Go Forth and Spread the Word of CPD - Your Help Needed!

Busy but exciting times ahead as this weekend (Saturday, May 12th to be precise), I will lead a ‘professional development day’ for English teachers from state schools in the Turkish city of Karabük. The day will consist of 4 sessions, 2 in the morning and 2 after lunch. In the morning, I will be focusing on ‘exploring the space’ as opposed to ‘filling the gap’ and I thought I would use the afternoon to show the how the attendees can take their professional development into their own hands by entering the world of social networking.

Help me bridge the CPD gap… (yes, that was a groan-worthy pun in the title) - Image by @aelloway via eltpics

I did a session like this last year at the 4th TED Conference in Samsun in which I played a few videos and voice recordings contributed by my Twitter PLN and, as it went down very well, I thought I would do the same again. Last time, I focused purely on Twitter and the benefits of building a network there but this time, as the session will be spread over two hours instead of one, I am planning to include a look at blogs, Facebook groups, online conferences and ELTchat.

And that’s where you come in, my dear PLN. Again, I would like to include some ‘Voices from my PLN’ about the benefits of pursuing your own CPD online. This could take the form of a short (1 minute maximum!) video (uploaded to YouTube) or a voice recording (via Audio Boo or Vocaroo for example) explaining what your PLN means to you. Ideally, one contribution for each of the following things I will be focusing on in the talk would be great:

• Twitter
• ELTchat
• Facebook groups
• Blogs
• Online conferences

If you can spare the time to help me out, please get in touch via the comments section or send a direct message on Twitter and help me get some more teachers online!

Thank you