Building a Professional

Learning Network (PLN)

By: Torrey Trust

New Age Teaching & Learning

In the information age, students must learn to navigate and evaluate an expanding network of information.

Highly effective teachers model this process of information analysis and knowledge acquisition by continually learning through collaboration, professional development, and studying pedagogical techniques and best practices.

What is a PLN?

A Professional Learning Network (PLN) is a flexible, teacher-driven activity space that facilitates personalized professional development.

PLN’s connect teachers to other individuals worldwide who can offer support, advice, feedback, and collaboration opportunities.

PLN’s allow teachers to collect information from various websites and access it in one organized area so they can stay up-to-date on the latest teaching techniques, pedagogies, and changes in the field of education.

What is a PLN?

TeacherRSS

Reader

Journals

Websites

YouTube

Blogs

News

Edmodo

Wikis

Twitter

Ning

Facebook

Collaborative Tools Intelligence Gathering

There are two types of PLN’s: Intelligence Gathering & Collaborative Tools

Benefits of PLN’s

Flexible Teachers can learn on their own time from home. PLN’s shape and grow with the individuals that

are part of the network.

Personalized Teachers can choose which sites to add to their

RSS reader and which groups and social networking sites to join based on their personal interests and areas identified for professional growth.

Practical Learning is practical (not a one-size-fits-all

workshop).

Benefits of PLN’s

Real-Time Solutions Teachers can learn from others and implement

solutions immediately.

Instant Access Access to new information, thousands of experts,

feedback, support, ideas, partnerships, etc…

Expertise Everyone can be an expert. Teachers can share

wisdom and receive help. Everyone is part of someone else’s network so all teachers are responsible for the growth of the entire network.

Intelligence Gathering

The Intelligence Gathering type of PLN is when teachers stay up-to-date on new information by following multiple websites and news sources through RSS feeds.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds allow material from one website (i.e., New York Times Education Column) to be read on other websites (i.e., Google Reader).

RSS readers use RSS feeds to collect new posts, articles and updates from websites that teachers identify as valuable and “push” this information to them via the RSS reader

RSS: Pushing Text from Individual Blogs to a Reader

Blog

News Website

Website

Intelligence Gathering

RSS readers save teachers time since they no longer have to visit each individual website and check for updates.

Teachers can rapidly skim through hundreds of articles in RSS readers and click on the ones that are most interesting or useful to visit the website where the post originated and read the entire text.

Information Gathering Tools

Google Reader (http://www.google.com/reader)

Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com/)

FeedDemon (http://www.feeddemon.com/)

My Yahoo! (http://my.yahoo.com/)

Comparison of RSS Readers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_feed_aggregators

Google Reader

Intelligence Gathering

Another form of information aggregation is email subscriptions.

Many websites include a “Follow Me” or “Subscribe” widget that allows viewers to input their email address and receive emails anytime there is a new post or update on the website or blog.

This turns the email inbox into a RSS reader and allows teachers to gather information in their email instead of visiting a RSS reader website.

Education Sites to Follow

Accomplished Teacher SmartBrief Daily Newsletter: http://www.smartbrief.com/nbpts/index.jsp?campaign=hpselect

For the Love of Learning: http://www.joebower.org/

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day: http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/

EduBlog Awards: Top Individual Blog List http://edublogawards.com/2011-3/best-individual-blog-2011/

EDTEC Sites to Follow

SmartBrief on EdTech Daily Newsletter: https://www.smartbrief.com/edtech/index.jsp

FreeTech4Teachers: http://www.freetech4teachers.com/

Educational Technology Guy: http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/

Simon Haughton’s Blog: http://www.simonhaughton.co.uk/

Simple K-12: http://blog.simplek12.com/

Collaborative Tools

The collaborative tools type of PLN is when teachers use social media tools to connect with various individuals around the world.

These social media tools include: Social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter) Affinity-based group sites (Ning,

Wikispaces) Real-time interaction tools (online chat

rooms, instant messaging, Skype, Second Life).

Collaborative Tools

While, Ning, Facebook, and Twitter have real-time interaction capabilities, teachers generally use these sites for asynchronous learning where they post a question to a community discussion board or send a message to another individual and check back at a later time to find a response.

These sites are less demanding on the teacher’s time because they can write or respond to posts whenever they have free time in their schedule.

These sites also provide a space for collective knowledge where teachers can find support from large groups of individuals that pool their answers to find the best solution to a problem.

Discussion Posts

Groups

Profile Page

Wall

Collaborative Tools

Real-time interaction tools allow teachers to have conversations with others worldwide to receive feedback on new ideas, discuss lesson plans, ask for support, solve problems, and collaborate.

Teachers can video chat through Skype, text chat with instant messaging tools, and even create an avatar and talk with someone in real-time through the virtual world Second Life.

Real-time interaction tools are useful for building relationships and seeking one-on-one support, such as mentoring.

Featured Collaborative Tool

Edmodo (4.3+ million users) Join subject communities Create class groups (assignments, quizzes,

grades) Facebook-style interface Quick responses from

members Personal library to

collect resources http://www.edmodo.com

Featured Collaborative Tool

Classroom 2.0 (60,000+ members) Instantly chat with other individuals on

the website Classroom 2.0 LIVE weekly webcast Join special-interest groups Upload photos/videos Add RSS feeds to your profile page Write blog posts & create your own blog http://www.classroom20.com

Featured Collaborative Tool

The Educator’s PLN (10,000+ members) Instantly chat with other individuals on

the website Add & RSVP to events Join special-interest groups Listen to education podcasts Add RSS feeds to your profile page Write blog posts & create your own blog http://edupln.ning.com/

Featured Collaborative Tool

Twitter Follow educators, experts, policymakers Share your own links and resources Join education conversations (see next

slide) Share ideas, ask for help, receive feedback

from followers Connect with educators around the world http://www.twitter.com

Twitter Hashtags

Join education conversations: #edchat:  Over 400 teachers get together every Tuesday

at Noon EST or at 6PM EST to chat about a variety of pre-determined topics.

#Scichat, #mathchat, #engchat:  Talk with teachers who teach your core subject area (times vary)

#1stchat, #2ndchat, #3rdchat, etc.:  Talk with teachers who teach your grade level

#edtech:  Chat about all things new in educational technology 

Visit the WeAreTeachers blog to learn how to get involved with twitter chats about education

View more education hashtags here: http://teacherstraining.com.au/how-teachers-can-use-twitter-to-maximise-their-professional-learning/

PLN Overload

Typically a teacher will develop both types of PLN’s; however, it can be overwhelming to sorting through all of the information, figuring out the social norms for the activity spaces, and learning to use the new tools.

It is recommended that teachers start with one tool (i.e., Google Reader or Ning) and then gradually build their PLN as they become more comfortable accessing information and navigating the online activity spaces.

PLN Survival Tips

Intelligence Gathering Start by identifying 2-3 information sources

to follow (including email subscriptions) Set a reminder on your calendar to visit

your RSS reader weekly

Collaborative Tools Try to connect with 1-2 individuals (via

friend request or responding to discussion posts)

Ask these individuals about how to make the most out of the activity space

Credits

Presentation Designed by:

Torrey Trust

Ph.D. Student

Education: Teaching & Learning

Gevirtz Graduate School of Education

UC Santa Barbara

K-12 Tech Tools Database Founder