Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

This article expresses the idea that our professional and personal learning and networks take place in many places and not just the classroom, though that is a part of it. However, learning can be just as valid if you meet in the local coffee shop or head out for lunch together. It encourages us to expand our ideas of what professional development really is. It's not just the conference or event we go to. It's on-going.

I really enjoyed reading this article. I appreciate having a more informal setting for PLNs outside the classroom and think it helps with creativity! Thanks for sharing!

Special Issue - Connectivism: Design and Delivery of Social Networked Learning: This article supports the idea that Web 2.0 tools help teacher connect with wider educational communities to enhance their own professional development.

This blogger shared ideas on how as an educator you can embrace the learning theory of Connectivism. She states that connectivism revolves around creating online networks of learning. Through these networks, knowledge is shared. She states that Web 2.0 tools encourage this learning theory by default. Just by using Facebook, Twitter, creating digital portfolios and blogs to discuss and share education, you are on the right path to discovering the benefits Connectivism.

Matthew Lynch discusses benefits that an educator gains when they create a Personal learning network. Key points include learning a diversity of teaching styles, taking command of your own professional development, and finding a support system.

I like the part about using a PLN as a way to establish a support system. I didn't initially think of them that way but it could be a great source for classroom management or just needing a people to vent to when a class can be difficult that day. It's almost like taking that "teacher's lounge" vibe home...if you need it!

This is a nice overview that makes it really clear why an educator might choose to create his/her own PLN. Like Carissa, I like the idea of thinking of a PLN almost as a support system. To me, the most critical component of the PLN is the idea of the PERSONAL Learning Network. The focus is on one's personal goals, needs, strengths, weaknesses, or areas of interest. It's not mandated or directed. Thanks for sharing!

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.

I think what makes this study interesting is the fact that the researchers explored how communication and learning develop in an informal environment like a social network and how that communication can be transferred to the workplace, specifically, professional development. The study references CEO's who have blogs and discusses the idea that blogs can enhance the performance analysis process. The question that it poses is founded in Connectivism in that it attempts to "investigate the relationship between learning and connectedness among members of a social networking site, and to explore qualitatively how members perceive the transfer of learning from the social networking site to their workplace practices and professional development."

This is one of the few resources I decided to use that was not found at scholar.google.com but rather a simple Google search. I choose this power point because it breaks down Personal Learning networks in digestible pieces easy to understand. Within the presentation Pam does a great job establishing the importance for teachers themselves to establish their own PLN's to not only benefit themselves but also their students that will be learning from them as well. She goes on to describe what a PLN is and the benefits they offer. What I like most about Pam's presentation is that she includes ways to set up popular PLN's from scratch such as RSS readers, blogs, twitter, and professional networks as well. The quick points and step by step processes made this a standout resource for me when learning about personal learning networks.

FYI I couldn't get you link to work Jason might need to fix it.

This website houses a wealth of information on PLNs. Included are a collection of research papers, presentations, podcast, and otherresources on Professional Learning Networks provided by Torrey Trust, Ph.D., Jeffrey Carpent, Ph.D., and Dan Krutka, Ph.D.

By Etienne Wenger, this site offers her defintion and categorization of communities of practice.

This article provides a simple definition of the term - "Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and who interact regularly to learn how to do it better." Businesses, organizational design, government, educational, professional associations, civic life and development projects use the concept of community of practice to focus on people and the social structures that enable people to learn from each other.

This article focuses on defining communities of practice and includes several examples. I like that they break up the words and meaning to simplify and better understand the meaning and benefits of communities of practice. For example, we might live in a community neighborhood, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we live in a "community of practice."

This speaker does an excellent job showcasing that our students are totally capable of being part of a learning network before they can even recognize what it is they're doing. Things have changed intensely since the rise of networked connections between people. School needs to adapt and use these tools that professional educators are using to improve meeting the many "standards" that Mr. Regur talks about. "We have standards just to write standards…" We need to avoid the closed off island that is being a teacher… There is no longer an excuse to be stuck in this single-player version of education.

We all create personal learning networks in everything we do. Using this in education is extremely important so that students a) know how to connect with others, and b) know how to benefit from connecting with others. I like how he called the "teacher the most important activator".

Two is a meeting, Three is a network. Steve had some great "real" advice and reasons for why we should all join PLN for a variety of different reasons to create a stronger and more educated world.

Although this article focuses largely on tips for setting up and using a PLN, I appreciated the brief introduction about PLNs, their basis in connectivism and how it really can improve us as professionals. The first tip also focuses on the need for engaging in the collaborative process which is central to the success of PLNs.

This article is awesome and I love the thoughtful advice that it provides for creating a professional learning network. It describes the fact that technology has taken over the world, making it much easier to connect with anyone around you. Communicating and interacting with others can be crucial for gaining information. Asking questions, participating often, and being polite are just a few suggestions provided for utilizing PLNs.

I really connect to theory through hearing about practice. In this article by Tom Whitby for Edutopia, he shares 6 different stories from 6 different educators who have begun to engage with online professional learning networks. I connected to this article because I had the same path as many of these educators. Whether it was the teacher who heard someone at a conference or the 29 year veteran who found herself in a 1:1 MacBook class, they all began peripherally and then developed into active participants in their online PLNs. This article is a pretty good setup for our upcoming adventures.

It was interesting to see most of their stories had to do with Twitter. I have resisted Twitter for so long because I do not understand it at all! Guess it's time to learn.

Reading personal stories from teachers really helps me see how educators are using Twitter, and other technologies, in the classroom. I appreciated reading the variety of ways these teachers use Twitter to communicate with students and connect with other educators professionally. I'm beginning to see the value of Twitter as a professional network builder!

This paper explores how social networks can be leveraged to enhance PLNs. The authors discuss the relationship between teacher learning and experiences with PLNs. They also discuss PLN frameworks and their potential for providing collaborative experiences among teachers and administrators.

Teachers are developing PLNs to connect with other educators and professionals all over the world to stay up to date on their teaching methods and resources. This article gives an overview of why many teachers belong to a PLN and why it is beneficial to their professional goals. I appreciated that the author named and discussed three popular PLNs that I plan on looking into further. They were Classroom 2.0, Edmodo, and The Educator's PLN. I agree with the author completely when he states that "teachers are lifelong learners." This article is a great read for those new to PLNs.

I loved all of the information on the various tools that can used in managing a PLN, There were several tools I wasn't familiar with and look forward to being able to use in the future.

I found this post to be extremely informative regarding how teachers can use PLNs for learning, moreover for modeling learning for their students. The social network portion of this article was authentic to the purpose of this course and aided in making connections regarding the usage of social networks for educational learning tasks. The review of the three PLNs was also helpful as we navigate this course and begin to implement strategies and plans for the incorporation of social networking into our own classrooms.

Go to the first option, it is the article written by Attwell. This article gives a summary of what a personal learning environment and it's benefits. This article gives good examples of what a PLE and how it works as well as some history and theoretical background.

Great read! Totally agree that while life long learning is nothing new, technology brings it to a different level (even though the focus of the article was on education rather than the technical aspect.) I also found interesting the discussion on new approach to assessment (the traditional one on the outcome vs. the new one on the competencies for such an outcome.) Some food for thought!

Great article! I liked how the article defined PLNs and gave ways to use them for deeper understanding and engagement. I used to teach an introductory tech course at our local high school and I will be speaking the the teacher and sharing this article with him. I feel that the benefits of students using PLNs is limitless.

Describes the value of PLN's as well as the support it provides in learning. Ways in which educators use PLN's are identified as professional development, resource sharing, mentoring, technology integration strategies.

This provides some simple reasons to develop a PLN. I love that it encourages busy teachers to create a PLN by letting them know that it will make their work easier! This page also includes a "how to", but the "why" part is a terrific resource on its own.

This gives you 10 reasons on how to jump start your Personal Learning Network. Great tips for a beginner like myself.

This site not only defines personal learning networks, but it also provides ten reasons educators need a PLN. It further offers links to helpful resources to illustrate each reason.

Great justification for forming PLNs for teachers! Every teacher should have a PLN so that they can continually grow as teachers.

Thanks for sharing this graphic. I love Sylvia's work. Sketchnotes are such a fun way to capture and share complex ideas. Number 7 really resonated with me. As a classroom teacher, I used my PLN to create meaningful and engaging global learning projects for my students. It was so nice to have a group of supportive, like-minded educators to connect with! Thanks for sharing!