Personal+Learning+Network+(PLN)+Building

PLN (Personal Learning Network)
There is a lot to be said for developing your own go-to crowd, or a Personal Learning Network. Your colleagues at school are the first ring of a personal learning network. But what to do if you are out of ideas? Or, you don't find the information you need in your school network? This is where having a network that extends beyond the school is a benefit. Many of the resources on this moodle have been collected not through google searches but through "people searches." What that means is searching those in ones PLN or another known group.

As you continue to think about how this new context of a 1:1 environment will impact the classroom experience in your class, you might want to reach out to gather information from others. One way to do this is through school visits. Another way to do that is to develop a PLN on a social networking site such as Twitter, LinkedIn, to some extant diigo or delicous. I do not personally use all of those sites. I do use a few to connect me to other educators who have done some of the work for me. I admit I do not want to reinvent the wheel if I don't have to. So, I like to "borrow" ideas from other people, or "remix" what they have done.

I find Twitter to be a great place to do that. There is a very large education community on Twitter and while it can be a bit of a fire hose, there is no need to be on it all the time or share what you had for lunch. Twitter is like the radio; it's always there you just don't always turn it on. Here is a good introduction to PLN video (3 minutes). Steven Anderson, speaking in the video, practices what he preaches.

media type="custom" key="23509906" Some of the folks/groups of folks in my PLN that I turn to when I am looking for more information:

[|FreeTech4Teachers] is a blog that I go to when I think, "hmm I wish there was some way I could do . . ." Richard Byrne appears to need no sleep or be wildly efficient, or both. In anycase, I take advantage of his reviews of tools and search for information on his blog. [|Edudemic] also rates tools and sites often. I have looked at this site's ratings of things like timeline creators and inforgraphic makers. [|Edutopia] is also always good for any number of things.

Some Twitter hashtags that I find useful: #EngChat #SSChat #1to1techat #EdChat

How to Begin:
Challenges (adapted from EdTechTEachers and used under creative commons license)  Twitter: 1. Create a Twitter account. Follow the instructions to create your account, you may need to follow some suggested people to get started 2. Add a picture and short bio to your account. (People are less likely to follow back without it.) 3. Put your Twitter name on the board. 4. Search a hashtag that relates to something of interest to you (for a suggestion try consulting __ [| Cybraryman list of educational chats] __ .) 5. Find 10 people to follow. 6. Find 2 resources that were shared on Twitter. 7. Reply to the people who shared the resources and thank them. 8. Retweet a resource that you think would be helpful for others, consider adding a hashtag so that more people will find it 9. Compose your own tweet about something you have learned so far.  <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">

Social Bookmarking with Diigo
OPTIONAL: Diigo has a number of extensions available for various browsers that allows you to bookmark to your Diigo account without having to log into Diigo. Visit [|__http://www.diigo.com/tools__] to find the tool / extension for your particular browser.
 * 1)  Create a Diigo account - [|__www.diigo.com__]
 * 2) Confirm your diigo account - Diigo will send a confirmation email (check your spam folder)
 * 3) Add your first bookmark to your Diigo account:
 * Go to: [|__http://www.diigo.com/item/new/bookmark__]
 * Fill in the URL, name, description & tags
 * 1) Add another bookmark
 * Click on “My Library”
 * Click on the small “Add+” button

More Resources about PLNs Edutopia: Article and another article and another about growing your PLN <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Washington Post article about twitter. <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">List of Educational Hashtags from November Learning. <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Building Your PLN advice from Educational Leadership. <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Another explanation of a PLN. <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Other Groups that can act as a ready-made PLN: <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">These are all examples of Nings (social networks built using a particular format and program). It is possible to look/lurk around without joining or creating an account. If you want to leave a comment, you have to create an account. There are lots of discussions and groups in these nings that focus on particular age levels and subject areas. <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Independent School Educators' Network. <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">The Educator's PLN. <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Classroom 2.0 <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">**__Example of how to expand a PLN__**: <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">So, Lisa reads a number of blogs on subjects that she teaches and has a Twitter account. She doesn't feel she is taking advantage of some of the interactive parts of Twitter. How can she begin where she is and expand her PLN? <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">After some discussion, she decided that she really likes what she reads on the blogs she knows and that she will think about that as her starting point. <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">1. When she reads a post that she finds particularly helpful, she'll tweet a link to it for others, including a hashtag like #mathchat or #scichat so that others will also find it. <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">2. She will think about commenting more on the blogs she reads so that she might connect more with the individual bloggers she appreciates. <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">3. If those bloggers are on Twitter, she will follow them. <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">4. If she comes across something on Twitter that she found helpful, she will retweet it. <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">5. And this is very important, she will not be upset with herself if she does not have 150% to give to this endeavor.