My Personal Learning Network (PLN)

The idea of a Personal Learning Network (PLN) is one that I would consider personally under development. There are many social media tools that I am currently using to better communicate with the parents and families of my students. However, I am merely beginning to scratch the surface of using these tools to further my personal, professional growth and development. Here are the ways in which I am currently growing my PLN through the use of web-based technology...

Twitter

I am currently using Twitter primarily as a tool to communicate with parents and families. I also follow a great number of my colleagues and professional resources, and have gained a number of ideas for classroom activities the integrate technology from them.  

Tweets by @NorthHillsMrW

Facebook

Much like Twitter, my Facebook account is primarily used to communicate with parents and families. Currently, it is also married to my Twitter account (as well as our class Instagram account), so the two tools work in conjunction to share information. I had never considered using Facebook as a way to grow my PLN, but this is definitely something I will experiment with. Currently, I use the "Page" feature to share information about my class. This gives my the option to use the "Profile" side of Facebook to friend other professionals and grow my PLN.

Flipboard

This is a newer resource that I primarily use on my iPad and mobile device. With Flipboard, I can decide specifically what news topics to follow, and the app sorts the news and delivers only the content I tell it to. Professionally, the topics I have Flipboard deliver to me include Education, Educational Leadership, Education Technology, and Math and Science Education. This helps me stay current with wants trending in all of these areas. 

 

Pinterest

I was reluctant to use Pinterest at all, mostly because my perception of the social media tool was that it was only used for sharing recipes and selling handbags. However, the platform has evolved into a social media tool in which anything and everything is shared about, and there is no primary audience. Expanding my use of Pinterest to gather educational ideas is a goal of mine. 

Schoology

Schoology is a resource that can be used as a teacher to run a class, as well as grow professionally by connecting with others. When creating a Schoology account, there is the option to enroll in professional development courses, as well as connect with other coworkers to share common resources. Groups of connected colleagues have the ability to share common resources that can be shared across courses and used by all students. There is also the option to simply network with teachers from anywhere in the world to collect ideas and grow professionally.

Diigo/Symbaloo

These tools allow the user to bookmark web resources in very specific ways for easy access and organization. With Diigo, the user can even annotate information that is found, and save those annotations to be accessed later. Both allow the user to take his or her bookmarked resources anywhere, as they are web or cloud-based. These tools work well with social media tools like Facebook and Twitter. If a web resource is shared on one of those platforms, it can be assessed, noted, and than saved an organized using Diigo or Symbaloo.