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Lucy Gray

Personal Learning Network or Professional Learning Network? - 9 views

PLN

started by Lucy Gray on 16 Mar 09
  • Lucy Gray
    #1 Lucy Gray on 16 Mar 09
     
    I created this group without thinking too much about the title..... and now it occurs to me that the proper title should probably be Personal Learning Network. Or it Personal Professional Learning network! To me, it's about developing a customized work flow for continuing my professional development. No longer do people have to rely on PD "being done" to them.

    I'd love it if people shared their stories of how they developed or are developing their own networks!
  • Marianne Handler
    #3 Marianne Handler on 22 Mar 09
     
    I think the personal/professional is all of a kind. Wherever we learn fits both groups. One thinks of PLN as a part of web 2.0 and surely that is what is caused us to think more about it BUT we learn both 'from the cloud' and from F2F experiences. I wouldn't want to give either up.... and I wouldn't want my students to do so either. Maybe I just want us all to more discerning when we make either of these links a permanent resource by exploring for a bit of time and then make a selection based on our own needs to grow in a given direction at a given time.

    Marianne

  • Brian C. Smith
    #4 Brian C. Smith on 23 Mar 09
     
    I've been thinking similarly around this topic and would like to share three perspectives/roles I've been sharing with educators in my area:

    1) Personal/Professional Learner
    I agree with Marianne that our PLNs have been with us for as long as we've been learning. We have F2F interactions (I hope) more often than online and we cannot discount those around us (as well as books, periodicals and traditional media) as nodes of our networks.

    2) Classroom Practitioner
    More often the default for educators looking for resources. At the same time, this often hinders the personal/professional learner because they dismiss the personal use as wasted time or not immediately relevant to what they do as educators.

    3) District/School Leader
    I like to compare this to the star athlete who becomes a role model even though they didn't "sign up" for it. Quality teaching/learning always draws attention and should be shared in some form. What I think is important here is that assuming this role on some level solidifies the F2F nodes of our networks and benefits both perspectives above.

    In summary, I think looking at the our roles within a PLN is important in the development and it keeps us away from getting caught up in the tools which is too often the case.

    What do you think?

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