Kate Klingensmith is a Community and Content Manager for Inigral, a San Francisco-based education startup company. With a degree in Cognitive Science and four years of teaching high school biology and physics under her belt, Kate has a strong interest in learning theory, curriculum and pedagogy, and technology integration in the classroom. Her blog, Once a Teacher, is a record of her quest to research and collaborate with others to find ways of increasing engagement in the classroom by incorporating web 2.0 tools and developing 21st century skills.
What is a PLN?
If I had to define the term ‘Personal Learning Networks’ as most people use it today, I would keep it simple and broad:
n. – the entire collection of people with whom you engage and exchange information, usually on-line.
Personal Learning Networks have been around forever. Originally, they were your family and friends, maybe other educators you worked with, but as the internet and web 2.0 tools have become nearly ubiquitous, PLNs can include a multitude of communities – social networking sites like Facebook, blogs, Twitter , wikis, social bookmarking tools, LinkedIn, and the list goes on and on. Basically, anyone that you interact with is a part of your PLN, whether they are social contacts, professional peers, or experts in their field. Most of the ‘learning’ takes place on-line now, because it is simple to find and connect with others with similar interests from around the world.
PLN’s Have Immense Value!
So, why bother thinking about your PLN? Whether you’re a full-time mom, a full-time teacher, or a full-time student, your PLN can be extremely interesting and helpful. The beauty of people communicating online is the ease of finding and sharing information and – if you ask for it - the group feedback that you get on ideas and projects.
Imagine you’re trying to do research on a topic – let’s say that you’re trying to bake chocolate chip cookies to impress your wife. You may decide to do a web search for recipes and get hit-or-miss results, OR you may turn to your favorite 3 recipe blogs, you might ask for suggestions on Twitter, or you may find a professional pastry chef on LinkedIn and ask them for advice. Eventually, you have three trusted recipes to refer to, you make some incredible cookies, and then you post the recipe on your blog for others to find. The cycle continues and the results improve every round, thanks to a group effort. Now, imagine what this does for classroom teachers looking for project ideas or parents looking for resources for their special-needs child.
Students can also reap the benefits of tapping into their PLNs. Here is a wonderful video called “The Networked Student” that shows how on-line networking can enhance students’ 21st century skills.
When you have a large group of people combing through vast amounts of information and collectively identifying the most useful, entertaining, or valuable parts, it only makes sense to tap into this collective knowledge!
Build-your-own PLN
If you’re interested in expanding your PLN, here’s a directory of some of the best web 2.0 tools:
(my favorites are *starred)
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Category
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Value
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Examples and Guides
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Social Networking
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Keeping up with personal, more social contacts like friends, family, and former students
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*Facebook
Myspace
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Microblogging
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Populated with educators from around the world who share best practices and resources in short bursts
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*Twitter
(My Guide to Twitter )
Plurk
Utterli
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Professional Profiles
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Find other professionals and experts in your field
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*LinkedIn
BrightFuse
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Wikis
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Community-monitored sites that can function as websites or for group organization and projects
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*Wikispaces
pbwiki
wetpaint
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Blogs
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Great sources of information such as classroom best practices as well as personal opinions; Blogs monitor the heartbeat of new trends in education and the commenting back and forth leads to many great ideas and relationships
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*Wordpress
(My blog – make sure to check out the ‘Blogroll’ because they’re my favorites )
*Blogger
Typepad
Alltop – top blog headlines, by topic
Technorati – a blog-search engine
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RSS Reader
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RSS means “Real Simple Syndication” – an RSS reader is a tool that allows you to keep up with many of your favorite blogs, all in once place
(see this video ‘RSS in Plain English’ )
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*Netvibes
(My Netvibes)
Pageflakes
Google Reader
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Nings
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Communities of people interested in similar topics, with forums and messaging
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*Classroom 2.0
*Future of Education
Ning
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Webinars
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Live, on-line presentations or conferences, with real-time chat, hosted by experts on specific topics; Great way to learn about new things and to meet new people
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*Classroom 2.0 Live!
*EdTechTalk Live
*Elluminate - host your own!
Dim Dim
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Backchanneling of conferences
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When there are neat (and expensive) conferences that you can’t attend, follow conversations and links about the highlights
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*Twitter search – use acronyms like ‘NECC’ or ‘SXSWi’
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hat to Expect when building your PLN - Stages of Adoption
There are certain stages that most people seem to go through when building their PLN before settling into a comfortable niche: you’ll jump in head-first, to the point that you’re spending too much time on-line and worrying about not being able to read everything, but you’ll eventually find a happy balance between learning and living. While it may take a little time, you’ll eventually find that a rich PLN can elevate both your personal and professional life to new heights.
If you’d like to connect with me, click here.
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