Every year, we are given days for professional developments. For the first few years of my teaching career, attending conferences, workshops, and sharing sessions are the major components of my professional development activities. Since about two years ago, I started my study of the teacher-librarianship diploma at UBC (University of British Columbia). Academic reading as well as composing assignments have been my self-directed professional development activities. I also connected with the TL that I worked with at school, and one of them suggested me to attend the BCTLA annual conference to extend my PLN.
I have heard a lot of the abbreviation “PLN” lately. I am not sure whether it stands for “Professional Learning Network” or “Personal Learning Network,” but I think either one is applicable. I have a brief idea that PLN is about using ICT (information and communication technology) to build a network for learning. In order to get a more concrete idea of what PLN is and how to build my own, I searched the term “educators PLN” in Google Scholar and found the website “The Educator’s PLN.” I explored the site and discovered the following video which provides me with a clear concept of what PLN is and how to start my own PLN.
After viewing this video, I realized that I have been building my own PLN without even knowing it. I used to visit colleagues after school to share ideas, email friends and colleagues with questions or seek advice. With the use of social media and “smart technologies,” I connect with colleagues through Facebook, in which a colleague of mine shared the video that I included in my last post.
Through a few UBC courses, I have learned a number of online tools to extend my PLN, such as: Twitter, Symbaloo, Digg Reader, and Google+. However, I have only learned the basics of each tool and have not been using those online tools extensively.
Twitter – I follow professionals and associations that I am interested in via my Twitter account. However, I do not check my Twitter on a regular basis. I think it is a great path for me to know the most updated issues, only if I make checking Twitter a regular habit.
Symbaloo – It is one of my UBC course’s assignment that I used Symbaloo to organize my online resources. I had put a few things in my grid, but seldom go back to it. It is a useful tool, but I found using the Safari’s bookmark is more convenient.
* Screen shot of Jackie’s Symbaloo
Digg Reader – I love this tool! I like how I got updated on new posts of the blogs that I am following. The layout is user friendly, and with one click of the post title, I will be directed to the original blog where I could leave comments. Now I am using Digg Reader not only for my course work, but also for my children’s class blogs.
Google+ – I joined Google+ only a few days ago, I have not have a chance to explore this tool. However, I realize that there are other online tools, such as Symbaloo & Blogger, offer sign in to Google+ account. I wonder if I sign into all of those tools with my Google+ account, will I be able to organize all the information from different tools at one place? I will explore on that in the near future.
There are so many tools that I could use, so many updates I was informed through those tools. There are lots of times that I feel overwhelmed with all these overflowing information. David Warlick has included a diagram “Many PLN Paths” in his article “Grow Your Personal Learning Network: New Technologies Can Keep You Connected and Help You Manage Information Overload.” which provides me with a clear overview of what PLN is.
*Screen shot of the diagram in Warlick’s article.
I know I am at the “infant stage” in building my PLN using ICT. As people always say, “one step at a time.” I already feel overwhelmed with all these new digital tools that I have learned, hence, I am slowing down my pace and will take a small step at a time. I have confidence that one day, I will have built an organized personal learning network.
Reference:
Warlick, David. “Grow Your Personal Learning Network: New Technologies Can Keep You Connected and Help You Manage Information Overload.” Learning & Leading with Technology: 12-16. ERIC. Web. 16 Oct. 2015.
<http://eric.ed.gov/?q=David Warlick&id=EJ831435>.
What Is a PLN – Marc-André Lalande’s Take. Dir. Thomas Whilby. The Educator’s PLN. N.p., 4 June 2015. Web. 16 Oct. 2015.
<http://edupln.ning.com/video/what-is-a-pln-marc-andr-lalande-s-take>
Well done post exploring the concepts of a PLN, and a few good resources to help explain what they are and how they can be used. Also, good job exploring some of the great tools and resources you’ve picked up because of your PLN. I am really glad that you are finding tools like digg’s RSS reader functionality and twitter to provide ongoing and personalized ProD! Good tagging, embedding and linking!
Hi Jackie,
I have never heard of symbaloo before, I will check it out. Do you know any websites or tools that can organize your computer documents and what not? I feel disorganized with my desktop and documents on my laptop -I wish there was something to help organize that aspect of technology (not to mention emails). I like your point about creating your own PLN without even knowing it; and I agree with you, I think a lot of networking happens after school through informal discussions and reflections with colleagues. Thanks for sharing the PLN video. Also, I have decided to take a self directed day to work in the library and on the courses I am enrolled in. It is nice to have this flexibility, but I also wish I could attend helpful networking conferences.
Hi Bronagh,
I do not know any websites or tools that could help organizing computer documents. For myself, I simply create folders on my desktop and organize all my documents in that way. For example, I have a folder title “LIBE 477”, and a folder title “UBC”. I put all my documents, articles in pdf format for this course in the LIBE 477 folder. Once I finished the course, I will put the folder into the UBC folder. Therefore, in my UBC folder, I have different folders for different courses I had taken for my TL diploma. I end up having quite a number of folders on my desktop, but I feel quite organize in this way. Hope this helps.
Thanks for your post Jackie! I just heard of Symbaloo in my other course I’m taking right now- LLED 462- but haven’t tried it out yet… next on the to-do list!I also feel overwhelmed sometimes at the amount of tools to learn about and how to keep track of everything… there is so much to look at. I think that your idea of slowing down and checking out one thing at a time is a good approach 🙂
Hi Jackie,
I hear your points about learning too many valuable things at once.
I like that Warlick’s article professes to help us feel less overwhelmed, but his PLN Paths flow chart looks like WAY too much…ha!
I saw your reply to Bronagh about creating folders to keep organized. I was just driving myself crazy again today with my lack of folders for Word documents and images in my laptop, for photos and videos in my iPad, and for docs in my Google Drive account…
Always mean to create folders; to do so now would take about four hours, I bet. But, your example has inspired me to get on with it…soon…maybe…I hope.
Thanks for sharing your ideas! I think as teachers, we are constantly building our PLN without even knowing it, since we have the coolest job ever 🙂 We are continuously learning and you clearly are, Jackie! I just discovered Symbaloo and think it’s a great tool. I know some TLs put it up on their school library website, is that what you did? You sound like you’re at a great start with all your professional development, learning everything at once can be overwhelming and what you’re doing, tackling a few things at once I think is a great way to go.