A personal learning network (PLN for short), is a network used to further your learning using social media and other outlets via the internet. The very thought of having to create a PLN frightened me because the thought of having to keep up with multiple websites is a task in itself. Although when I construct a little bit of my PLN at a time, it's not all that terrible. In fact, constructing my PLN is actually kind of fun because I know that I'll be able to utilize it in my future classroom and educate my future student as to what a PLN is and what it entails (if they don't already know, that is). Of course, the acronym recognized can be easily broken down and explained further:(I derived my inspiration from What is a PLN?)
Personal is something that is yours and yours alone. When you create something that's personal, it's unique to who you are and what you represent. For example, if you love to cook, you'll have links to websites that enable your love of cooking, or maybe you'll have a blog that's related to cooking so you can help others LEARN how to cook!
Learning is also a unique characteristic because we don't all have the same major! I'm a Secondary Education/Chemistry major so my network will be vastly different than say that of an Elementary Education major. I'll have links that are special to my subject and links that will provide information related to chemistry. The internet is a giant place and think of how much you can learn from so many sources. Don't let learning be limited because there is SO MUCH to learn!
Network can be a terrifying word because of what it means. A network can be really short and limited to a few people or it can be enormous and link millions of people to one another! While networking gives off the connotation of everything being online, it also brings people together whether it be in a classroom or a coffee shop. Imagine what we can learn from people in other countries and what they can learn from us. Education is never ending and that's why we should stay connected to one another!
I believe that PLNs will be a very important item in the classroom because as an educator, we can only relay so much information to our students. Let's think of it like this: teachers hold the key that enable students to further their knowledge on the subject being taught; we can choose to keep the key and be the cornerstone of all the information for our students or we can pass the key and let our students unlock vast sources of information that help them interpret the material that we teach! They can help us as teachers because they're valuable sources of information that "unlock" our students' potential (as well as ours, of course).
How can you create your own PLN? How can your PLN be formed?
In PLN, Michael Fawcett explains how he formed his PLN and after a year had passed, he wondered why he had never made one before. When you gain perspective from other people, it makes forming your PLN easier because it all had to start somewhere, right? There are a vast amount of outlets that can make forming your PLN simple. I chose to start with Symbaloo because it makes constructing a PLN easy! Before this class, I never knew that Symbaloo existed and if I had done my research and found this website, it would have made taking other classes so much easier because all of your websites are right in front of you and easily accessible. I have my websites separated by my interests, social media, education, and news websites. The picture above is a screenshot of what my Symbaloo homepage for EDM 310 looks like! It is really beneficial to have a base for your PLN and thanks to Symbaloo, I now have that! After reading Developing a Personal Learning Network, I now know the unique characteristics as to what a PLN is and what it entails; the statement made about us (as students) being detectives is a better way to look at it because when you develop your PLN, you're browsing the internet to find what you're looking for and that's a neat way to put it! Also, Welcome to My PLE! was wonderful to watch because it put a student in the driver's seat and she really taught me the most because she was completely engrossed in her PLE and enthusiastic to relay what her PLE consisted of. Students and teachers can learn from each other when it comes to technology because technology is a HUGE part of education now! Who will be your first additions to your PLN?
Great post! :)
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