Sheninger, E. (2010, August 28). Personal learning networks 101. Retrieved from http://connectedprincipals.com/archives/723
A Personal Learning Network or PLN is a collection of resources that will help you to be more efficient as a teacher. I think Eric Sheninger speaks of PLN's perfectly when he states that, "The construction of a PLN enables educators to harness the power inherent in 21st Century technologies in order to create a professional growth tool that is accessible whenever, wherever... [it] provides me with a constant supply of resources, thought-provoking discussions, knowledge, leadership strategies, and ways to successfully integrate technology (Sheninger 2010)". By using Twitter, Diigo and The Educators PLN I was able to connect with others and build my PLN, which will help me by allowing me to access information from other more experienced professionals.
Twitter
is an online social networking tool that allows users to follow each
other and their status updates as live, streaming feeds. I use Twitter
to connect with a community of education related professionals. By
following these people or groups, we can collaborate and discuss current
happenings in education and work toward the goal of making education
the best it can be. In addition to following all of my peers from my
CSUSM ed tech class, I also started following some other people that I
felt would be great resources for me, including:- @sharemylesson, this user is committed to sharing the best resources for teachers, by teachers.
- @inquirebook, this serves as a guide for 21st century learning
- @tesnewteachers, the ultimate resource for advice and support for new teachers
- @mindshiftKQED, explores the future of learning, covering cultural and tech trends and innovation in teaching
- @HASTAC, a network of networks a virtual organization committed to rethinking the future of learning
I feel
as though these people and organizations will keep me informed
during my career in regards to bettering the educational system.
Twitter can also be used to participate in educational chats. My first
chat experience was on Thursday, August 2nd at 12:00pm CST with
#SAchat, the topic was blogging. This is a chat group of knowledgeable professionals that gives followers and opportunity to strengthen their PLN's within Student Affairs. Users were commenting on ways that using blogging for social networking is innovative and collaborative for the students. I really enjoyed participating in the chat, and plan to attend one designed specifically for foreign language teachers regularly. 
Diigo is a
social-bookmarking tool that allows users to sign in and access their
bookmarks from any computer, as well as share their bookmarks with
others. In addition, diigo allows you to go in an highlight important
parts of your bookmarks so you remember pieces to use for research
papers, memorable resources, or notable statistics. You can also become a
member of a community, and follow users just as you would on Twitter. I
decided to follow these organizations or individuals because I felt
like I could benefit from them the most in my future endeavors as a
teacher:- Stephanie Griffin: I decided to follow her because she is currently working on her Masters of Education and is a future language arts teacher. Her tags seemed to be tags that I relate to and would like to be able to share her resources. Her tags include Teaching with Technology, Inspiration, Writing, Advice..etc
- Phil Taylor: Phil Taylor is the head of Educational Technology at a school in Canada. He says that he explores Diigo because he is exploring the power of social networking and loves the idea of sharing information.
- Cyndi Danner-Kuhm: Cyndi is an educational futurist working to leverage technology for the benefit of learners. Considering I am planning to get my Masters in Ed Tech, I think Cyndi can be a great resource for me!
- Jil Wright: I decided to follow Jil because she is a technology consultant and higher education web pro. I think that ed tech is the future of education and that these users will be highly beneficial for me to have in my PLN
- Peggy George: Peggy is a retired teacher and a Mac enthusiast and is a learner and advocate for Web 2.0
I joined the Educators PLN, which is an ning site dedicated to the support of a Personal Learning Network for Educators. I was also able to add the badge onto my blog so others can follow me. While on the Educators PLN website, I came across an
interesting article that I can especially relate to as a future
teacher of the arts. Although learning a second language might not be
considered an "Art" I do consider it to be a subject that is outside the realm of the core subjects in school: Math,
Science, English, and History. The article is called Skills Children Acquire form the Arts That Equips Them for Success in Life.
The article basically defends the Arts and why incorporating them into a
child's life is very important for their personal development. I
realize that with the budget cuts rapidly increasing in the educational
sector, some are arguing that school should go back to the core
concepts. I agree with this article that the arts are a part of school
that some children really need to keep them interested in the classroom.
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