Blog Post 5 Part 1

What are Personal Learning Networks (PLN)?

How can they help you as a teacher?

As we continue into 21st century learning, we as teachers must learn new methods and practices to better ourselves and to prepare our students for our constantly evolving world. A way to do this is through a Personal Learning Network (PLN), a network of people, websites, blogs, and other resources. Vicki Davis best explains how PLNs can work in the classroom in her article "Personal Learning Networks Are Virtual Lockers for Schoolkids":

"A PLN becomes a student's virtual locker, and its content changes based on the student's current course work. When I assign them a term paper, the students comb the Web to sign up for information that will feed into their personalized Web page to construct a PLN for that topic. When they get a new project, they assemble another page."

If teachers wish to be effective and up-to-date on modern learning, a PLN can help them to connect use resources such as Edutopia or Discovery Education. It can also connect them to other educators across the globe sharing their ideas and lessons to learn from. Personal Learning Networks are never-ending. Students and teachers must add new resources and/or create multiple PLNs as they build their own network. There are many ways to form PLNs and numerous ways to use them in the classroom, but all will be able to expand their minds, make new connections, and, ultimately, enhance their learning experience.

How are they formed? How can you create your own PLN?

As mentioned earlier, there are many different ways to form your own PLN. Dr. Strange has mentioned before that Twitter is best way for him to connect with other educators and resources. He has also provided a list of many educators (and their Twitter handles) in Project 6 Fall 2009. Once you discover new resources to include in your PLN, you can use websites like Symbaloo or Netvibes to organize and keep track of your PLN resources. Symbaloo organizes different website icons by tile blocks, while Netvibes organizes RSS feeds of sites into block arrangements. Both are effective tools and easy to use.

Who will be the first additions to your PLN?

As I have begun to build my own PLN, I have added Dr. Strange, EDM staff members, and classmates to my network through Twitter. I also follow the education sites mentioned above along with others and use TweetDeck to access Twitter. I have also added Beth Knittle (my C4T #1) by following her on Twitter and adding her blog to my Symbaloo page. Although I am just beginning my PLN, I feel sure that it only continue to grow in this class. I am excited to see how large my PLN will become by the time I am an experienced teacher!