eMedia: Explore, Create, Collaborate

The biggest benefit of eMedia Groups is the the opportunity to share a common focus of content or area of interest with other educators. You can get to know others outside the walls of your own school and collaborate with one another. eMedia Groups is also an opportunity to create, remix, and share resources with each other who are wanting and using like-minded resources. 

Because you're in another circle of connected educators, using eMedia Groups will help you build your professional learning network. 

The circle feature is so nice, not just for using materials but for potentially going beyond and developing friendships.

I think the biggest benefit to eMedia groups will be being able to share lesson plan with teacher that are teaching the same area as you.  They will be able to help improve your lesson by make suggestions about things to change, add, or clarify to help the students understand what you are trying to teach them.  It has always helped me alot to have someone look at a lesson I created because sometimes there have been things that I have missed.  Also, it so helpful not to always have to come up with your own materials all the times.  It nice to be able to use a lesson plan from another trusted sorce.  I agree with what Susan said that the remix a like-minded resource is great to, it nice to be able to twix a source to fit your needs. 

Yes, Lesson plans from a trusted source which you can tweek and accommodate if you need to is so amazing to have as in feature of Media. I know that sometimes when I am running by the seat of my pants, I do not have time to tweak a lesson and there are enough lessons out there, that it ends up being fine that way.

I think these eMedia groups can be so beneficial because it is another place to find resources that you can trust and use in your classroom. It can especially be helpful if you are in a group that has specifc resources that you can use. It also is a great way to collaborate and get ideas with others that aren't in your school or on your team. Such a great way to find and share resources. This would have been so helpful to me as a teacher. 

eMedia groups have several benefits. When I taught instrumental music, I was the only teacher at my school teaching the same thing. Having an online group that connected me with other instrumental teachers would have been great.

eMedia groups can help build my PLN by connecting me not only with other instrumental teachers, but with people that can help me with questions regarding technology, pedagogy, professional development, etc. 

I can't imagine being the only teacher at your school in one subject.  I'm currently on a team of two and it definitely adds more to the work load, so being able to collaborate with others would be very important. 

I think one of the main benefits for eMedia groups is that you can create a group specific to your needs and then have a designated place to save all of your resources.  I have found that it takes a lot of time to search for resources that work specificially for my field of Speech-Language Pathology. If I created a group specific to speech and invited my network of Speech Therapista to collaborate and contriburte to this group, we would have a huge bank of resources in a fraction of the time it would take me to do all of the searching myself.

Gathering, sharing, and organizing teaching resources in an eMedia group are definitely ways that the group would be a benefit to you and your colleagues.   You have a very specific need and set of parameters already set by your job description, so it would be very useful to be able to collaborate with others within those parameters.

Its fairly easy to share resources within your own school, but it is also pretty limiting. Being able to share with educators from all over the state can really open the doors to so many opportunities. You could have a group for subject level, grade level, etc... You could also set up a school group and share resources like watching a resource from UEN pdtv or UCET and then have everyone be able to discuss it after and know where the resource is to find and use it again. Groups can be a great way to connect, we just need more people to use them and organize content in them. 

Emedia groups can be a great resource for teachers. I was just talking to a colleague the other day about the need for having a place for teachers to share content. Everyone is so busy and it'd be nice to share with each other and not have to "reinvent the wheel". If there were a third-grade science group, teachers could collaborate about effective lessons that are engaging and meet core standards. Members could share successes and failures. I see the value of being in a group where people understand. It will help build your PLN because you are interacting and collaborating with other professionals. This is a great resource!

I love this, Kalani. I think that not reinventing the wheel is a huge part of eMedia's value. We just need to get those other joining the groups and contributing as you have. The potential is big.

I feel one of the many benefits of eMedia groups is professionalism and that standards are usually tied to the lesson plans.

eMedia has serious like minded people which leads to material and lesson plans of a higher callibor than that of pintrist or other social media groups.

As educators, we are held accountable for the time we spend with students. Are our lessons and teaching tied to the standards? eMedia lessons have the opportunity to remind educators to tie a standard to the lesson. 

I like that you mention the professionalism and high calibur of the group.  It is important that the resources shared are connecting to a standard and have a clear purpose of how they would be used in our classroom. 

I think one of the benefits of eMedia groups is that you find others who are passionate about a topic that you are.  If teachers are seeking out additional help and resources on a topic, I think it shows that they are wanting to learn and be the best they can be.  It also makes it easy to connect with teachers who are outside your building, and possibly even district to give new perspective on different topics. The group also also gives teachers access to quality resources on the same topic, so teachers don't have to spend a lot of time searching for resources and not knowing if they will find something of good quality. 

Any way you can narrow down online resources into manageable groups, you are saving time! Saving time is so important to me when I  am looking for resources. Starting an e-media group for Speech Language Pathologist on the UEN network would be very helpful to open my PLN and save time finding valuable resources. 

I think there are many benefits to eMedia groups. It's a great place to connect with others that are teaching the same thing as you. I love that it's a place where teachers can communicate and share their expertise. It's often overwhelming to create a new lesson so groups like these are a great place to get ideas, directions, lessons, and resources. I love that you can use all or parts of lessons/resources found in groups and give feedback. There are so many teachers teaching so many lessons, I feel that this is a way for teachers to work together and make it easier on one another. Groups saves teachers from reinventing the wheel, feeling overwhelmed, and knowing what works well for others. I haven't taught for several years, but feel that when I go back this is a great resource that I will use!

I can see that eMedia groups can lead to more creativity and greater access to ideas for educators, as well as a way to help solve feelings of isolation or frustration with limited resources.  Overall, I like the concept of these eMedia groups because they can help learning become more accessible and effective for students.

eMedia groups can be an effective way for me to partner with other educators who have similar interests while I build my skillset, find resources and gain ideas.  I have long appreciated the willingness to share among educators, and eMedia groups are a tangible way to foster that sharing!

I love this direction that eMedia is going.  eMedia groups are an easy way to connect to teachers all over Utah.  I love that groups can be broad or specific such as schools, districts, subject content or grade level. Sharing lessons and resources can help teachers from spending so much time finding and creating their own material.  Also, having discussions would be helpful.  This could be a great way to feel supported and useful to others as a teacher.  Hopefully more teachers contribute and utilize this because the more input the better it will be.

I agree, Carlie. That is the next step. We need to get more people contributing to make the groups all they can be. Spread the word! :) 

It's one thing to have the opportunity to collaborate and share resources with teachers in your own school, and on rare occassions there's the privilege of districtwide collaboration. eMedia groups gives educators the benefit of being able to connect with folks from all over the state. It is also an added layer of curration. Browsning resources in a group is like an additional filter as one searches for quality resources.

When you are working in a school you often work with your own grade level. When a grade level works well together they are able to share resources and lesson ideas. It really can cut down on the amount of time one spends prepareing things for class. With eMedia groups you are able to take that same concept and develop a larger team to gain those ideas and resources from. You are also able to see how things are outside of your school and district. 

I liked what the video emphasized - that it is a way to collaborate with people in your own building and also reach out further and work with teachers and administrators from all over the state.  I noticed in the groups that there were several schools and school grade levels that had their own groups. This seems like a great way to share the resources from emedia with the people on your teams. 

Being an inactive educator, not in a school, but taking these classes to keep my teaching certificate current, I feel really disconnected from teachers in general. I hope that joining groups on emedia might help make professional connections and connections to the tech and resources more accessible to me and others like me. 

A great benefit of using eMedia groups is the collaboration that can happen as many teachers come together to look at, add and share resources that they have found. It allows teachers to join together and support each other. They can help me build a PLN by connecting with other teachers that are teaching the same things that I am and gathering resources and ideas together. 

As I spent time looking through the groups I discovered a few groups that would relate to my teaching assignments for this year and next year. It allows me to connect with educators around the state to develop and grow my PLN to something that I hadn't considered before. I remember at my first UCET coference I went to one of the keynote speakers talked about the importance of developing a PLN that wasn't the same as yourself. If there isn't someone in the group who thinks differently from you what amount of growth can you have. That is one of the reasons I joined the Computer Science Principles group. I'm an art teacher, but I believe strongly in teaching students how to code. Even professional designers will get further in their career if they know how to some basic coding. It is a small group but it puts me in contact with people who are like minded without being mirrors of me. I can always learn from others even in differing fields from mine.

The benefit of eMedia groups is to share resources and build up your toolbox. It is a great way to share and find ideas to enrich your lessons. It is also a great way to learn from each other and build your professional learning network, the way eMedia groups help build a professional learning network is can be a way to collaborate and work on projects together. We can always look for ways to expand our network and find teachers with similar interests and subjects to work on things. It is also convenient to collaborate online because of the tools and resources available. 

I agree it is like creating a toolbox full of a variety of lesson as we all think differently and have strengths in different areas.  It will be a great way to collaborate.

Xuexian, I agree 100% that when we share our resources, we expand our network and learn from each other. I basically said the same thing in my post! When we see what other professionals are doing in their classrooms, it gives us ideas that help us reach kids in different ways. Maybe it's a different approach that 1 child needs to learn.

Working together, sharing ideas, and communication can be very beneficial.  It is always nice to get new ideas and new ways to teach lessons.

eMedia groups let me take advantage of the search skills of others and not spend quite so much time looking for materials that I need! It seems like it will be a good time saver in that way. The materials saved in the group are already curated by the group and it will be easy to ask the person who put the artifact into the group questions about how they used it or for tips about execution. As I talk to these other social studies professionals I can find out about learning tools and opportunities and get even more resources to make me a better instructor.

I like how you said this will use this to make you a better instructor.  It is a great way to learn tips and gather resouces.

I agree on the fact eMedia can same time looking for materials especially if you have trusted peers and co-workers that are using the same format.  This is a great way to communicate.  It is a way to collaborate and become a better instructor.

eMedia groups are a great way to build your professional learning network.  These by nature are a collection of educators or professionals and they are orgainzed into a specific topic of interest.  This gives you a chance to learn about topics that apply to you and from educators or professionals in that field.  This gives you a chance as well to contribute to a community and a topic that maters to you.  I also like the discussion feature where you can share thoughts and have conversations as well as share resources.

EMedia groups can benefit me as a teacher by broadening my access to resources and feedback. I am able to discuss ideas with others in similar situations or interests. By discussing difficulties and successes we can learn from one another. 
I can also have access to resources that are pertinent to my teaching. It's such a time saver to find lesson plans that have been tried and successful rather than inventing my own foe each topic. It's a place o can share my successes in lesson plans to help other educators.

One benefit of eMedia groups is it creates a space for educators to share their work with each other in a content focused area. eMedia provides a place for educators to upload resources and while that is beneficial, it still takes time to locate and search for resources. Allowing a dedicated space where educators can focus their search. The discussion feature also allows for teachers to share ideas and ask questions. It takes time to upload resources and it sometime it's easier to simply send out a quick message to the group asking for their ideas.

Being a part of an emedia group will help me reach out of my own school to other language teachers.  I think it would be great to also great a group for adult education ESOL teachers so that I can also collaborate with other educators there.  This will give me the opportunity to learn from others and their experience and ask questions if I am unsure of how to specifically teach a topic.  It will also be a great way to share information that I find that others may like to use. 

Being part of a group has a couple of benefits.  The group focuses on a specific topic, so you know that items added into that group will all relate to that specific topic (which you are interested in because you joined the group).  Also the other people who joined that group are also interested in the same topic as you, so they are a great resource for questions that you may have or ideas that you need.  It is nice to have a place where people can discuss a specific shared interest.

I agree that having professionals focused on a specific topic is a great benefit to being in a group. The time saved by having materials focused on specific content is very helpful and efficient. That alone, for me, is worth being in a group.

I was REALLY excited to see some friends and colleagues on here. We have SLPs in Education, which I assume was started by one of them (thank you!). As more SLPs contribute to the group, we will have more materials and ideas to use in therapy. This is invaluable to me. I like to see what other SLPs are doing and how they are helping students master their IEP goals. 

We never stop learning and improving our teaching/services. Collaboration is an amazing way to help us learn and improve throughout our careers.

One benefit of an eMedia group is the added measure of resource and communication organization.  An eMedia group is just one more way to collect and share resources, as well as to discuss and trust input from colleagues.  Additionally, because the groups are potentially state-wide collaborations, the old adage about "two heads being better than one" definitely finds fruition in the way that people who wouldn't otherwise be able to collaborate with each other due to proximity and situation can now become helpful, supportive colleagues.

I agree. I love places where people can curate and talk about resources they are using and the more, the better in my book, especially since I"m always looking for new ways to do things and new resources or approaches to teaching familiar content.

The biggest benefit for these groups would be expanding my PLN an dfinding ideas, resources, and advice from colleagues all over the state. As I explored the diferent groups, I already saw many ideas that I wanted integrate into my classroom in the future. The people in the groups are the best resource. 

I think one of the benefits of an eMedia group is that you can connect with other professionals who are outside of your district.  I know of very few SLPs (only 2 others) in my district who are currently pursuing further education in tech classes.  It has been a stretch for me as I have taken tech classes this year while in the Educational Technology Endorsement program.  SLP services have traditionally been very "hands-on" and I think that the pandemic has shown that learning new ways to provide services is a good idea.  As I have been asked to create materials, lessons, etc. using the different technology tools and services that I have become acquianted with, I have always tried to create things that I will actually be able to use and not just create something that will fulfill the requirement of the class.  Connecting with other SLPs who are also on the same journey will probably be most helpful.  I would love to see how they are also addressing this challenge.  I thought I would have to create an SLP group, but to my surprise, there was an SLP in Education group with 1 member.  There are now 3 members so it is off to a slow, but growing start.

I really think the benefits of eMedia groups is it cuts down on the amount of sharing with teachers within a district or the state. I love that you can share resources readily with your peers because often with places like Teachers Pay Teachers you can't share due to "copyright". I like that eMedia cuts down on unfairness and illegal sharing and gives you a place to gather items that are free to use and to remix. I can see my grade level team using groups with our PLCs because it creates a common lesson and rubric. It's also a great place to add your admin if you have to submit lesson plans.

I agree with you.  It is nice to have another resource to share and gather items that can be used and remixed.  Groups can be very useful with PLC groups.

I like that eMedia Groups give another opportunity to curate and share materials but unlike PLNs via social media or mailing lists, it allows for information to be curated and shared in a less accelerated pace, without everyone HAVING to constanstly check for new content or updates because the pace is less frenetic, giving people an opportunity to peruse sources and discussions at their own pace.

I also like these groups as places to discuss resources in more depth as unlike social media groups, here, discussions are more centered around resources, rather than issues. I really appreciate the curated nature of these groups as well as the ability to focus on a specific subject, content objective, and/or grade level.

EMedia groups gather teachers who teach the same subject or share the same interests or concerns. Here we can discuss about lesson plans, share teaching resources, discuss common problems, etc. This helps build a professional learning network which breaks the wall of team or school. This is especially beneficial for new teachers and teachers like me. In our grade, only I teach science in Chinese. I think I can find some other DLI teachers here and form a group.

One of the benefits of eMedia groups are working and contributing to a topic or interest that you have in common with others. I love the idea of sharing resources and ideas. Working in a group time saving benefits as well, as the quality of the curated resources are attached to standards and  have ratings (sometimes). I also love the idea of the discussion board within eMedia, as I have specific questions where I would like feedback and direction from others that share the same interest, but might have more experience or ideas that I can use. 

My PLN will definitely grow with using eMedia groups, as I no longer just work with teachers/coaches in schools, but my network of people are expanded throughout the state. For example, I am currently working with several STEM teachers that are wanting more resource and information regarding STEM assessment. I have requested to join a eMedia STEM group and hope to start a discussion and use and contrubute resources within this group. 

What are the benefits of eMedia groups?  How will they help you build your professional learning network (PLN)?

I believe the biggest benefit of eMedia Groups is the opportunity to share a common focus of content or area of interest with other educators.  These educators can be within your school or outside of school.  You can get to know others outside the walls of your own school and collaborate with one another. eMedia Groups can also be  an opportunity to create, remix, and share resources with each other.  

Working together with other teachers can help improve lessons by making suggestions about things to change, add, or clarify.  It nice to be able to twix a source to fit your needs. 

The benefits of eMedia groups in building my PLN is that it is a relatively local group that I can look for shared resources and share what I have as well. I like to not have to reinvent the wheel if possible, and this gives me a place I can safely look and use resources. I also like the ability to have discussions and interactions with other educators rather than teach in isolation. 

eMedia groups can help connect and collaborate with educators within grade levels, your school your district.  It also can be beneficial with other educators in your state.  Groups can be created to fit specific needs.  It is a way to connect and interact with those in rural areas.  Sharing will help to improve lesson plans by others making suggestions and/or adding other materials, ideas, resources.  It is convenient to have lesson plans that you can access.  These lessons can be tweeked and accommodated to fit individual needs.  It also saves time.  Looking for resources can take a lot of time.  

I never knew about the eMedia groups before this course.  I can see many benefits in being a member of an eMedia group.  It is a way to share lessons, communicate with other professionals and build a collaborative professional network.  I plan to refer back to eMedia as I’m searching for new material needed or aids.  I hope to connect with other professionals in my subject and be able to share ideas and materials.  The ability to have discussion groups within eMedia allows a variety of professional opinions.  While I appreciate my collaboration within my school team, it is limited to those few.  Having a broader professional base will open up more ideas and viewpoints. 

I think there are multiple benefits for eMedia groups.  As a math teacher I am always looking for resources so I don't have to "re-invent the wheel" everytime I want to cover a particular concept.  The resource I go to almost 90% of the time is teachers pay teachers.  I was wishing there was a place that my district or the state had for teachers to share resources.  I am so happy to have found this option.  I will be sharing this with my district.  We are always trying to share lessons with one another and having this one central location is going to make everything a lot more streamlined.  

Another benefit of eMedia groups is getting to know other teachers throughout the state.  It increases PLN's exponentially.  Being able to collaborate with multiple teachers increases resources and differentiation in lessons.  I am excited to share this with teacher friends in my district and also teacher friends I have met at trainings that are outside my district.    

I usally use teacher pay teacher too.  I am so greatful for a new resource so I do not have to always re-invent the wheel.  I usually teach math also but now I am responsible for overseeing all subject areas and I need all the help I can get!

eMedia groups lets educators focus on a specific topic or grade level. We can share resources and have discussions. It allows us to build our PLN by getting to know educators from other parts of the state or in other districts. Sometimes it takes a lot of time to narrow down resources to a specific topic and grade level but if we are curating resources in an eMedia group it would eliminate most of that time. Knowing that this is a trusted source eliminates some of the frustration caused by searching for a resource only to find out it's not what was expected. 

eMedia groups bring a great dynamic to communication and resources as a teacher.  To have a place to go that is very specific to help you with a lesson or idea is wonderful.  To be able to talk with other educators and ask questions in a very safe enviornment really helps teachers with confidence and a sense of belonging.  You never have to reinvent the wheel with lessons.  You can come here and ask and recieve. 

I believe if the individuals of the group agree to work together, I believe this could turn into a Professional Learning Community. Especially for someone like me, I'm the only person not only in my school but in my district who teaches the same courses as me. 

I would really enjoy having another teacher to collaborate with. 

To see how other teachers teach would really improve my teaching.  Which I believe is one of the biggest goals of a PLN. I would love to show teachers in my PLN some of my assessments and ask them what they think. 

I love the benefit of being able to collaborate with different teachers who teach the same grade and curriculum as I do.  Being a preschool teacher, I feel a little bit alone when it comes to having other teachers to bounce ideas off of.  I would love to be able to see the different resources other teachers use in their preschools and even bounce ideas off of each other about how to help certain students or classroom management ideas.  I love that the group feature can already filter out many of the resources that I wouldn't necessarily need in my teaching situation from all the resources found in emedia.

Like you said in the video, a benefit of being able to join an eMedia group is to connect with educators outside of your school walls. We get the chance to share resources and ideas with teachers on our grade level teams and even in our buildings, but eMedia provides a wonderful opportunity for us to get in touch with fellow educators that have similar interests and strengths that we might otherwise be unable to touch base with. Building your professional learning network is critical to breathing fresh ideas into our teaching and to allow us to stretch our wings as educators and really show what we know. We need to work together!

To me the biggest benefit of eMedia groups is the ease with which my collegues and I can collaborate on shared projects, even across school building/districts.  And, of course, there is also a wealth of groups to join to build my PLN.  I like that I can join more than one group 

The biggest benefit to me is the ability to share and find resources with other teachers outside of my building.  Sometimes we need other ideas or activities when teaching and this is a great place to find others.  All teachers should know about the discussion feature in the groups so that we can contact and help each other out.  It's also a great place to have multiple resources saved and in one place.

I agree we need to get all teachers in with these discussion groups.  I love the ability to save resources and have them all in one convenient place.

What I like about eMedia is that it is full of FREE resources created for teachers by teachers. These are the people who really get what students need and have actually tried these resources in a classroom. I think these eEmedia groups help me to connect and bounce ideas off of other edcuators in the state. I can't imagine what it would have been like to teach without the internet, social media, Pinterest, etc. I like how these groups are specifically Utah educator groups so the core standards are already aligned. 

I can't imagine teaching without these resources. I know I like to try and find what people have done that works on some lessons that are not high interest.

You bring up a good point it is FREE!! Free for us to "Remix" and apply in our classrooms. The groups seem like a wonderful too. I'm thinking of making a group for Utah art teachers. Hopefully, more will join! 

I love that the emedia groups are a place I can connect with other educators outside of my building.  I feel that being able to have resources housed in a central group will help me find resources that meet my needs.  I love the fact that I will find resouces that are OER that I can use.  I can also collaborate with others who are working on simlar lessons and objectives.

It's nice that the resources are based off Utah standards. You can find what fits your subject and use it.

Raquel, I agree with you.  Sometimes if all your resources are located in the same facility, we all get complacient and angry about changes that need to be made.  Going to outside resources from all around the state enhances our abiltiy to make our classes fun and educational in ways outside the "norm" in a prison.

One benefit I love about eMedia is being able to remix lessons.  I also like how they are free.  Another benefit I like is being able to have suggestions about my lesson plan.  I know teachers are extremely busy, so I don't know how often teachers use these sites, but I think it's great that it is there if needed.  I also like that it is a Utah-based group so we are all using the same core.  I like how the lessons are required to have assessments. The lesson plan format in eMedia is very thorough. 

It is also handy to collaborate with teachers outside of your own school and/or district.  PLNs are important.

I am glad you mentioned that fact that the groups are all Utah-based.  That is key to being able to adapt ideas since we are all working with the same standards.

I think that it is great to be able to collabrate with teachers out of your scholl and district. I think that it allows us to have a new perspective on how we are teaching that certain lesson. Having this in Utah is great because we all have the same standards. 

I like that you we can remix the lessons as well. However, I have found there are not many lessons that you can remix for the Visual Arts. I'm glad that Lesson 4 allowed me to add more for my content and grade level. I hope this will continue to be shared with more teachers! 

The biggest benefit of eMedia groups for me is that I do not work in a setting where there are other teachers.  I am in a single-room classroom with just me and a para-educator.  I can bounce ideas back and forth with her but she has not had the experience in a classroom setting.  It has been very beneficial for me to collaborate with the students in this class during the discussions and see all their new ideas ad outlooks.  If I can continue to collaborate with teachers even after this class ends it will be an enormous benefit for me.

I have already found a group that has been made for middle and high school teachers and hope to learn and grow from their knowledge.

Sharon, I need to continue to search groups and possibly find one that works with incarcerated adults.  That would be great.  If I cannot find one, I may create one that will give all of us the ability to share ideas that have worked in correctional institutions.  We are so different compared to others and it would be nice to have that resource.  

Michelle, I think creating a group for your specific group of educators is a great idea! Your needs are sometimes so different and specific. Create one, and invite others to join! I can even highlight the group for you to get some others to join.

The benefits of eMedia groups are that educators are sharing resources with other educators. People can evaluate and use these resources with their own students. I think it helps that the eMedia is for Utah teachers and therefore it goes with the standards the teachers are using. I also like how eMedia is free for educators. 

I believe that the PLN can be built through eMedia groups because you can communicate and ask questions to people in your group. You can join groups that cover topics you would like to learn more about. This is like having PLCs within your own school, but you can reach across the state.

Hi Rebecca, 

Yes, I agree that it's helpful to have teachers from the same state creating lessons from Utah Common Core as well as strands and standards.  Yes, I love to be able to ask the creator questions and as a creator get feedback from my designs.  

Emedia groups can enhance every members classroom.  We can share material, what has worked, what hasn't worked?  Weaknessess and strengths in our lesson plans and well as peer evaluations of what can be enhanced or eliminated.   I like how easy they are to use and how helpful I found them to be so far.  

This is a group that allows for collaboration, shared resources, and ideas that you can use to enhance your own classrooms.  Once you get the hang of it, it is a great resource for educators across the state.  

I like how you mentioned we can talk about the strengths and weeknessess in the lesson plans.  What a great way to get new ideas on how to improve.

Emedia groups allow us to share a common focus.  They benefit us as teachers because we can build PLN's for every educator.  For instance, I work at the prison.  We only have one science teacher, one math teacher, one social studeies, etc.  We don't have the availabilty to create our own within our school.  We have no departments.  eMEdia opens up the world for us giving us opportunites to share, learn, edit and create.  I can see this being very beneficial for every school in every district regardless of size and location.

Michelle, emedia would be perfect for you to use.  You have a large network of teachers in Utah using the same strands and standards.  This would save you so much time to be able to share, learn, create and edit together.  What an amazing teacher you are working with in the youth in prison.  Very sad situation.  I am sure you are making a huge difference in their lives.

I love professional learning communities.  I really never used Media groups.  I am glad that I am able to participate in this activity.  There are benefits of using Media groups as I am reviewing all of the materials this program has to offer.  1.  Saves time in creating our own programs and ideas.  2.  Search for lessons that are part of Utah Common Core 3. Collaborate with other teachers, we might like the idea that I have, but other teachers might be able to stretch the idea to another level (remixing).  

This will build my professional learning network a great deal.  Many of the teachers who submit lessons in Media, are from Utah.  I think it's a great opportunity for teachers in the state of Uta to collaborate.  Developing lessons that are based upon your subject but also using Utah's Common Core and Strand & Standards.

I am not sure that many of my colleagues know about Media groups.  I would love to share this will them.  

Having many of the teachers from Utah is a huge thing because everything is with the Utah Standards and it takes out the work of trying to see if it will work with our standards. It also allows us to collabrate with teachers from all of the state no matter where you are at. 

The there are a lot of benefits to eMedia groups. One of the best benefits is being able to have resources that are avaliable and already made. The groups are amazing because you are able to have all of the resources for a particular subject or class all right there. I think that they are great on building your professional learning network because you are able to use and make resources and if applicable you can change them to fit your needs. It also is nice that you can see what others have rated the resources to see if it is benefical for you or not. Overall, they are both great at building your PLN and having extra resouces. 

Having resources already and able to go right in my classroom is a huge help! I think it is fantastic.

This tool is set up to help us teachers connect and collaborate in a larger group beyond our schools. This will help us build a wider network with other teachers in similar groups, learn and teach from one another, and cultivate stronger teachers! We can support each other and see what others are doing in their classrooms. As we do this, it will benefit our students, our schools, and communities. I am glad to be part of this group and I hope we will continue to use this to help and encourage each other to do our best.

You're totally right! I feel more support digitally now that I am experiencing this with our group!

eMedia groups are a great way to connect to other educators that are teaching the same content like myself and wanting to share resources or get feedback from one another. I feel like this is also a great place to connect with others in a more organized fashion. When I actually use Facebook, I am on a nationwide science/anatomy teacher group that connects hundreds if not thousands of anatomy teachers to one another and all of their useful resources. The problem is, those resources aren't always accessible and some resources they have just don't align with my state strands and standards or objectives. This group make sure that I can connect with others and have the vetted resources needed to keep up with the standards of our state. It is really awesome!

I truly feel that eMedia groups are an easy way to get help from teachers with similar interests to you! Just while exploring this new group, I have began to find a lot of resources that I would never have known about if it were not for this group. I really love that the eMedia groups allow you to connect with teachers who are using technology in their classroom in unique ways-- and even if they are not teaching your same grade level or subject, you can pull valueable information from the resources they share. 

I honestly had no clue that eMedia had this many resources that I could be pulling from to help increase the efficency of learning in my classroom. I had no clue that through eMedia I could connect with so many educators and build my Professional Learning Network. I really feel I have so much to learn from these teachers all across Utah, and I think that building a group where we can learn and help one another is ultimately helping our students grow! 

eMedia groups have the benefit of collaborating with others who have similar eMedia needs and ideas as you do. It is a great place to share ideas and ask for input from teachers with similar backgrounds, teaching styles, and other interests to help with your own individual teaching needs. I love how easy it would be to collaborate and share easily through eMedia groups.