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This resource is an image that shows the comparison between professional development for teachers in the past and currently through the use of profession learning networks.

I love this as I am a very visual learner. A great graphic - focus on the support, learn, engage and measure, and as a teacher who works in an international school the concept of PD is truly global. Excellent. Thanks Alexis -PLN buddy.

Solid graphic and one that actually focuses on teachers. A lot of the resources I found used businesses or government bodies as examples, but this is obviously more pertinent. Nice find.

This blog describes the basics of what a PLN is. It also provides a look back through recent decades at how the concept of a PLN has changed with newer developments in technology.

This is a fun article about teachers and there PLN. It goes through and talks about them from the pre internet 80's, the email 90's and the social 2000.

I loved reading thoughts about Professional Learning Networks from a very personal perspective. One woman discusses her personal experience with her PLN and mentions that some of her very best friends are teachers within her network. Teachers that we learn from, share with, and socialize with are excellent individuals to have within our PLNs. She also takes readers through a journey through time, discussing how PLNs have transformed from the pre-Internet 1980s, with very few resources, to now, where we have multiple resources and tools at our fingertips.

While it is short, and doesn't offer much in the analysis or theory market, this article offers 4 additional resources for finding PLNs to join. Three of the four resources mentioned were new to me, but the information included about Twitter does help explain why the platform is great for PLNs (just in case anyone is knew to Twitter). One thing to note about these sources is that each is free and may also include a paid option for additional resources.

I thought that this personal learning network resource was a great fit for our class. This article discusses how schools are using social media to engage students and real-world relevance, for professional development, and school, district, and teacher collaboration. They used Twitter to document and share a paper tower challenge with schools and teachers from all over the world. Twitter was used to connect with experts and students got to see that not all scientists agree on certain topics. They also connected with the community.

I like that this article looks at how Twitter can be used for students and for educators. The idea of Twitter for educators as professional development fits very well with the ideas of COP's and PLN's. While I haven't been a true part yet of a structured Twitter session for PD, I have lurked in many formal PD discussions with hashtags for our public school system and benefitted from what I gleaned.

What an awesome video. It makes me excited to go back in August and really challenge myself to use Twitter or Facebook to showcase my students. Our school district uses a hashtag #bsdpride for teachers to showcase things going on around the district and it's starting to take off. It's awesome that teachers are encouraging each other to use Twitter and begin challenges that involve students. You can tell from this video how important these students feel when their work or projects re used on social media, and are getting attention from other schools.

In this article, Whitby describes the rationale behind personal learning networks and how they may help educators deal with modern challenges. He also argues that PLNs have potential in future educational reform.

This is a nice brief article for the "what" and "why" of PLNs. As I mentioned in a previous post, it's nice to see concise articles that give a good ground work for a topic. It beats getting bogged down in pages upon pages. Thanks for the resource!

A quick view of how technology is changing our world making it much smaller by allowing for global communication that is changing how we network and learn. The article includes two list of 10 different tips for using and establishing PLNs.

This is a great resource when thinking through joining a PLN. The tips are simple and descriptive. I was impressed with this piece. I think the best tip was "Be an active participant". Great advice.

This was a short source but it detailed how teachers can easily create a PLN using the Independent School Educators Network. From this resource they have access to professional development opportunities ranging from Google apps, iPads, Digital Citizenship, and others.

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.

This blog post describes a conference about Communities of Practice. The author considers the similarities and differences between Communities of Practice and Personal Learning Environments.

A major difference between a Community of Practice and a Professional Learning Committee is that those in the PLC are often assigned or required to be a member. CoPs seem to evolve more naturally from a desire to gain knowledge. The author of this post had just attended training given by the Wenger-Trayners--CoP gurus.

This blog post highlights communities of practice as one of the theories behind the personal learning network concept. It makes a distinction in that even though PLC's can be a community of practice, they aren't always guaranteed to be.

This article discuss the different ways school librarians have access to self-regulated professional development opportunities in the form of online personal learning networks. Examples include discussion lists, webinars, blogs and twitter feeds. A twitter group was researched and was found beneficial.

I didn't even consider how librarians could be brought into the PLN era. When thinking about my school librarian, the first thought is how she deals with books all day. Then you have to consider their use of online databases and the potential to converse with professionals all over the world.

This was an interesting read because my soon-to-be sister-in-law works in a university library and I had a conversation with her last summer about how technology affects her work and how she uses technology to help her, instead of librarians becoming obsolete as many think they will.

Summary: This research delves into the use of personal learning networks with teachers via survey. The two main sites used among the responders were Facebook and Twitter. A user of Twitter expands their network when they deem they have found someone interesting, whom they have learned something new from. It continues to discuss features that would be needed with both sites in order to further future professional growth opportunities

Eric Sheninger presented on Professional Learning Networks-great resources from a principal, writer, and presenter. I have been in one of his workshops before, very enthusiastic and out spoken where technology in the schools is concerned. You can find him on Twitter and Pinterest too.

This link is a slideshare. The slideshare begins by describing what a PLN is and the benefits of creating one including the facts that are flexible, personal and practical. It also talks about them happening in real time, allowing instant access to people and information and also giving access to expertise in any field. It goes on to describe the two types of PLN's collaborative tools and information gathering. The article then provides a list of possible tools and good resources to be included in your PLN.

This author is from the Istanbul Kultur University. He reviews and applies connectivism theory research and discusses the methods used within social networking platforms for education purposes. He promotes the idea of the growing need for learning as a connected activity. Since people already use social networking for interacting and communicating personally and professionally, it makes sense that SN platforms be utilized for educational purposes. The author also pointed out a number of challenges in making this a reality. Some of the challenges include lack of training, lack of reliable technology and open access to SN sites, and unreliable information shared on SN sites.

While some of the tools mentioned in this 2010 video by Skip Via are a bit out of date (Google Wave and Google Reader, for instance), the importance of developing a personal learning network is clear. First, creating a PLN ensures that we have access to a support system, and additionally, we have a professional responsibility to seek out and participate in our own learning opportunities, and PLNs offer inexpensive (free) ways to accomplish this.

This video provides a good overview of a PLN. What I like about it is that tools that can be used for a variety of activities are discussed.