To bestow attention, care, and labor upon, with a view to valuable returns; to till; to fertilize; as, to cultivate soil.PLNs are tricky. They sound great. Come on, what doesn't sound awesome about a Personal Learning Network? It's personal, which means I build it, maintain it, and contribute to it. It's about learning, which is undeniably great. It's a network, and I've been told since high school that networking is the key to going places in the real world. The thing is that it's also personal, meaning I'm the one who has to put in the work, no one's going to do it for me. It's also about learning, and sometimes my brain feels full. It's also about networking, which sometimes is blah and sometimes is meh. I'm not sure what my point is. I guess I just wanted to lay out both sides of the situation.
from Webster's
So what exactly is a PLN? Really it's just a fancy name for something you're probably already doing (imagine that). Do you converse with colleagues about lesson ideas? Have you ever shared a cool new tool with a colleage? Do you have other teachers that you know you can go to in a pinch? That's a PLN. There are different ways to put together and cultivate your PLN. Using technology, your PLN can reach all the way around the world. For a specific example, see my previous post about the Elluminate session I attended on my computer with people from all over the world.
Instead of being abstract and describing PLNs in general, I'll just explain mine and how I use it. The first piece of my PLN is Google Reader. I use it to subscribe to a ton of education blogs. This lets me read about what others are thinking. It's as simple as that. Leaving constructive comments on those blogs helps me to branch out more and bring more people into my PLN, which brings up a point I want to emphasize: a PLN is not a popularity contest. It's not about seeing how big of an influence I can gain, or how many people subscribe to my blog or follow me on Twitter. It's about learning, plain and simple. The more other people devoted to learning I'm connected to, the better. So, first I use Google Reader to organize the blogs I subscribe to. I try to read and comment constructively on them as much as possible. The second piece of my PLN is Twitter. I'm not going to spend a ton of time defending Twitter's merits in a PLN, but I'll just say this: I was anti-Twitter before I joined and I'm still not completely sold. Yes, each post tops out at 140 characters, and yes, some people share some pretty mundane occurances in their lives, but following the right people on Twitter gives me access to resources I just wouldn't have had the time to find on my own. Feel free to watch Twitter in Plain English in the videos section from the link Videos up top. The third piece of my PLN is Gmail. If I were in charge of the Internet, everyone would use Gmail. The fourth piece of my PLN is everything that comes out of those first three pieces: Skype conversations, Elluminate webinars, free tech ideas for my classroom, really anything that teachers are thinking and sharing.
I hope that wasn't too confusing, although I know it was scattered. PLNs are one of those abstract parts of life that need to be experienced. So get out and experience!Here are your links:
- This site is a great resource for building a PLN using Web 2.0 tools.
- David Warlick has a detailed article about using technology to establish a PLN in Learning & Leading with Technology, March/April 2009. (You need to be a member to read it, but you can do that here.)
- The wrapup of the Elluminate session I attended. Listening to that session and reading the notes will enlighten.
- YouTube video on PLNs. Well done. I probably should have just linked to this instead of making you read all of my jibber jabber. Sorry.
