For this component the
requirement was to build a Personal Learning Network (PLN). Personal learning networks or PLNs have been around as long as there have
been teachers and students. I’m sure Aristotle,
Calvin, and Newton, had friends,
colleagues, and family that would have been considered within their PLNs. But today with the advent of the internet and
web utilities, specifically web 2.0 tools, PLNs have become nearly universal in
their acceptance and use. Social
networking such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogs, Twitter, and the like
have multiplied the ability to grasp information to enrich your PLN, providing an
almost boundless capability to communicate and share information.
I began the structuring
of my PLN by taking these ideas of sharing information, and communicating with
people/organizations that I felt would be beneficial to me, laying them out in
a mental frame work as I went. I first
looked at what I already had access to and weather that was relevant in
building my own PLN. The easiest to assess
was Facebook, which I find to be a good social networking tool, but not a
serious component in my PLN. Facebook seems to be more for keeping up with personal, and social
contacts such as friends, family, and former students. It’s a great way to unobtrusively grab
snapshots out of people’s lives, keep updated and share social information
without becoming too bogged down in day to day affairs. With that said I do not believe it a good
professional network, so I relegate it to a subcategory of my PLN for social
networking but not serious interaction for communicating within the
professional scope of an educator.
The next form of
networking that I already had access to when starting to build my PLN is
LinkedIn. Prior to starting my
pre-requirements in pursuit of teaching credentialing I had already had a LinkedIn
account and found it a viable recourse for the use of posting my own, and
finding professional profiles of experts in fields I was interested in. It does have the ability to follow groups,
one such group I follow on LinkedIn is the Teacher’s Lounge. The Teachers Lounge helps you network with
other teachers from around the world, allowing you to share information and
ideas with colleagues that hold similar interests and concerns. I also follow several school districts and a
few education specific groups such as Core Education & Technologies
Limited. Overall I find LinkedIn to be
a good addition to my PLN for interacting professionally with contemporaries,
but mostly on a resume level, it’s great for providing information on one’s self, such as certifications and qualifications, a
good reservoir for that level of interaction.
Facebook and LinkedIn were the only two PLN’s
I had any exposure to prior to starting Technology in Teaching, since starting
this course, and working through this PLN assignment I’ve broadened my portfolio
significantly. The first PLN that I began
to use is Diigo, I built my account in
EDUC 422a but continued to use it even after the required assignment I found it
a good way to track and update my research.
Through tagging and adding a quick description I was able to compile and
organize important links in one clear and concise area, furthermore I found
that the ability to share these links was very helpful not only with working on
projects for myself but to share things outside the relevance of the
classroom. I will continue to use this
site and look forward to being able to use it in relation to my own pedagogy as
I can compile websites along subjects that I’d like to share with my students,
providing additional resources beyond the classroom.
The next component of
my PLN is the use of feedly.com to organize and track RSS feeds that I find
relevant to my pursuits as an educator, allowing me to keep up with a multitude
of blogs organized and presented in one place.
I found this site very useful, and seemed to become engrossed more often
than not in the information that I could track access and digest while on
feedly.com. Some of the RSS feeds that
are significant to my PLN are Education (NPR.org), Free Technology for
Teachers, and the TED education feed. I
also subscribe to some news essentials such as the BBC world news, and The
Guardian. After building this account I
found that instead of surfing the TV for news in the morning, I’d get up grab
my coffee and check those RSS feeds that I was currently following on
feedly.com. In doing this I not only
saved time but I was able to find pertinent information without having to sort through the non
essential, or normal fluff. As a result I was provided with current
information and news about important subject matter that I would have otherwise
had to spend hours looking for. One
article I found extremely interesting from March 21st was about a
new service called Geggit. Geggit allows
you to quickly gather information and feedback from students and furthermore
allows you to push questions to the students electronically to their
devices. What makes this application
different from most other similar applications is that Geggit allows you to
collect a variety of data share it and download it in a spreadsheet format,
providing statistical feedback. This
article was one of many that I found through my use of feedly.com which has
provided me further insight into the current trends and issues in education
today.
Another aspect of my
PLN, and something which I was not to excited about starting is my Twitter
account. My first exposure to twitter
was seconded hand and I thought of it as a way for people to throw out quick
little sayings like digital graffiti.
But with that said, and with the requirements of the course I took the
plunge and built my Twitter account.
After a few weeks of using Tweeter, even putting out a tweet or two, I
still find that most of what’s on Twitter is much like graffiti. In saying that I will state that after
figuring out hash tags and searches for information and issues I was interested
in, I was able to filter out much of what I did not find informative, and was
able to find the silver lining. What
I’m referring to is not only being able to follow people in the world of
education such as Carol Burris, or Lisa
Dabbs, but also being able to follow the issues that are effecting education
today. One I feel that is the most easily
recognizable is that of the implementation of common core standards. With a quick search I was able to find both protagonists
and opponents for common core. By
following their tweets I find I am able to listen to both sides of the argument
and form my own opinions. Furthermore I
am able to gather information provided and complete my own fact checking. Other feeds that I’ve found myself following are
U.S. News Education, and Education Week, both provide some good insight. One take away from using Tweeter as part of
my PLN is that it was more the start of the process of information gathering
and interaction not an end of itself.
The last component that
I explored was Ning Groups, these digital discussion forums are made up of
communities of people interested in similar topics. For my part I joined both Classroom 2.0 and
The Educators PLN. I found them both to
be great interactive tools I especially like the Forums, blog posts, and
discussions, plus the ability to search information. All of these different avenues provide a
continual stream of information for educators to build on their own teaching
styles and resources. I found the groups
to be informative and very capable providing articles, discussions and blog
posts on classroom management, web 2.0 tools, teaching styles, individual pedagogues, teaching styles and lessons
learned just to name a few. These groups
are made up of teachers and educators,
with the express purpose of helping fellow teachers succeed in engaging
students for success. The Ning Groups
are a wonderful asset for anyone’s PLN tool kit, and I will continue to explore
them as I seek my career goals as an educator.
In conclusion although
I was not at first excepting of all the different aspects of my investigation in
building a PLN I found that each one of them held a specific value, and
together make up a very robust data network that will be instrumental in constructing
and reinforcing my own pedagogy. The
overall experience taught me that there are a vast amount of resources at ones finger tips that gain help exponentially, expanding ones knowledge of the art
and science of teaching. I also feel that
a PLN will be influential in understanding and implementing future requirements
in education, and exchanging lessons learned with fellow educators, such as how
to implement Common Core. Furthermore I've found this to be a continuing process that must be updated and refined to
get the most out of one’s PLN, and that each person’s PLN will be shaped by
that individuals needs and character, for some Twitter is considered better
while others would prefer Feedly.com, As
a result the conduit by which the information is gained is secondary to the information
in and of itself.
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