Blog Post #5

This week we are learning and discussing how to create and take advantage of PLNs (personal learning networks). I wasn't quite sure what a PLN was, and honestly it took me a couple of days of digging through sources and websites to really get a grasp on how advantageous personal learning networks can be. A PLN is a set of websites, blogs, tools, videos and relationships in your content area that can provide information, answers, questions, guidance, advice, opinions, and also a sense of community. PLNs promote continual learning and help you to find resources and information quickly. PLNs require dedication and time, especially if you want to get the most relevant and useful information out of them. PLNs are not just about "taking". It is important to also contribute to your PLN, because even in those moments of sharing with others, you too can learn something new.
PLNs can help future educators by providing real time and real life information. The more you add and cultivate your PLN, the more sources and information you can accumulate to create engaging assignments for your students, as well as keep your classroom constantly moving and flowing. Not only do PLNs benefit your students, but they also can save valuable time for teachers. Giving encouragement, seeing progression, building a community, and offering insight are all things that educators can greatly benefit from in their PLNs.

PLNs are formed by connection. The easiest way for me to start was to go to twitter and find pages and people that interested me and were related to my content area. I began to add people on twitter. I began to dig through their tweets and retweets, which led me to videos, blogs, websites, and podcasts that interested me. Not only were these videos, blogs, and websites interesting, but they provided valuable and usable information to me that I can potentially use in my future classroom. On top of that, most of the information I found came from educators, like myself, all over the globe! I can create a virtual relationship with them through following their posts and asking questions when I am in need. Twitter was a great place for me to start my PLN. My first addition to my PLN was my teacher that I was assigned to for C4T, Dr. Dean Shareski. I honestly enjoyed his blog and his ideas about technology and teaching. I have already favorited many of his tweets and enjoy many of his videos (@shareski). Then I began to follow the teachers and pages that Dr. Strange had suggested, which led to more wonderful suggestions by twitter on other related topics that I could follow. I've found several websites and resources that I love. One of these websites is The Lie of Community at budtheteacher.com. I found myself listening to a 30 minute podcast on how beneficial PLNs can be, and how to get the most use out of them. I also found and followed EdTech Talk, which is "collaborative open webcasting community" about educational technology. I also added several search engines, shared drives, news related sites, shopping sites, email accounts, and other resources for finding information.

How can so much information be organized and easily accessible? Simple! I used Symbaloo. This website helps you to organize your PLN through a homescreen full of tiles that contain links to websites, blogs, emails, accounts, and resources. You can access any site without ever having to type the address into the search bar! You can move the tiles, separate similar tiles by webmixes, and customize your viewing settings to your liking.

This is my Symbaloo. You can also make your Symbaloo your homepage. 

I can say that Symbaloo has helped me to become more organized and use my time much more efficiently. I've learned so much from this week's blog post assignment and I cannot wait to continue growing and cultivating my PLN for my future classroom.

Click here if you would like to hear the podcast with David Cormier about the importance of PLNs and community. This can also be found on the budtheteacher.com website link I posted in the above paragraph.