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This blog post discusses what a PLN is and how educators can create a PLN to support meaningful and relevant learning. It describes a PLN as an aspect of a PLE (personal learning environment) and then compares and contrasts the two. The author also provides examples of PLNs and discusses how to use MOOCs (massive online open course) and cMOOCs (connectivist massive open online course) to help build a PLN.

In this blog from Debbie Morrison it looks at creating a PLN. However, what make it interesting is her discussion of the difference between PLE's and PLN's which she states are often used interchangeably but shouldn't be.

This article has some interesting points about personal responsibility in creating a PLN.

"Either teachers embrace the new language learning technologies and integrate them in a new pedagogy or they will not only deprive themselves of the enormous benefits afforded by computer-assisted learning (CALL), computer mediated communication) (CMC), distance learning, social networking, and language games, but they will be increasingly out of touch with their own students, who are by now wired, networked and computer-savvy". This book explained why teachers should integrate technology tools into foreing language classrooms.

This website talked about 5 key resources needed for educators to being and grow their own personal PLNs. http://ning.com offers podcast downloads, discussion forums, videos, relevant blogs, videos and more resources. Powerful Learning Practice is a professional development opportunity that teacher can attend. It offers hands-on applications and the know-how to build and use technology within the classroom. Webinars are conferences people can attend online to join discussions and offer insight to like educators. EdChat is something we can join now on twitter using the hashtag #EdChat every Tuesday. Game based-learning tutorials and talk can be found on http://edweb.net where mentors and people who've successful implemented these practices in their classrooms can offer advice and help.

Those are 5 really good resources. Thanks for sharing.

Interesting article here. There's a hand signal you can use to help students remember the power and importance of PLNs. This could be helpful to teach younger students the "why" they have to be learning these skills in order to make learning meaningful. Student- Thumb; rest of the team depends on them for resources and help. Mentor- Index finger; helps organize and keep the group on task. Expert- Ring finger; ensures accuracy. Advisor- Longest finger; pinpoints needs and identifies necessary changes. Peer- Pinky finger; shares thoughts, communicates frustrations and celebrates when things are successful. Watch the video here: http://videos.videopress.com/lzULinmO/collegeunboundpersonallearningnetwork-hd1_fmt1.ogv

Love it! The hand metaphor is great.. It actually helped me to better understand PLNs myself. "Just as the hand's function is to grasp, hold, and manipulate, making it essential to daily tasks, so is the student support team essential for the same reasons."

I really like this Ryan! Not only is the picture intriguing but the metaphor is great for understanding as well as teaching about PLNs. Good find!

This paper explores faculty views with respect to tech literacy, tech training, and pedagogy. The upshot is that to more broadly integrate technology in higher ed, more effective faculty training is required.

I really like the point within the paper where they identify the aspects that must be considered when training in a teacher. He states four main points about technology teacher training that I think are really relevant in where education is going today. 1. Education training takes considerably longer to learn than learning a new teaching model. 2. Access to technology at home and at school is essential. 3. Fear of the unknown must be addressed. And 4. The use of technology will force teachers to re-conceptualize the way in which they teach. I think these are 4 very interesting talking points when looking at the use of social networks and highlights the importance of using CoP's and Learning Networks to have each group benefit.

While this article is targeted to librarians, the concepts are relevant to all educators, as well as to students. Author Nicole Cooke argues that in developing Personal Learning Networks and/or participating in communities of practice, librarians can engage in continued and essential learning beyond the terminal degree.

Maybe overly simplistic definition  - not really related to the academic theories but a starting point. Think it is too narrow to say they have been around forever -but 2.0 has changed things. Not that simple I feel. Learning has and is changing so the structure of what happens in a PLN is different.

You will need to use your BSU information to access this scholarly article. The focus of the article is on ALNs but it is relevant and can easily be extrapolated to PLNs. It looks closely at how collaborative learning can affect feelings of success or failure.

This article outlines PLNs as a tool for teachers to take charge of their professional development. It discusses what a PLN is, how to develop one, and what a teacher can gain from participating in one. The biggest take away from this article for me is to have clearly defined goals prior to joining a PLN.

In this issue of CUE (Computer-Using Educators), the main theme is Personal Learning Networks. "PLN: Face-to-Face to The Net", "PLN: New Ways to Interact and Broaden Our Horizons" or "Overcoming the Barriers to Effective Ongoing Staff Development Through Online Communities of Practice" are some of the articles compiled in this CUE issue. Authors explain that other members of the PLN are the most important aspect, how empowering it is to share ideas and resources with a worldwide network or the way experienced/tenure teachers are been helped by younger teachers to develop computer-based competences.

This is a volume of Advancing Student Achievement through Technology: On Cue. It has many articles that I plan to read through, but the one that really caught my eye is "Professional Learning Communities- Can Our Students Do This Too?" on page 10. While it is not so much an explanation of a Professional Learning Community (PLC) I believe it is a great testament to what we are researching and trying to do through this course. The author was urged by her district to encourage PLCs in her 6th grade English classroom. With adults improving their education through the use of technology she feels her students should be doing it too. It gave many great quotes from the 6th grade students and I believe it is an encouraging article as we being to look at social media and the possible uses it can have within a classroom.

This was an interesting article I found on the ISTE site where two educators provide two different points of view about whether teachers should have a professional social media presence. One writer say that teachers should absolutely have a social media presence so they can be models for their students while also broadening their own professional learning network. The other writer recognizes the amazing benefits of having a professional social media presence but also says that teacher's should not be required but rather educated in the benefits of social media for themselves and their students. This is a great article for looking at both sides of the social media presence coin and will lead to some good thinking on this topic of connectivism and professional learning networks online.

Jake, great resource! I often find that items that are mandated see more pushback from teachers even if the mandate is helpful. I think offering opportunities for teachers to learn and engage in social media will help build the grassroots movement and it will inevitably catch on.

These are my 10 Be's for creating a positive online presence and growing my Personal Learning Network

Excellent realistic advice on how to make connections that will help your career without being overtly obnoxious.

In this article, Warlick explains how to grow your personal learning network in order to avoid information overload. He gives great tips on how to aggregate information that comes to you, instead of spending all of your time trying to find information. He also gives tips on how to cultivate your network.

This article gives 5 tips for creating a PLN online. It mentions other websites other than twitter, such as pinterest, scoopit and feedly. Twitter is well known, but this article is great for the beginner who can explore other resources.

Great tips. It does take some significant time to get it all set up but I'm finding that the organization is paying off because when my son ends up napping longer than expected, I can open up Feedly and have lots of cool articles in the line-up to read without searching. Now I'm adding Twitter to the mix. People constantly ask how I have time to go to school and I think it boils down to tactics like this that allow you to capitalize on those unexpected breaks.

Most of the articles I've found about PLNs all have only a few steps that aren't explained very well. This article has just enough tips and information for someone who isn't that tech savvy to be able to create a PLN. I also like how they include the links to the different websites so people can go step by step in creating their network, then refer back to the article for the next step.