Personal Learning Networks are one of the most important and (after the fact) most obvious extensions of the information explosion we are in the middle of. The general idea is that there are more forms of professional or scholastic support than from merely who you can talk to. There are all kinds of online communities, Twitter feeds, online initiatives, and opportunities with which to become more and more connected with similar minded people…all over the world.
While this is a great idea for almost anyone, teachers are the profession with which this may have the most current value. The fact is that teaching, education, and schools in general are on the verge of some huge changes, and that there is increasing amounts of flux in how we teachers do things, how we use and master modern technology, and even in defining what learning and education are.
This list from QDED provides a good starting point for most teachers in that a broad o9verview on education helps create the structure for your personal additions (i.e. more specific to your teaching specialty…).
5 Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) for Educators
http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/05/5-personal-learning-networks-plns-for-educators
Below is a short list of PLNs that already exist, followed by some resources to help teachers build their own
- The Educator’s PLN is a Ning site (or online platform for creating your own social network) that facilitates connections between educators. It features a slew of resources such as downloadable podcasts with education leaders as guest speakers, discussion groups with specific purposes like exploring the iPad’s use in the classroom, and links to relevant blogs, videos, resource lists, and events.
- Powerful Learning Practice is a professional development program for progressive-minded educators. Its year-long curriculum provides cohorts of teachers with new ideas and hands-on practice in order to bolster their tech knowledge and aptitudes, rethink classroom activities to make them relevant for today’s students, find other teachers with similar goals, and build their own tech-rich learning tools. It isn’t free ($1,500 per person for a year of professional development in a school or district team or $1,000 as an individual), but teachers can usually earn education credits for their participation.
- Classroom 2.0 is designed for those interested in sharing ideas and resources about using Web 2.0 and new media in education. This means connecting with colleagues, finding out about events, joining different groups, attending Webinars every Saturday, or simply discussing everything from online projects to financial literacy to smart phone apps.
- EdChat began as a Twitter conversation for educators and has now expanded to a PBworks wiki that encourages the ideas spawned on Twitter that translate to practical advice. To get involved in EdChat on Twitter, search for the hashtag #edchat and join in the conversation. EdChat participants can also visit the success stories page, participate in two live conversations every Tuesday, and join the EdChat group at the Educator’s PLN.
- EdWeb.net is a free online social network that lets educators connect with colleagues, collaborate on goals and projects, form their own professional learning communities, mentor one another, and practice using a slew of new technologies. Specific initiatives within the network include a game-based learning forum that will bring teachers together with game developers to explore best practices and further the discussion — and the field.
Resources for Building or Finding Your Own
These EduBlog and WeConnect posts, both compiled by teacher and blogger Shelly Terrell, present a pretty exhaustive, multimedia-rich list that allows teachers to explore what a PLN is, why they should care, the research behind it, and step-by-step instructions on how to build one.
For an even bigger list of online teacher networks, visit EducationalNetworking.com’s master list.
Educators, which learning networks do you belong to? What value have you found from collaborating with your peers?
