Tag Archives: PLN

A bit about Nings…

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The power is on again at my parents’ and the internet is connected, after several hours this morning involving shopping for a router and trouble shooting the wireless. So, let’s take a few minutes to talk about Nings.

I thought a ning was like a blog, or a wiki, etc. But, in reality, ning is an online service that lets people create their own social networks and join/participate in other networks. Ning is specific to the company – www.ning.com

Anyone can sign up and start a ning. Membership is free (with ads) and you can also upgrade your ning membership to eliminate the ads. Once you set up your profile, you can create a ning. You simply give it a name and a url, decide if it is public or private, and a description of the ning and you are ready to get started. Creating a new ning is seems pretty intuitive

So far the only ning I have joined is the ubc met ning at ubcmet.ning.com. This will allow me to connect with other MET students but also to offer some advice for those new to the MET program which is great. Remember, part of PLNing is paying it forward.

As far as joining existing nings…it’s can feel a bit like crashing a private party…but remember the creator of nings have done so because they WANT to network with other people who share their interests. For example, I went to the englishcompanion.ning.com and selected
SIGN UP. My email address was my login, I created a password, and answered a couple of questions about why I was interested in joining the ning. Then I got a response

HERE’S WHAT YOU WILL SEE WHEN YOU SIGN UP.
“Your membership to English Companion Ning is pending approval.
Hello, Stephanie Myers.  Your profile details must be approved by the Administrator before you can become a member of English Companion Ning. You will receive an email once your profile is approved. (Withdraw Request)”

While you wait you are able to browse the sit.

Here are a couple of useful links to help you get started in finding, joining, and participating in nings.

The 12 Best Ning groups for teachers to join

7 things you should know about…ning 

One last thing, don’t forget YOU can always initiate a Ning too!

I tweet therefore I am!

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Okay, so maybe I’m not quite at the tweeting stage but I am up and live on twitter. Richardson himself says that it is pretty typical for people starting out to simply consume information on social media but he also notes the importance of not sitting back for too long – it is a PLNetwork after all, and networks require give and take.

Despite having been limited to laying on my back or standing for the past week I have made some progress with my PLN; I have been laying on my couch working on creating a twitter presence.

For those unsure what twitter is here is quick 2 minute video – Twitter in Plain English.

First thing was first, I had to update my twitteraddress and name. Richardson recommends using your real name in various PLNs. 1. He thinks it makes it easier for people to find you, and 2. You appear more trustworthy when you use your real name.  Makes sense.

So here is my twitter address:  @smyers4alted

I then set out to find a handful of people to follow on twitter that fit into the areas I wanted to focus on in building my PLN as posted in my previous post.

Please check out my Google doc which outlines who I am currently following on Twitter. Please feel free to add to the document with any recommendations you may have;  but please use a a different font colour so I do not miss any of your great additions.

Once you have created a twitter account here are a few tips to help you find people to follow:

  1. Start by searching by people you know and respect. Using the simple search option you can search for their name.
  2. Take a look at the kinds of posts they make and how frequently they post. i.e. Sugata Mitra is an amazing man, but not an avid tweeter…you may prefer to check out his website or youtube videos instead.
  3. Look at who the person is “following”. If you like them, chances are they may be able to recommend others that you may not even have considered that they admire.
  4. Check out who they are being “followed” by.  After all, you chose to check out this person so others who are seeking them out may have similar interests to you.
  5. Most importantly look at their “lists”. This can provide a treasure trove of greatness. i.e. David Wees (Vancouver) has lists including : “BC  educators” and “Canadian educators”; while David Truss has lists like “Innovative schools” and “Asian Educators”.  Let someone else who has already found great resources to help you build your PLN.  You are likely to find a great group of people via someone else’s lists…
  6. Depth and breadth are two very different things some times! I read somewhere to consider the number of posts a person makes. There are people have tens of thousands of tweets – be weary of this. I find these are the people that are telling you that they are going for a bike ride, or looking for friends at a conference via twitter. In my opinion avoid these people. But that’s just my opinion – I’m new to all of this so I’m looking for the best educational bang for my buck.  I avoid Facebook in my personal life for this very reason – I simply don’t care where my friends are having breakfast or where they’ve just “checked in”.

Lastly, here are a few useful links to help you get started with finding people on twitter:

10 ways to find people on twitter.

 50 educational people worth following on twitter

Twitter and Canadian Educators…or should I say “Edutweeters”, yep, I said it.

Good luck.

Stay tuned for more on managing your tweets.

Thanks.

p.s. Don’t forget to take a moment to add to the  Google doc above if you can. It will be greatly appreciated.

 

Making connections

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So, I sat down with my original list of people/areas I want to connect with, and compared it to the list of web tools that have been recommended by a host of people, including Will Richardson.

I have concluded that there are a handful of tools I will use to  get and stay connected. Those tools are:  microblogs, blogs, wikis, social bookmarking tools, podcasts, and webinars.

After reading pages and pages of how to create a PLN, I came away with two strong messages. 1. Each person’s PLN is unique to them, and 2. Start small so as to not get overwhelmed.  So, that said, I am going to ensure that I take the time to think through my PLN choices carefully to ensure that whatever I create is both manageable and sustainable.

That said, there is a lot of ground to cover  and not a lot of time to cover it in so below is a list of how I will spend the next nine weeks setting up my PLN.

Week 5-7. Twitter/RSS /Aggregator. During these three weeks I will be focused on setting up a Twitter account and finding relevant tweeters to follow. As well as looking for bloggers who are talking regularly about issues that matter to me. In order to subscribe to their blogs, I will need an RSS aggregator as well.  As I mentioned in my last post, Google Reader is folding at the end of this month so I will need to do some research and determine the best tool for this. (I have been looking at desktop home page options and web-based options as well. I have not come to any definitive conclusions at this point).

Week 8. Week eight will be spent working on my second Commentary which I believe will have something to do with Facebook and the pros and cons of using it as a professional networking tool. (I have to confess, right now I am dead set against the idea of using Facebook as a PLN tool. As a teacher, I feel like there are aspects of my life that I simply want to be just for me – and Facebook is one of them. Not that I am on Facebook that often, but I do have an existing account and it is a social networking tool that I use solely  for family and friends, and I want to keep it that way. At least for now.)

Week 9. Podcasts. I really do not have any experience with podcasts so this will be new to me. Although I do have an iTunes account and have seen the iTunes U option so I at least have a place to start from.

Week 10. Social Bookmarking. Will Richardson noted that he had wanted to go with Delicious but at the time he was going to publication Delicious was in jeopardy, so he went with  Diigo.  I already have a delicious account but am interested in some of the additional features that Diigo offers like highlighting and sticky notes. So, I may be changing my choice of social bookmarking. Truth be told, I have really only been using the bookmarking aspect of delicious, and not bothered with the social aspect of the tool at all. That needs to change. I need to make connections with others who have found great sites and resources in areas of interest to me.

Week 11. Webinars. As far as professional development goes, webinars sound like a great way to connect in a pseudo-f2f environment. I like the idea of it, but much like podcasts, I have no experience, beyond meeting up for live chats in my MET courses.

Week 12-13. This time will be spent creating my Assessment Rubric to be used to evaluate my PLN presentation, finalizing my PLN presentation, and writing my final reflection. Busy, busy, busy!

Let the PLNing begin!

Identifying the focus areas of my PLN

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A line in Richardson’s book has resonated with me over the past several days.  In Chapter 3: Becoming a Networked Learner, he says, “Once we start connecting, it’s all about the quality of the connections you make, not the quantity” (p.35). He goes on to discuss the importance of being selective as we develop our PLNs ; he also talks about the need to connect with people who offer diverse perspectives and from different “nodes” (A term often used by George Siemens’ with respect to Connectivism which I will be speaking of in my upcoming Commentary).

This line has stuck with me and I have spent the last few days reflecting on who and what to include in my PLN. I am not looking to create a network so vast that it renders me debilitated. I know I do not want to become so overwhelmed by a PLN that consumes or buries me in trying to “keep up”.  That said, I have narrowed down the focus areas or areas of passion that I will become the framework of my PLN.

1. Alternative education. First and foremost, my identity as a teacher is grounded in my practice, and for the past 15+ years, despite stints in other areas, I am, and continue to be, a high school alternative school educator.

2. Personalized learning, situated learning, active learning – learning theories and models to make learning meaningful for my students.

3. Emotional Intelligence, Social Intelligence, Self-regulation, etc. These areas of study are imperative in my day-to-day teaching.

4. Current events in education – locally, provincially, nationally, and internationally. I think it is imperative to be aware of what is happening in the field of education around the world.

5. Free educational technology tools that can enhance the teaching and learning landscape.

These five  areas will be the basis from which I will begin to build my PLN. I will start to seek out people that I can believe and people I can trust in these fields. As Richardson states, “If you have the ability to grow your connections by choosing trustworthy and believable people to interact with  in the first place, that network can  help you edit and vet the new connections you make” (p. 27).

Teaching in the 21st century

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In his Introduction to his book, Personal Learning Networks, Will Richardson identifies why networks and connecting are so important for teachers of the 21st century. He explains how today’s learning landscape is vastly different than what we have seen in the past 150+ years. As I read I was reminded of the RSA-Animate where Sir Ken Robinson breaks down what is no longer working in the current education system. (If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. I also encourage you to share it with your students, and their parents. In fact, view it together to create a dialogue about where you want your classroom to go.)

Both Richardson and Robinson agree that the world wide web, and 24 hour access to information, is changing the way we learn, and the process of learning as a whole.  Personally, I can attest to this; I see it every day. I have more and more students accessing information on their smartphones than the classroom computers; there are more students asking if they can email me their homework than ever before, a parent told me the other day that she found it strange that I didn’t have a facebook account so she could “connect with me” – her words! At breaks students are hanging out on   twitter and tumblr instead of in the yard or the cafeteria. The world it is a changin’! And I for one want to be a part of it.

 Richardson is a strong advocate for helping teachers embrace 21 century technologies and all that they have to offer; he believes that teachers and schools need to “plug into this vibrant worldwide network of learning to stay relevant and to prepare our children for a vastly different landscape” (p.3 ).

Below is a short 3 minute video of Richardson discussing the need for teachers to embrace PLNs in this new learning (and teaching) climate.

The 21st century is upon us, and  it’s filled with technologies – mobile technologies, technologies to enable communication, technologies to facilitate collaboration, technologies to inspire creativity, and technologies to promote innovation.  It is our job to ensure our students acquire the skills essential to success in the 21st century and beyond.  As Richardson says in his intro, “teachers need to: stay relevant in order to prepare students for the “vibrant worldwide network of learning” (p.3 ).

 In 2010, in my first MET course, ETEC 511, I was introduced to the International Society for Technology in Education’s (ISTE)  NETS for students (2012) and NETS for teachers. I highly recommend you check them out. You can even download a pdf version. These short and sweet documents will help you get a better understanding of the skills that are important for today’s students and teachers.

If you want more information on 21st learning skills I highly recommend Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel’s book, 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times. I read this book two years ago and it really helped me bring theory into practice in my classroom. In my opinion it is a must read. (Several libraries have the book available in ebook format as well).

I would also encourage you to check out the Canadian Council on Learning’s 21st Century Learning Initiative ,as well as the United States’ initiative – Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Every province and every school district across the country should have their own version of the 21st century skills available to teachers, and resources  to help teachers meet those skills.  Here is a link to the British Columbia Teachers Federation (BCTF) site addressing 21st century learning skills.

Be sure to check out your own province’s stance on 21st century skills as well as your school district’s. There should also be a person available in your school or district to help you along the way. And if not, you’ve found me, and together we can start making the essential connections to become effective 21st century educators – relevant educators, educators who are able to turn pedagogy into practice and model the use of learning networks rather than just talking about them.

 

What is a PLN?

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If you do a search of the term PLN you will be directed to some interesting websites…most of which do not pertain to the focus of this blog. When I say PLN I mean Personal Learning Network. A PLN is not the same as a PLE but in some ways they do compliment one another. Ironically, during my first MET course, ETEC 511: Foundations of Ed. Tech, I contributed to the on-going class wiki by adding information on Personal Learning Environments (PLE). It looks as though my learning, and my interests have come full circle.

In my original research I looked at how students could use PLEs to document their learning in an online platform – think e-portfolios! (Interestingly enough, the other course I am currently completing is ETEC 590 which offers a capstone opportunity for teachers and focuses on creating an e-portfolio of my MET experience).  But I digress.

What a PLN is essentially is a network. That’s obvious; it’s in the name. But a network of who? or what? Will Richardson, in his recent book, Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education, defines them as ‘a set of connections to people and resources both offline and online who enrich our learning” (2011, p. 2)  Flanigan (2011) describes PLNs as “teacher-driven, global, support networks”. I like the combination of the two definitions as they suggest the empowerment that comes with creating your own PLN, while recognizing the power of external supports.

When I think of my own PLN, I think about people, people that I know, people that I call, or see at meetings, or conferences. But in such a global world, a world that has been opened up by the web, I realize that my thinking is limited. I have to go beyond the people I see every day and instead start to create a network of people and resources  that I can not only access, but communicate with, on a regular basis to enhance my learning and my students’ learning as well. This is where the web becomes unquestionably critical.

If you click on the image below you will see a snapshot of  my current PLN, as I begin this journey. Notice that there are a lot of links but the links are not connected. I have made some connections with some people and some web sites and social media tools but they are all one way connections at this point.  The connections are not inter-connected; I believe, this is the piece that is missing. The piece that this course will help to solidify. If solidification is possible in the read/write world in which we live and learn.

Click on the map above to see a larger version. If the map is too small once opened remember you can always click on ctrl key and the + key to enlarge it.