Blog Post 5
What is Personal Learning Networks
(PLN)? - Personal Learning Networks (PLN's) are money-making
resources for teachers to grow skillfully. Individually PLN is created and
personalized based on the professional interests and goals of an individual
educator. This is a free means of professional development available 24/7 from
anywhere.
How can they help us as teachers? As we carry on into 21st
century education system, teachers must acquire new techniques and practices to
better ourselves and to prepare our students for our constantly evolving
world. One way to do this is through a
Personal Learning Network (PLN), a network of people, websites, blogs, and
other resources. Vicki Davis best explains how PLNs can work in the classroom
in her article "Personal Learning Networks Are Virtual Lockers for School
kids": "A PLN becomes a student's virtual locker, and its content
changes based on the student's current course work. When I assign them a term
paper, the students comb the Web to sign up for information that will feed into
their personalized Web page to construct a PLN for that topic. When they get a
new project, they assemble another page."
How are they made? How can you create your own PLN?
Dr. Strange has stated before that Twitter is best way for
him to connect with other educators and resources. He has also provided a list
of many educators in Project 6 Fall of 2009. Once you discover new resources to
include in your PLN, you can use websites like Symbaloo or Netvibes to form and
keep track of your PLN resources. Symbaloo organizes different website icons by
tile blocks, while Netvibes organizes RSS feeds of sites into block
arrangements. Both are effective tools and easy to use.
Who will be the first additions to your PLN?
I am a little to have
begun to build my own PLN, but I have planned to add Dr. Strange, friends and
classmates to my network through Twitter.
Daniel,
ReplyDeletePLN's are useful for both educators and students because they can connect to other people not only near by, but around the world. PLN's are a great learning tool. I agree Twitter is a great way to connect with other educators. I have never heard of Symbaloo or Netvibes. However, they seem like a good way to keep someone organized.
"Personal Learning Networks (PLN's) are money-making resources for teachers to grow skillfully." Not money-making as far as i know of!
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