doc, along side the usual Twitter feed.

The document is accessible to anyone with the link, and I’m inviting everyone in the #Niedchat community to take the document, and add to it however they wish.  I've suggested some titles to start the ball rolling – but these titles are not exclusive, or are not in any order of importance.  This document belongs to us all, so if you feel there is something missing that would improve the document, feel free to add a heading and hopefully others will help populate it.

Hopefully the document will become populated with lots of great ideas, tips and links that can be shared and used by the #Niedchat community when we go back into our classrooms, and will remain as an archive for future reference when needed.

SOME TIPS FOR CONTRIBUTORS: 

1.  You don’t need a Google Account to access the document – the link should allow anyone on the web to access it and to edit. 

2.  Please put your Twitter name in brackets after your contribution – this will allow you to take credit for the idea, and will help facilitate further sharing of good ideas through Twitter.

3.  Feel free to post as many ideas, links and resources as you like.  You can jump from topic to topic, or add new topics if you’d prefer.

4.  Please don’t remove any other contributor’s ideas.  Everyone’s contributions are valid and have a place in the document.

At the end of the sixty minutes, I’ll publish the document digitally and share the link with the #Niedchat community.  You can then bookmark this and use it whenever and wherever you see fit.

This is a very different #Niedchat from our usual Wednesday conversation.  We’re going to be creative and to share the millions of great ideas that exist in our own good practice with our colleagues.  I’m convinced that this model of collaborative crowd sourcing is an extremely effective way of facilitating professional development, and it leaves a lasting archive that can be referred to again and again.

For those who are interested, I saw this workshop demonstrated at the BLC conference in Boston this summer.  The amazing Tom Barrett led the workshop in a room with fifty educators all collaborating on a Google Doc.  It struck me that this model could work just as effectively via Twitter and #Niedchat, and I’m very grateful to Damien who has given me the time to try out this idea.  I really hope it works.

Thanks for sharing and enjoy the wonderful document we’re going to create this Wednesday night.

- Dáithí Murray

PS – While most of the creative work will be taking place on the collaborative Google Doc, please feel free to continue ‘chatting’ on Twitter using our usual hashtag #Niedchat.  This might be a good place to catch your breath from all the collaborating and bounce ideas off other members of the community. PPS – Link to the Google Doc is:  http://bit.ly/niedchat  (The document is now open.  If you’re unable to make Wednesday night’s #Niedchat – feel free to ‘drop in now’ and leave your idea!

NI Education System - Blue Sky thinking

The topic for our chat on Wednesday 10th October 2012:

'If you could redesign the NI education system which bits would you keep, what would go and what bits would you borrow from other education systems?'


This topic was inspired by a tweet from @tgeducation:

How Finland Survived the Financial Crisis and Built a World Class Public Education System – by Pasi Sahlberg http://t.co/sNW8J6Yu

...and that prompted this reply from @AnGaeilgeoir1

@tgeducation What are the top 10 things that you would like to see implemented here? That would surely promote a debate on it

So, what would you like to see in a revamped NI education system?

Poll for Wednesday 26th September

This poll closes at 8.30 on Tuesday 25th September.

What do you want to talk about?

We were delighted to see so many teachers taking part in our first #niedchat of 2012-13 last Wednesday night. If you were one of them we hope you found the discussion interesting, engaging and maybe even inspiring!

I order for the weekly chat to remain relevant and useful to teachers we are always looking for topic suggestions. You can make a suggestion via the link below.

http://twtpoll.com/2mv0zk

NIedchat is back...and we want you to join us!

Niedchat is back on Wednesday 5th September and we want you to join the growing community of teachers who are sharing good practice on Twitter.

What is #NIedchat

#NIedchat is a weekly chat for teachers in Northern Ireland which takes place at 8.30 each Wednesday evening on Twitter.

What do we talk about?

Participants in #NIedchat choose the topic for discussion each week. You can see an archive of all our previous chat topics by visiting our wiki.

Who runs #Niedchat?

#NIedchat is run by the teachers who take part in the discussions. We are not linked to any education bodies - it is truly for teachers, by teachers.

Why are we doing this?

We are doing this because we've found that Twitter is possibly the most effective tool for sharing ideas and learning from other teachers. Think of it like a staffroom chat only you are talking to teachers from across Northern Ireland and further afield. We have successfully developed a supportive community of innovative teachers who are keen to learn from each other and become the best teachers that they possibly can be.

Who can take part?

The chat is for teachers in Northern Ireland but we have attracted interest from teachers throughout Ireland, the UK and even from across the Atlantic. If you have an interest in the topic we are discussing then you are welcome to take part.

How to take part.

Simply search '#Niedchat' in Twitter and you can follow the stream of Tweets from our community of teachers. At the beginning of each weekly chat the host will ask chat participants to introduce themselves. We would encourage you to take the plunge and dive straight in although we know that a lot of people new to Twitter prefer to watch at first. If you prefer just to watch the chat without contributing your own thoughts (what the Twitter community calls 'lurking' - not a nice word I know!) you can let us know you are there by retweeting tweets that you find interesting or helpful.

Never taken part in a Twitter chat before? Here's how:

What is a 'beermeet'?

#NIbeermeet
Friday 24th August @7.30
The John Hewitt Bar, Belfast.

Beermeets are an opportunity for teachers to meet socially for a chat. There is no agenda, no running order, no minutes and no apologies.

The first beermeet organised by the #niedchat community is happening on Friday 24th August @ 7.30 in the John Hewitt Bar, Belfast.

All are welcome :)

End of Term Review

In order for #Niedchat to improve we would welcome some feedback .

If you have taken part in or followed our discussions this year please take 5 minutes to complete this survey.