NETS 5: This journal entry outlines the tasks I completed to create my own PLN (
Personal Learning Network). By engaging in an online world of teachers and educators alike, I am growing as a advancing as a professional.
A "PLN" is an acronym which represents, "Professional Learning Network." This PLN comes to life as a person begins using social networking sites to create a community of professional people within their network. Perhaps a wonderful way to think of this is as an intricately woven spider web, connected hubs of information to anyone and everyone- given that you pick the right people to follow. A few examples of this are Twitter, Diigo Bookmarking, and other digital discussion forums- activities we have all taken part in while in Education 422. This provides people with instant, global access to a significant amount of information and resources. With a Professional Learning Network, I have unlimited access to professional collaboration with colleagues and veteran educators with an emphasis in my area of study. In addition to accessing useful information and resources in this way, I am also able to share my resources and information with others. Entering teaching at this time will be a challenging task as funding is ever-limited and continues to face budget cuts. Having a PLN, contrarily, gives me access to a vast amount of information and resources in a classroom setting at no cost. As an educator, I'll be able to have worldwide support with a PLN, allowing me to continuously develop myself professionally. This will not only help me, but provide my students with a new perspective and a teacher who strives to keep material interesting and up-to-date!
Although I am no avid "Tweeter," I have certainly learned a few things while searching around and attempting to get a better grasp on the idea of having a free Twitter account. In addition to my fellow classmates in Education 422, Summer 2012, I added a number of educators that I found particular interest in while exploring the Tweeting world. Many of these consist of educators who took part in the same chat as me, although one spearheaded the rest with a plethora of acute knowledge and resources. "On the ClassrromWall" also known as, "@FlyontheCwall," was the moderator of the chat I joined. This #5thchat was a chatroom for fifth grade educators, a discussion I joined on August 7th at 5 pm. With the new school year very quickly approaching, much of the conversation was geared towards icebreakers and wonderful tips to start off the year right. The information provided within the chatroom was useful, helpful, and provided me a variety of tools to "start of the year right." Something I found very interesting, and somewhat difficult to follow, was the way in which communication seemed to bounce off the walls. Educators were tweeting back and forth to each other, sometimes with only one speaker or listener or mind, and sometimes the information was directed at the chatroom as a whole. Honestly, it was just as chaotic as my former experiences working with kids! It was useful, but kept me on my toes constantly pulling up new tabs to learn information with an eager attempt at getting someone to respond to some of the resources I posted about (I suggested SurveyMonkey.com for the first week of classes). Attached in this post is a screen shot of the chat.
Diigo is a wonderful social bookmarking site that has also allowed me to better my PLN. After registering for this free website, I quickly learned what wonderful possibilities lay ahead for this tool. I was able to find and tag sites of interests, and even highlight information which I found particularly useful within those sites. These items are categorized into "My Tags" based on the appropriate "#tag" I give it. Within my own bookmarking, I am able to create a library of resources which I feel have a distinct use. My most used Diigo tags can be viewed to the left column of this webpage, demonstrating the tags which I have most prominently used within my website discovery. In addition, I can add the author of educational blogs to my PLN by following them via Twitter. In addition to people I began following as a result of my participation in an online chat, I began following people like Bill Ferriter, a full time educator who also wrote, "Building a PLC at Work" and "Teaching the iGeneration." Professional and seasonal educators such as this provide me with great resources that I most likely would not have found on my own, providing me with new information in and about the teaching world. There is already a Diigo Tagroll on my blog, as I previously mentioned, because I tagged eight sites using Diigo as an assignment. In addition to those tags, I now also have tags for my very own Personal Learning Network.
The digital discussion forum that I joined was "Classroom 2.0," the final professional social networking tool I utilized in an attempt to continue my PLN web. In addition to the others, this site provides me with access to specific events, forums, blogs, and groups to better my educational development. Just like Twitter and Diigo, I can use this site to further my development as a professional educator. Having my own PLN allows me to connect with an entire network of educators on a global level, and I cannot wait to continue my PLN development over the course of the next several years. Diving right into the blogging world, I read a post entitled, "Virtual Reality" by Sara Finney. It can be found at http://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blogs/virtual-reality-2. I felt as though this had very a very appropriate connection with our class as we attempt to incorporate virtual technology into our teaching methods to better our skills. In her blog post, she discussed the importance of human interaction in addition to virtual realities. While technological tools should enhance lessons, Finney writes that they should "not replace them." I greatly agree with this stance as technology should not overcome actual teaching in the classroom. Much like any new "gadget" or "trick," while its usage can add a great deal of stimulation to a lesson plan, it does not stand alone as a means of teaching.
The digital discussion forum that I joined was "Classroom 2.0," the final professional social networking tool I utilized in an attempt to continue my PLN web. In addition to the others, this site provides me with access to specific events, forums, blogs, and groups to better my educational development. Just like Twitter and Diigo, I can use this site to further my development as a professional educator. Having my own PLN allows me to connect with an entire network of educators on a global level, and I cannot wait to continue my PLN development over the course of the next several years. Diving right into the blogging world, I read a post entitled, "Virtual Reality" by Sara Finney. It can be found at http://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blogs/virtual-reality-2. I felt as though this had very a very appropriate connection with our class as we attempt to incorporate virtual technology into our teaching methods to better our skills. In her blog post, she discussed the importance of human interaction in addition to virtual realities. While technological tools should enhance lessons, Finney writes that they should "not replace them." I greatly agree with this stance as technology should not overcome actual teaching in the classroom. Much like any new "gadget" or "trick," while its usage can add a great deal of stimulation to a lesson plan, it does not stand alone as a means of teaching.
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