Group items tagged

PLN. Stands for Personal Learning Network. Gets bandied around a lot by educators using social media tools. Myself included. We all think we know what we are talking about when we refer to our PLN. Well, I do, at least. Not too sure about some of you others out there. Here's what I personally think my PLN is:

"One of the most common questions we get is, "But where do we find the time to use all this new technology?" To answer that question, we developed this infographic - A Day in the Life of a Connected Educator to show that using social media in your classroom and in your life can be integrated, easy, and fun."

"Before the advent of Twitter, most educators I know had limited opportunities to collaborate with colleagues outside their building. Some subscribed to listservs or participated in online forums, but these outlets lacked critical mass; teachers also networked at in-person conferences and training sessions, but these isolated events didn't provide ongoing support. Enter Twitter. I've heard many educators say that Twitter is the most effective way to collaborate and that they've learned more with Twitter than they have from years of formal professional development."

"This webinar will examine the social networks that have become established by educators. It will examine their scope, audience and the different tools that can be used to connect with these online learning communities. It will look at how teachers can connect to these communities with mobile phones, tablet devices and computers, online behaviour, how information is shared, how to control your content, how to find material and how to leverage this to best advantage. It will also consider some of the ethical issues and dilemmas that must be considered."

"I was recently asked how my own use of social media fits onto Harold's PKM framework.  So I came up with this diagram which shows my own daily PKM routine."

Gladwell points out that it is easy to feel fulfilled and to have contributed to solutions to problems from the comforts of one's own couch and wireless network. Yet, real substantive change often requires real social activism beyond Twitter, Facebook, and the like.

"It seems like just yesterday that I was a disconnected nomad working hard to maintain the status quo and conform to a rigid system commonly known as education. You see, prior to 2009 I was adamantly opposed to even the thought of using social media for both personal and professional reasons. As a building level leader burdened by endless responsibilities, I could not fathom wasting even a precious minute in what I saw as a perpetual time sap. " Read the rest of this post to see how Eric discovered being connected on social media and engaging in conversations with passionate educators has transformed his work in education.