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A Personal Learning Network (PLN), consists of learners from different parts of the world who interact with each other by sharing knowledge such as significant information or ideas that consequently contribute to one’s professional development. The virtual educational tools that have helped me create my PLN are Twitter, an online social networking and micro blogging service, Diigo, a social bookmarking website that allows users to bookmark and tag websites, Google+, a social networking, and Ning, an online platform for individuals and organizations to create custom social networks. My PLN will help me as a future teacher by allowing me to obtain access to relevant information that will facilitate my goal of providing my students with educational and innovative ways to learn.
Becoming a member of Twitter allowed me to come in contact with any individual that I may be interested in; simply by following them and making them part of my social network. The people I chose to follow aside from my classmates and professor are individuals that seem to share some of my same educational interests, or individuals whose career path I would like to someday go through: Monica Benner, a Spanish immersion teacher, Kristen, a high school Spanish teacher and a mom, Michelle Horst, a new teacher seeking opportunities for employment and collaboration, Melanie Tolan, a 2010 California Teacher of the Year committed to helping students be successful in school, Alice Irwin, a kindergarten teacher interested in connecting with other teachers, and Garry Dillard, an educator who teaches high school Spanish.
Twitter also allows you to be participate in live chats and on Saturday, 11/5/11 at 7pm, I took part of a #elemchat discussion whose topic was “Creating a culture of thinking in our classrooms”. Although I didn’t contribute to the conversation it was very fascinating to see how people all over took the time to engage in this chat and discuss ways that critical thinking can be applied inside a classroom. Throughout the hour about ten questions were asked by a same individual relevant to the topic and everyone else seemed to try to answer the questions. At times it was a little overwhelming having multiple tweets coming at once and struggling to read them all. My overall experience was positive and hopefully with time I would feel comfortable to share my thoughts inside a live chat.
As previously mentioned Diigo is another one of my educational tools that has helped my PLN grow by allowing me to bookmark and tag-websites, however it also serves as a social network given its ability to share what I have bookmarked and tagged with people inside my network. Much like my network within Twitter, the individuals I chose to follow were based upon similarity of interest: Amy Lenord, a high school Spanish teacher, Elle Deyamport, a Gifted Education teacher interested in multicultural education and technology integration in the classroom. Jose Picardo, a high school Spanish teacher interested in e-learning, Leigh Murrell Spanish teacher that works in the Educational Technology department, and lastly Sra. Hache another Spanish teacher. The sites I tagged “PLN” with because of their content in regards to the subject were Using Twitter in Classrooms and for Professional Development, and How to Use Twitter to Grow Your PLN | Edutopia, which dealt with how Twitter can be used within classrooms and for professional growth, and I also tagged The Innovative Educator: 5 Things You Can Do to Begin Developing Your Personal Learning Network, which described in very much detail five things to develop PLN.
In addition to Twitter and Diigo, I became a member of a digital discussion forum or Ning, Educators PLN. Unlike many other educational virtual tools, you have to be approved to become a member of Educators PLN. Once approved, I was able to explore videos, articles and blogs that run in a collaborative manner. The blog I chose to explore was Supporting New Teachers: What have you done for them lately? This blog discussed various ideas of what current teacher have done or can do to create a better environment for new teachers, for example creating support groups for new teachers, as well as leading by example.
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