Personal Learning Networks seem to be the best way to connect with people and tools that you can use when you need help, someone to talk to, and collaboration for new ideas. Teaching in the 21st century you have to be up-to-date on all the technology children are using, which is changing constantly. Incorporating this into your every day classroom prepares them for the future. Through PLN's you can ask questions, find websites, blogs, and get help in a matter of seconds.
How can they help you as a teacher?
With it being the 21st century, technology is constantly used to teach students, teachers must learn new methods and practices to prepare students. Personal Learning Networks (PLN), can be a network of people, ideas, blogs, videos, research, and other resources. Teachers can use sites like Discovery Education, Edutopia to help students understand their material if they need extra help or other ways to understand it. Personal Learning Networks can also be used to help teachers connect with other teachers from around the globe and share lessons or ideas. Some of the resources for educators would be Classroom 2.0, ED Web, and Professional Development.
How are they formed? How can you create your own?
There are many ways to form a personal learning network. Twitter has been the main source introduced in this class, provided are sites that help you organize PLN's, Symbaloo and Netvibes. . PLNs teach students how to be organized with their school work and students can prioritize what they would like to work on first. Symbaloo organizes different webiste icons by title blocks, Netvibes organizes RSS feeds of sites into block arrangement. Both of these websites are strong tools in building your PLN.
Who will be the first additions to your PLN?
Since being in this class, I have added Mr. Lomax, Dr. Strange, the EDM310 Staff, and classmates to my PLN. Although, I am just starting my PLN I can already see the benefits of it. I think PLN will be a great resource to use in my career as an educator and I am excited to see how big my PLN will become in the future.
Hi Chalandra!
ReplyDeleteI loved your statement,"As teachers it is important that we continue to learn". As future educators, not only will our students learn from us but we will also continue to learn through them as well. I think PLN's will be a great tool to use in our future classrooms to help get our students involved in learning!