Journal 7: My Personal Learning Network

Sheninger, E. (2010, August 28). Personal learning networks 101. Retrieved from http://connectedprincipals.com/archives/723

A PLN or Personal Learning Network, is a community of individuals or groups who are supportive, collaborative, willing to share, willing to learn, eager to help others grow professionally, available to answer questions at all times (24-7)...ALL AROUND THE WORLD.  A strong global PLN supports, answers, helps, listens, shares, and suggests ideas.  And it's free.  The concept of a PLN wasn't always that way.  In the past, PLNs consisted of teacher lounges and expensive conferences that educators had to pay for, in order to attend.  Now, we can thank the internet/advances in technology for providing us with the luxury ofinstant, available, and diverse information---around the clock.  The author of the article, "Personal Learning 101," Eric Scheninger accurately defines the importance of a PLN by reflecting upon what he's gained from his own experience, "...my PLN provides me with a constant supply of resources, thought-provoking discussions, knowledge, leadership strategies, and ways to successfully integrate technology."   

There are a number of tools and networks that can be utilized in building a strong PLN.  The categories consist of the following:

• Social Networking - online service that facilitates social networking between individuals or groups i.e. Facebook
• Microblogging - online service; only allotted 140 characters (think: mini Facebook); can be used professionally to share info, exchange resources, and make connections i.e. Twitter
• Professional Profiles - online service used to create professional profiles i.e. Linkedin
• Wikis - Community monitored sites that can be used as websites or for group organization and projects i.e. Wikispace
• Blogs - online service where one can voice personal opinions, monitor new trends in education and have access to an abundance of information such as best classroom practices i.e. Blogger
• RSS Readers - allows access to multiple blogs simultaneously i.e. Google Reader
• Social Bookmarking - online service that allows the user to bookmark websites and access them from any computer, share their bookmarks with others (and vice-versa), create lists, tag bookmarks for organization and easy access and join groups i.e. Diigo
• Webinars - presentations, lectures, workshops, or seminars that take place online i.e. Edchat
• Nings - online platform for individuals/groups to create online social networks i.e. Classroom 2.0

The tools/networks that I am currently using to build my PLN are: Twitter (microblogging), Blogger (Blog), Classroom 2.0 & The Educator's PLN (Nings), Diigo (Social Bookmarking), and Edchat (Webinar).  So...why are PLNs so popular in education?  The answer is simple, "It's how we learn best=being part of a community of peers."  (Classroom 2.0)

Personally, my PLN will help me as a teacher by providing me with the opportunity (via online platforms) to make connections with professionals, experts and like-minded individuals and gain/share new information and resources that will help me to constantly improve classroom practices as well as develop or "fine-tune" my personal pedagogy.  I will use my PLN to:

• Assist in the growth of my professional development 
• Be able to learn from content-area specialists 
• Find resources for my classroom (often achieved through seeking direction from others in my PLN) 
• Gain lesson plan ideas from master teachers
• Learn about new technology/methodology and how to integrate/apply it in my classroom
• Find collaborative solutions 
• Discover interesting links, articles, tutorials, blogs, educational news, etc.  

Building a strong PLN will help me to become a better teacher through use of online platforms that facilitate research, analysis, and reflection. 

Up until recently, I failed (was unwilling) to understand and take part in the whole 'Twitter Phenomenon.'  All I knew of the online social networking and microblogging service was what I heard from the media---essentially information revolving around celebrities and their self-revolving/promoting tweets.  Never-the-less, I couldn't help wonder why it was, that the whole world seemingly adopted the routine  "Eat, Sleep, Tweet" - over night.  In time, and in large part because of my enrollment in Ed422, I signed up for a twitter account and joined the community of 175+ million (registered) Twitter users.  What I discovered was worthwhile.  First, I used the search bar to search for people and groups to follow.  I familiarized myself with hash tags and started my journey in seeking after educators and like-minded individuals.  I followed my instructor & peers in my Ed422 class, followed individuals who were being followed by those I was following, and followed complete and absolute strangers (who were using Twitter for professional and educational purposes).  My network essentially consists of other professionals, experts and peers that I thought would provide me with helpful resources/tools/information as well as a handful of news outlets that will help me stay current and up-to-date in issues, reform, methods, etc. pertaining to education. 

Here are some of the people/groups that I am following:

Edublogs - this Twitter account provides tips, news, ideas, and announcements that I thought would help me to understand/effectively utilize edublogs.

Will Richardson - is a "parent, author, speaker, instigator, blogger about social Web tools and their effects on schools, education and learning." I followed Mr. Richardson so that I could see education through the lens of an experienced individual, currently in the teaching field.  Mr. Richardson constantly posts articles, links, and personal commentary about education, which inspires me to reflect and analyze topics, trends, issues, etc. in education today.  By following his Twitter page I find myself learning/thinking about teaching in ways that I had never thought of before.   

NEA -  "The National Education Association's official publication, committed to a great public education for all students."  I thought following this Twitter account would be a good way to access free resources, news, etc.

Top Educational Tweets - What better way to improve my professional development than to follow, "only the best education Twitter accounts"? ( as written in TET's profile description)

Heather Wilson - I starting following Heather, a 1st grade teacher from Michigan, after noticing her contribution to the Edchat that I participated in on Sunday.  Heather provided a lot of helpful tools, resources, and information for improving teaching practices, made herself available to collaborate with other teachers, and asked thought-provoking questions that I thought were extremely insightful.  She "gave" and "received" during the Edchat, in the exact way the articles that I read on PLNs talked about.  I think that I can benefit greatly from following passionate educators like Heather that contribute, collaborate, and constantly try to stay informed about current topics in education. 

Educational Chat

Date: Sunday, August 5, 2012
Time: 5pm
Chat: #1stchat
Topic: Getting to know our #1stchat friends

On Sunday, I decided to participate in an education chat where first grade teachers could introduce themselves, meet other 1st grade teachers, and bring up topics pertaining to the first grade.  Although, I am not a first grade teacher, I thought this chat would be a good first #edchat to observe/participate in.  At first, I was a little apprehensive about how it would work and what I was going to contribute.  I wasn't too familiar with Tweetchat or Hootsuit prior to this #edchat but I learned how to use it pretty quickly just by being "thrown into" the live chat.  I taught myself how to utilize these platforms while simultaneously using the services/taking part in the process i.e. I wanted a better way to see the conversation since it was moving so quickly so I signed on to Hootsuit which helped me achieve what I wanted through it's multiple columns of live-streaming platforms.

The beginning of the chat was slow to start.  The experts hosting the chat were not as efficient in getting the chat started as I thought they'd be however, the participants in the chat made up for it by bringing up discussion topics and encouraging collaborative discussion.  I couldn't offer much information in regard to teaching first grade but I did introduce myself, ask questions about certain resources that other educators were using in their classrooom, and Retweeted posts that I thought were insightful and would benefit others (my followers).  I was pleasantly surprised, and slightly overwhelmed, by all of the support and offerings that these (strangers) provided to one another, myself included.  

It was a little difficult to follow everyone's posts and track the responses however, I did find that taking screen shots and looking over the "archived" chat made my stress level go down, assuring me with ways to go back and find information, if I missed it the first time.  TweetChat is an extremely beneficial online service that will help me through out my teaching career...I will definitely use this tool as a means of building my PLN. 

Another networking tool that I use in my PLN is Diigo, the social bookmarking site, that allows me to bookmark websites that I want to revisit, access my bookmarks from any computer, tag sites for organization/easy access, highlight and annotate pages I bookmark (saving them to my Diigo library), and share my bookmarks with others.  Diigo allows me to gather all of my research and save it in one place.  Diigo makes the process of tracking down pieces of vital information less tedious and allows for efficient time management.  

I can also weed out content that I don't want by highlighting/annotating the information that I do want (on the actual website).  Once I'm ready to move on, I can tag the websites that I bookmark.  This helps me keep everything organized which is extremely useful if I am conducting research for multiple assignments i.e.  while completing a bookmarking scavenger hunt activity, I can bookmark my websites and tag them under "Scavenger Hunt" while simultaneously bookmarking websites that I come across for my research paper and tag them as something different like, "Research Paper."   

In the past, I saved websites that I wanted to revisit by adding them to the toolbar of my computer. However, only a small number of bookmarks could be displayed on the toolbar, making it difficult to get a visual (or do inventory) of everything that I had gathered...I always thought it was a disorganized way to save information and create clutter.

Today, Diigo is the way to go!  I use Diigo to build my PLN by looking at bookmarks tagged by educators, like-minded individuals, colleagues, peers, etc. who post and update information regarding education.  I personally used Diigo to bookmark and tag tools and resources like Twitter, Classroom 2.0, and various teaching blogs because each of them can be used to share information with individuals in my PLN.   

Another tool that I have included in my PLN, is the digital discussion forum (or Ning network), Classroom 2.0.  This network is a useful resource because it serves as a platform for users to conduct social networking by meeting other educators and sharing conversations, information, events, news, and videos.  The video that I chose to explore was called, "aPLaNet What is a Personal Learning Network" which in fact, helped me write this journal entry.  The video was extremely informative and made the concept of a PLN clear and concrete.  The video discussed what an Internet PLN includes, how the Internet has revolutionized our ability to connect globally, and what a strong global PLN entails.  This video was the first video that I clicked on and it was great!  Usually, finding a video or tutorial online, requires sifting through a number of Youtube videos until I find one that I like.  Since the general public can upload videos onto Youtube---including uneducated individuals or scammers, quality assurance isn't guaranteed.  Classroom 2.0 is different not only because it is designed specifically for educators interested in using Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies but it also requires approval of its users after they sign up.  Thus providing resources and tools (of greater quality and content) for it's community.