What is the Importance of a Personal Learning Network?
- Control Everything. No one knows which areas you struggle with as an educator more than you do. ...
- Get Challenged. A PLN is not necessarily a group of like-minded individuals. ...
- Get Out of Your Own Head. ...
- Share What You Know. ...
- Find a Support System. ...
- Support Your Students. ...
- In short, Every website, journal, Twitter feed, and individual person is a resource. ...
Why do people build a personal learning network?
People with a growth mindset and a curious disposition are likely to invest time and effort in building and maintaining a Personal Learning Network, because they believe that there is always an opportunity to learn more, to improve, and explore.
What is a Personal Learning Network (PLN)?
As discussed in a previous post, a personal learning network (PLN) is a customized social media platform for educators.
What is personal learning and why is it important?
Personal learning is one of the foundations of any educational institution – and any successful organizational change.
What are the steps in the Personal Learning Network building process?
An analysis of the diagram above reveals that there are primarily 5 steps in the entire Personal Learning Network building process: Explore, Collect, Review, Re-create, Share . I would also like to emphasize that a Personal Learning Network is intricately linked to one's personal knowledge management (PKM) capabilities.
What are the benefits of establishing a personal learning network?
The Benefits of Personal Learning Networks A PLN allows you to personalize your learning. You get to choose your topic of focus, whether it's picking up better technology skills or learning to differentiate instruction for a particular group of students you're struggling to reach.
Why is a professional learning network important?
PLNs allow you to build relationships with peers to discuss best practices for teaching your subject, strategies for dealing with a new fad or phase that all the kids in your grade seem to be going through, or for testing out new ideas in an adult group before you dive in with your students.
What is an example of a personal learning network?
A module cohort could be considered an example of a personal learning network in which we participate, our peers and tutors are a source of information and knowledge, and a community to which we can take our ideas and questions.
What is a PLN in Google?
What is a PLN? A Personal Learning Network (also called a Professional Learning Network or Personal Learning Community) is “an informal learning network that consists of the people a learner interacts with and derives knowledge from in a personal learning environment.”
What are the benefits of developing a professional learning network quizlet?
What are the benefits of developing a Professional Learning Network? Provides a platform and an opportunity for educators to collaborate, communicate, share ideas and resources, and build community to improve and expanding their learning.
What is a learning network?
Learning Networks are on-line social networks through which users share knowledge with each other and jointly develop new knowledge. This way, Learning Networks may enrich the experience of formal, school-based learning and form a viable setting for professional development.
How do you create a personal learning network?
How to Create Your Own Personalized Learning NetworkBe Selective. Know who you're connecting with before you connect. ... Be Thoughtful. ... Start on Social Media. ... Ask Questions. ... Create Your Own Content. ... Give Credit. ... Remember the WHY.
How do you develop a PLN?
How to Build a PLNStart a Twitter account that focuses on following educators.Build a circle of connected educators on Google+.Follow education blogs (read and comment).Follow education chats that are specific to your content area.Join and participate in education groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.More items...•
What is personal learning environment?
A Personal Learning Environment (PLE) is a set of people and digital resources an individual can access for the specific intent of learning. Students illustrate the potential connections through a visible network of the set.
How can PLN be used in the classroom?
Classroom 2.0 and The Educator's PLN also provide tools that engage members. Members can upload photos, participate in webinars (Classroom 2.0), create and RSVP to events, create blogs, write posts, and respond to discussions.
What does PLN stand for?
The Polish zloty (PLN) is the national currency used in Poland. A single Polish zloty is subdivided into 100 groszy and is often represented by a symbol that looks like the lowercase Latin letters "zl" with a stroke about halfway up the "l." It is a freely floating currency that trades on forex markets.
What is Professional learning Network?
For us, the term Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) represents any group who engages in collaborative learning with others outside of their everyday community of practice; with the ultimate aim of improving outcomes for children (Brown & Poortman, 2018).
Every Teacher Should Have a Personal Learning Network
Modern technology has made it easy for teachers to create a personal learning network through social media and other online communities. Teachers without one are missing out on all of the benefits a personal learning network brings.
About the Author: Beth Cooper
As a Teachers of Tomorrow company, our mission is to serve students, and schools by being a trusted partner to diverse and dedicated educators throughout their careers.
Building Personal Learning Networks
Thus, in its own interest, an organization must facilitate and create the conditions for people to collaborate, learn from each other, and build a network within and without to remain on the cutting edge of their practices and domains.
Characteristics Of Personal Learning Networks
One of the hallmarks of an effective Personal Learning Network is its diversity. Diverse here denotes cognitive diversity – arising from different world-views, cultural perspectives, varied educational background, and possessing different problem-solving frameworks and heuristics.
What Are The Skills Needed To Build Personal Learning Networks?
Building one's Personal Learning Network in the online world requires skills like networking, participating in communities of practices, working out loud and collaborating, and curation and aggregation to process the information. While developing the skills do take some effort and persistence, the benefits are tremendous.
Final Thoughts
In this collaborative economy, sharing is a much valued trait and one of the pillars of building a Personal Learning Network. One cannot hope to receive without giving first. Networks have a profound impact on how we learn as defined by the principles of Connectivism. Establishing credibility with one's network is essential.
What is personal learning network?
What is a Personal Learning Network? One of the strengths of the digital environment is its highly networked nature and this is particularly relevant for personal learning networks where access to information and resources far surpasses anything that has come before both in terms of variety and volume.
What is PLN in education?
A PLN is a community of individuals around the world who are learning together.”. Even though Ferguson specifically mentions a professional learning network, the mechanics of how the network functions is much the same as in a personal learning network, just with a different focus. The key point here is the idea of “learning together”.
What is a PLN in YouTube?
Even YouTube is a good bet for finding instructional information for specific skills and topics. In short, a PLN is what each individual wants it to be and it reflects each individual’s personal passions, motivations and desire to know (Moreillon, 2016; Nelson, 2012). Figure 1.
What is a digital PLN?
A digital PLN can reflect a variety of tools and methods, depending on individual preferences and goals. Most people will develop a variety of tools for a well-rounded learning network that meets all of their needs. An easy way to think about building a PLN is to decide what functionality you need. For example, one requirement ...
What are the characteristics of a successful PLN?
While the characteristics of a PLN include fast access to massive amounts of information, a successful PLN is also characterized by participants who are highly self-motivated and curious. Without people who have a passion for learning, a PLN would not be as valuable.
Why is engaging in different communities with different areas of focus important?
Engaging in different communities with different areas of focus will provide a rich environment for learning. This is especially easy to do in a digital environment where one literally has the entire world to draw from as a source of inspiration. There is no need to settle for sources that do not meet your needs.
Is MOOCs a hallmark of PLN?
While informal networks and learning opportunities are a hallmark of PLN’s it is not uncommon to include formal learning tools as well. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) are offered by many colleges and universities.
What Is A PLN?
Access to A Worldwide Network of Peers
- Having a PLN allows you to exchange with fellow educators across the globe and to stay informed about current trends in education, and more precisely, in your field of specialization. The biggest advantage of this is, you get access to lesson plans and resources that you otherwise would have never come across!
Sharing
- Users of PLNs share not just content and ideas; but also links to resources, blogs, and information about educational experts. It works both ways though, if you have any self-made educational content and you want to share it with others, your network can help you get your content out there. You will be sure to receive appreciation and constructive criticism, as these communities are ma…
Discover New Tools
- When someone tries a new technology, they are very likely to talk about it on their social media. This is great if you are looking for reviews about a particular product that has been on your wish list for a while and if you are hesitating to make a decision. It could also help you discover tools that might resolve a problem you have encountered recently. PLN’s might also provide you with i…
Start Small
- If you are unsure where to begin, start small! Check if any of your colleagues are a part of a PLN already. If not, take the initiative and set up a monthly meeting with teachers from your school or school district. Think of it as a book club – where you all decide to research a particular topic and then discuss your findings and conclusions. Taking this small step will help you to not feel over…
Social Media
- LinkedIn, Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter all have an always-growing educational community. Play around with hashtags on Twitter and Instagram till you find like-minded educators. Then feel free to share, engage and question! The education community on Twitter organizes weekly themed chats on different days and times. Check out: #edchat #teachertwitter #edutwitter for a start. Re…
Conferences and Webinars
- Conferences are wonderful opportunities to make one-to-one connections and get to know people offline. It is the chance to network, grow your PLN, and engage in direct contact with others who might challenge your thoughts, enabling you to hone your skills in your field as a result. It is a ‘personal’ network, which means you must make some efforts to find out what content you are l…