Personal learning networks are very important and they are everywhere. A personal learning network (PLN) is a network made up of people with the same interests and goals. It is used to share information, experiences, or even just fun things with a group of people. The most common PLN these days are achieved online through twitter, blogs, and other sources such as group chats.
Personal learning networks can be useful for people in all types of job fields, but I will be using mine for teaching. I think this can be a great thing for teachers because it allows for collaboration, which could spark new ways to get students excited about school. The beauty of PLNs are that what you contribute to the network is entirely up to you. If someone had a lot of information to provide, they would be able to post it for the others to see. Probably my favorite thing about them is that you could just “lurk” like the video said and essentially steal ideas from other people in your network. I only say this because I believe it would be a great way for a young teachers to get good information. There are also scenarios in which all people in the network could work on projects together. This is important because a lot good can come from teachers brainstorming together.
I think sometimes when we think of technology and all it can do, we forget that it can be used for academics as well. There are a million ways that a teacher could use a personal learning network, but I think one of the best ways would be to allow the students to do it as well. I’ve already explained how beneficial they could be for teachers, but I think they could do the same thing for the students as well. If I were to give the students some sort of class project, and encourage them to work on it for a longer period of time via PLN, the result could be very beneficial and the students would learn a lot in the process.
Baden Shelmadine 