I'm Tapped In...are you?

This was my first experience discussing in an online professional forum and I was not entirely sure what to expect. I was not aware of the number of resources available on this site, which was new to me. Prior to this course, I had not even heard of this resource.

However, before I dove in to an actual forum discussion, I wanted to first find out more about what Tapped In really was about and why this particular site would be beneficial to me. Initially, I thought Tapped In was just another Facebook or Linked In-type social or professional networking site, but it is definitely more.

Tapped In enables providers to offer high-quality online professional development experiences and support to more teachers cost-effectively. Through Tapped In, educators can extend their professional growth beyond courses or workshops with the online tools, resources, colleagues, and support they need to implement effective, classroom-centered learning activities. (http://tappedin.org/tappedin/web/about.jsp).

Apparently, Tapped In belongs to a group of online resources referred to as a MOO (multi-user, object-oriented environment). “A MOO is a text-based environment where users can hold conferences and discussions, open an office, create objects to decorate the office, and even adopt an office pet. At an educational MOO, or 'eduMOO', teachers and students can collaborate on projects, attend sessions hosted by experts, and build virtual environments.” (http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech010.shtml).Tapped In offers online activities which all take place within virtual buildings. An organization can obtain their own building and each building can have three floors: 1) ground floor reception area (for help desk, news, etc.), 2) second floor with group rooms (public, moderated or completely private), and 3) a third floor with personal virtual offices for members who are affiliated with the particular organization. (http://tappedin.org/tappedin/web/about.jsp).

Tapped In is more than a professional network of educators. Initiated and ran by SRI International (formally known as the Stanford Research Institute), Tapped In offers schools and universities online options for teaching in asynchronous environments. “Tapped In offers TPD providers and other organizations the latest in online technology, along with the online learning strategies and support needed to use online technology effectively. Through Tapped In, organizations can develop, implement, and manage online courses, workshops, seminars, mentoring programs, and other collaborative activities that supplement, or function in lieu of, face-to-face activities.” (http://tappedin.org/tappedin/web/about.jsp).

The event I took part of this evening was a synchronous discussion in an online, instant messaging format. The topic of the evening was Cybersecurity and the group participating consisted of seven members. All of the members were, somehow, involved in education, most being in K-12. Based on some of the discussions, which ensued, I believe a couple of the students were still possibly completing their undergraduate studies.

The discussion did not go without its small issues. The discussion was set to last for one hour and, surprisingly, that hour went by rather quickly. This made for very brief discussions at times and I found myself wanting to further discuss an issue, like the future security of Web 2.0 technologies. The topics needed to be rushed through to cover all subjects and I thought that was actually unfortunate. Despite the fact that discussion sometime seemed a little forced and delays were occasionally pretty long, overall, the content of the discussion was quite valuable.

Though initially pretty negative about the value of such a discussion, I have to admit (happily) that I was incredibly wrong. It was quite interesting to take part in a conversation where all the participants seemed to be there because they chose to be. In addition, the convenience of having the entire discussion emailed to each participant so you can research external links provided during the discussion is brilliant! I am actually looking forward to participating in another discussion forum in the not-so-distant future! Now, if I can only figure out how to count this in my merit document for next year, I would be even happier!

In addition to the Tapped In environment, we were also exposed to another learning resource center called the Learning Times . The Learning Times is "a living, breathing and open community for eduction-minded people." The community appears to be composed of many different types of education professionals from all over the world. Much like Tapped In, the Learning Times allows for information sharing on all different types of topics ranging from social networking to RSS feeds to research to using proper grammar. The main difference between Tapped In and the Learning Times is that I did not see a lot of synchronous discussion forums being used at the Learning Times. Rather, much of the information is transposed in RSS feeds either through audio blogs, podcasts or vodcasts. There is significant opportunity to also participate in asynchronous discussion boards.

Overall, I think both of these online learning resources are great for professional development when travel to a workshop, training session or conference is not an option. At each site, educators are still able to collaborate with other professionals in their discipline and to share ideas and research. I believe I will find myself more frequently on the Tapped In resource center, but overall, I could see both being of value.