Group items tagged

PLNs are learning opportunities that provide a way to move from professional development as a special event, such as a workshop or a once a year conference to “a continuous flow of learning” (Guhlin, 2009). There are many ways to develop a PLN, and many interactive and collaborative tools to use including twitter, nings, social networks, blogs, and social bookmarking sites like Diigo. A PLN becomes a “dedicated learning environment [which] is unique to each individual” and its efficacy depends on how much or how little you chose to share and learn from other individuals in your PLN (Kapuler, 2009).

“Technology allows us to reach out and build communities based on resonance and commonality”

Elements of social capital such as how people identify themselves in relation to others, their levels of trust with others, how they work with others in various networks, and the number and type of networks people can live and work within, are significant and should be explicitly acknowledged and written into a new strategy. The literature sometimes presents human and social capital as a dichotomy, involving a choice to be made between one or the other, a form of vocational/social divide (Perkins 2009:31). We maintain, however, the two forms of capital are interrelated and that socio-economic well-being requires both forms of capital (Balatti, Black and Falk 2006).

Literacy and numeracy learning has a significant role to play in other sectors such as health, youth work, and welfare. To date, integrated literacy and numeracy has featured primarily in workplace and VET support programs, and has been slow to feature in these other social policy areas. There have been a number of local crosssectoral initiatives reported in the areas of health (Black, Innes and Chopra 2008), family literacy (Leske, Harris and Francis 2005), youth studies (Widin, Yasukawa and Chodkiewicz 2008) and aspects of community development (Black, Lucchinelli and Flynn 2006, Shore 2009), but these initiatives have been undertaken primarily with short term innovative funding from the federal government.

Another area of potential cross-sectoral partnerships involves employers, unions and literacy and numeracy providers.