A Personal learning network, or PLN, is a collaborative use of online tools to create a virtual network in which different educators from around the world can share their ideas. This allows experienced and upcoming teachers learn about different teaching techniques or strategies to educate students. Ideas shared can be relating to both digital and non digital aspects of teaching. A PLN allows for a quick and easy way for people to connect online and spread their knowledge about learning. Any educator who has a PLN can then join a network to receive information but also to share their own and expand the PLN. The tools I used to expand my Personal Learning Network include Twitter, Diigo, and The Educators PLN. My own PLN will help me as an educator because I will have quick and easy access to information regarding education. This is because people in my PLN will provide, forward, and take in information regarding education, all of which is the most relevant and useful.
As part of my PLN I used Twitter, a web based social-networking site, to expand my PLN and have a broader inflow of information relating to education. I chose to follow certain Twitter users whose focus was on education and others who use education along side digital tools and technology. Some of the twitter users I followed: US Department of Education, edutopia, Lyn Hilt, Dana Lane, Librarian Voices, and InnovationsOnlineEdu. While I expanded my PLN with some better known twitter users, I felt it was necessary to add more independent users such as Lyn Hilt and Dana Lane because of the content they provide to my PLN regarding education and the use of technology in the classroom. As part of expanding my PLN I also participated in an educational chat on Twitter using an online tool called TweetChat. I participated in #ntchat on Wednesday August 1 from 5:00-5:30 pm. While there was on the chat, it did not seem that active, however there were still users participating and posting ideas regarding education and the use of technology to teach. I felt that observing this chat cession allowed me to come across other educators on Twitter whom post interesting and useful information. I was then able to follow users whom I felt posted things that I believed are relevant to me as a potential educator, thus expanding my PLN through Twitter.
Diigo is a social bookmarking site that allows me to be connected with other people who provide online links and resources in topics I am interested in, such as education and the use of technology in the classroom. I was able to expand my PLN through the use of Diigo because of the people I chose to follow as they not only provide access to information they post but more interesting is their own network they make available to me and other users expanding their PLN. The users I chose to follow were: Barbara Lindsey, Jeffery Heil, N Carroll, Philip Cummings, Shelly Terrell, and Susan Glassett. I found that the information they provided was relevant to education and is information that is useful to me as a potential educator. By following someone, I was able to look into their own network and continue to follow others who are following them. This allows my PLN to keep expanding the more Diigo users I come across and their own PLNs. The websites I chose to bookmark were two blogs relating to education and teacher development, The Edublogger and Teacher Challenge. Also, a wiki, twitter4teachers provides a list of different twitter users who tweet info on education. I also bookmarked a website called Edutopia because I felt it provided relevant information regarding teaching as well as access to educational blogs and articles.
The digital discussion forum I joined was the Educators PLN, it is a site dedicated to the support of PLNs for educators. While on the website I came across a video that I thought was interesting. It was a video dedicated to an online social platform called bookgator.com in which students can buy, trade, and sell books to each other. I found this interesting because it takes the idea of social networking and education and applying it to the book industry for text books used in class.
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