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"I'm not usually the type of person who tells other teachers what they MUST and MUST NOT do. This post is pushier than usual, because I'm more passionate about this topic than usual. Being a connected educator has transformed my teaching and added so much joy to my life that I want every discouraged and overwhelmed teacher to know: You can become energized once again. You can love your job! Being a connected educator means creating a personal learning network or community (often called a PLN or PLC.) The people in your personal learning community are those you connect with to share ideas and encourage each other. Some teachers have a lot of people like that in their own schools, but many teachers don't, and they reach out to like-minded individuals online. Through Twitter or Facebook or blogs or whatever medium they choose, the build a community of people they can share success and failures with and enjoy growing together."

"In the above illustration, what is the student doing? Here are some possibilities… conducting research creating a project texting a parent, friend, or teacher watching a video playing a game reading a news article As educators, we could argue the instructional merits of what is happening with the smartphone that the student is holding. Many of our initial thoughts and concerns are framed by our own perceptions and experiences of how we personally use technology. I read a heavily circulated article this week that detailed some research from the UK on the banning of students personal technology tools. This research revealed that students perform better on standardized tests when their schools ban the use of personal mobile devices. Apparently, this improved performance was due to the lack of distractions. Obviously, I can't argue with the research, but I do have several questions and thoughts related to the focus of this study and the topic of banning students' technology tools."

Identity theft is where criminals obtain personal information such as your date of birth, bank account numbers, your mother's maiden name, your pet's name and so on. These personal details are often used as questions by companies for you to prove who you are over the telephone. So, if the thief can answer these questions there is a good chance they will succeed in impersonating you. This is bad news, as they could purchase things in your name, take out loans, even take money from your accounts!  

"For nearly 30 years, personal computers as we have known them have been the drivers of the technology engine. From Intel to Microsoft to Dell to HP to Micron Technology - many fortunes were made on the back of the PC. But the rise of mobile computing is upending the technology business and is simultaneously redefining what is a personal computer and how we use it. On Thursday Hewlett-Packard, one of the oldest companies in Silicon Valley with deep connections to the PC ecosystem (they paid $25 billion for Compaq in 2002) and the world's largest seller of PCs, confirmed it is looking to sell off its personal computing business. "

"Please join the Alliance for Excellent Education for another webinar in its Project 24 leadership series. Project 24 is a systemic planning framework around the effective use of technology and digital learning to achieve the goal of college and career readiness for all students. This webinar will focus on one of the most important aspects of school transformation: personalized professional learning. For years, the top-down, one-size-fits-all approach to professional learning has been prevalent in schools across the nation. Educators are often brought into large group rooms and a "sit and get" model of professional learning is utilized. Quite often, educators are left feeling frustrated and districts wonder why there is little evidence of impact in a traditional model. In recent years, the concept of educators being empowered to take charge of their own professional learning has gained momentum. During this webinar, Tom Murray, Steven Anderson, and Kyle Pace will discuss the importance of personalized, professional learning; the ability for educators to connect globally and take charge of their own learning; and professional learning in a Future Ready School."

"At Branson Junior High, our amazing team of teachers and principals, along with the encouraging support of our school district superintendents to be innovative with a purpose, are on a journey to personalize learning for every child. We are starting small, but dreaming big and have already experienced some momentous transformations in our school culture. At this school year's kick-off orientation event for parents and learners, we built on the familiar analogy of a go-kart track to communicate the vision of personalized learning at BJH (Branson, MO is a big tourist destination in mid-America). Most junior high/middle school aged kids would be excited to hear their parents say they were going to the go-kart track for a night out of family fun. However, if when they arrived at the track the parent asked the attendant for a two-seater go-kart and then directed their son/daughter to climb in the passenger seat, the child's excitement level would immediately deflate. You can easily picture in your mind's eye the typical response a child would have to their parent's action: "I thought we were here to have fun?! Can't we each have our own go-kart to drive?" Likewise, if we desire fully engaged and responsible learners, then we must provide them the opportunities to drive their own go-kart. Just like a go-kart track, we set-up safe boundaries, provide some initial guidance, but then let the learner buckle-up and drive!"

"What is differentiated learning, anyway? Is it synonymous with personalized learning? Or personal learning? The recently released second edition of the book "The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners" describes differentiated learning as addressing many students of "various backgrounds, readiness and skill levels, and interests". Sounds pretty similar to personalized learning to me, though I'm sure there is quite a bit of nuance involved to -ahem- differentiate the two"

"We haven't talked about learning analytics in awhile (at least not specifically), but that doesn't mean learning analytics have missed the mark (last year, learning analytics were tagged as a 'top trend' in education). We talk quite often about blended learning and personalized learning, often times neglecting to consider that learning analytics are what really drives these concepts: without it, we're just shooting in the dark (or dusk, really, since not everything is data!). The handy infographic below takes a look at exactly how personalized education is being driven by learning analytics, and more specifically, how learning analytics can take us from 'traditional' to 'personalized' education. Keep reading to learn more!"

"According to Marc-André Lalande,  "a Personal Learning Network is a way of describing the group of people that you connect with to learn their ideas, their questions, their reflections, and their references. Your PLN is not limited to online interactions, but it is that online, global interactive part that really makes it special. It is personal because you choose who's part of that group; you choose if you want to lurk-just check out what people are saying-or if you share; because you choose when to do so, and how to do so." As for this graphic? You can thank Sylvia Duckworth, who always does a great job sharing simple sketch notes to help teachers. (She also took our 12 Rules of Great Teaching and created a predictably wonderful graphic to supplement the text, among others.) We've taken her graphic and provided starting points for each 'reason' a teacher need a PLN."

"To ban or not to ban, that is always the question when it comes to personal devices in the classroom. But rather than fight this uphill battle (Generation Alpha is forecasted to be more technological than any previous), let's figure out how to leverage these little machines. If used intentionally, mobile devices can be an express pass to exploring beyond the walls of our schools. While pushing students to learn outside our classrooms is a step in the right direction, how do we ensure that these experiences lead to deeper learning? Here are 5 ways to get to curate that practice by making your class a BYOD zone."

"Simply put, we live in an age of personalization and customization -- and companies know it and are gearing their efforts to serve our needs in the way they think we want to be served. "

I'd really love your help to demonstrate the importance of personal learning networks so I'm hoping you will help me with my presentation by sharing your thoughts. Check out the reader comments for some great PLN uses.

"News 360 is a free news aggregation service that you can customize for your interests. You can read your personalized news feed on your phone, tablet, or desktop. The mobile app is available for iPhone, iPad, Blackberry Playbook, Android phones and tablets, and Windows phones. You can also read your News 360 feed on your computer."

"Every school day since 2009 we've asked students a question based on an article in the New York Times. Five years later, we've collected 500 of them that invite narrative and personal writing and pulled them all together in one place. Consider it a companion to the list of 200 argumentative writing prompts we posted earlier this year."

"Social media has the potential to strike fear in the hearts of many educators. It's a frequent topic in articles and education Twitter chats. Everyone has lines in the sand about social media. Some educators aren't comfortable being public in spaces where students can see them. Others have strict rules about how they interact online professionally. Often, teachers have school and personal accounts, effectively separating personal and private lives."

"Elementary education overemphasizes literacy at the expense of disciplines that lead to greater academic, professional and personal success for adults. By placing STEM disciplines at the center of elementary education, we lay the foundation necessary to meet adult personal and professional challenges while providing an environment in which to apply the 3Rs."

"One thing that always interested me about History was the growing realisation that even the supposedly simplest and most straightforward facts are quite often shrouded in a mystifying narrative; a trail of sources that leaves the true story open to a range of opposing interpretations and outcomes. Whilst we may think we have answered all the questions and arrived at the correct conclusions about the sequences of events, a differing theory or discovery of a contradictory source can suddenly debunk the accepted. That is what makes learning History so fascinating; the mysteries. The definite mysteries that we may never solve or we can see evolving into an answer as decades move forward, or the certain chronicle that suddenly finds itself turning into a cryptic puzzle as later evidence emerges. Within us all is a person who wants to know the answers when challenged by the unknown, and to embrace the exhilaration of cracking a Sherlockian case. Instead of a just a 'Whodunnit?', exploring history mysteries involves a wider spectrum of narratives and therefore can offer a far more rich tapestry of skills including analysis, questioning and the evaluation of places, events and persons. Follow me down the rabbit's hole into the wonderland of history mysteries."

"The world as we know it has fundamentally changed our learners.  It is not that they are learning differently per say, but the environment in which they learn has dramatically changed.  The challenge for educators and schools today is to make learning REAL (relevant, engaging, authentic, and lasting) for all students and aligning it more with their world.  A great deal of emphasis has been placed on personalized opportunities for students.  Whereas there are many benefits with this approach, the reliance on technology platform and human interaction can take away from intended outcomes. REAL learning places a greater emphasis on making learning personal for students.  Image credit: http://pblstem.com/ Below are some quick tips that can make learning more REAL (relevant, engaging, authentic, and lasting):"

"Using personal iPhones and iPads in the office leads many people to work from them while on vacation. Our iPhones and iPads, which enable us to work and be on call virtually anywhere at any time, will lead to more than half of us working while on vacation. That's the result of a new study that looked at how technology impacts the work/life balance. iOS devices are common players in the bring your own device (BYOD) era. As BYOD programs lead many of us to use our personal iOS devices and other mobile technology for work-related tasks, they also encourage an "always on" attitude from employers and employees alike."