Personal Learning Networks

Signing up for a Twitter account is one of the best things I’ve done for my professional learning. You may be thinking, no way! Especially with the negative attention given to politics on Twitter. However, we just need to be careful who our friends are – or in this case who we choose to follow. Alec Couros, educational technology and media professor and researcher at the University of Regina, Canada, explains it well in the video linked below.

Using Twitter effectively for education – with Alec Couros

In 2010, as an assignment at Arkansas Leadership Academy, I set up my Twitter account and began following educational leaders. I was skeptical at first. Then gradually I started following more and more leaders in education and educational technology, and I began to see the value in using Twitter to connect with educational leaders around the world. Currently, I’m following 2,222 educators, administrators, and researchers. I’m not much of a tweeter myself unless I’m participating in a live Twitter chat. Mostly, I’m a liker and a lurker when I have a few free minutes. I use the “like” feature to sort of bookmark things I find useful or inspiring, and I usually don’t have to lurk for long to find something valuable. This tweet says it nicely.

Would you like to know more about Twitter for educators? Below are several articles on the topic.

Tiny Bursts of Learning

Edublog: Building Your PLN

Use of Twitter across educational settings: a review of the literature

If you are a Twitter user but haven’t tried Tweetdeck, consider trying it out. It’s great for following several hashtags at once and for participating in fast-moving live chats.

Reference:

d_mulder (2016, October 23). Teachers on Twitter are the best. Take 5 minutes to read and reflect; what will you learn from your colleagues today? Approach Twitter with a growth mindset, think of it as “I have five minutes…what can I learn today?” [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/d_mulder/status/790298591440936960

Communities of Practice, Connectivism, Personal Learning Networks, PLN

Creative Expression: Connected Learning

June 11, 2017August 8, 2022 sksj13gmailcom

https://youtu.be/4JPLp3DLUfE

Creative Expression: Connected Learning

The video above is my creative expression of connected learning. Throughout the video, connectivism is symbolized by water. Water is shown as the medium that is connectedness, connected or networked learning, and includes one side of each of the very connections themselves. Water is free-flowing, has an openness and transparency. Similarly, connectivism promotes a flow of information, openness, and transparency according to George Siemens in his video, “Connectivism: Socializing Open Learning” on YouTube (2010).

Communities of practice are a type of social learning where groups of practitioners are working in a shared domain. They have a shared body of information and may have common goals. They may have a form of leadership and members tend to be pulling in the same direction. (E.Wenger, 2015; B. Wenger-Traynor, 2015). In my video, communities of practice are represented by rowing teams, sailing, aircraft carrier, and submarine crews, polo teams, passengers on a cruise ship, and deep sea fisherman.

Personal learning networks are self-directed with each person having the freedom to choose how, when, where, and with what tools they want to interact with their network connections. Each person sets their own goals, makes their own connections, and pursues their own interests. According to Gutierrez (2016), the PLN provides learners with a continuous stream of knowledge and a space to exchange thoughts and ideas. In my video, water sports such as paddle boarding, surfing, swimming, diving, para-sailing, wind-surfing. and scuba diving represent freedom, choice, and individuality which are hallmarks of the PLN.

Each person in the video represents connections with others whether part of a community of practice or having built their own personal learning network as a result of their interaction with the water – with connectivism.

Resources:

Gutierrez, K. (2016, June) Industry Trends: What are personal learning Networks? Shift Disruptive ELearning. Retrieved from http://info.shiftelearning.com/blog/personal-learning-networks

Siemens, G. (2010, June 15). Connectivism: Socializing Open Learning.”[YouTube]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqL_lsogeNU&feature=youtu.be

Wenger E, & Wenger-Trayner, B. (2015,April), Communities of practice a brief introduction. Wenger-Trayner. Retrieved from http://wenger-trayner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/07-Brief-introduction-to-communities-of-practice.pdf

Blogs, Personal Learning Networks, PLN, Social Media, Twitter

Reflection – Facebook Groups, Twitter, Diigo, Blogs

June 3, 2017August 9, 2022 sksj13gmailcom

My initial reaction to joining Facebook, Twitter, Diigo, and a blog to use in this course was that of excitement. As a Facebook and Twitter user, I’m pretty comfortable with those platforms. I used Blogger for my past learning log for my MET, so I decided to use it again. I haven’t used Diigo before, but I used Delicious in the past. I got away from using it though and have been curating my resources in One Note ever since. I like what I’ve seen with Diigo so far, and I’m excited to use it in my work.

When I attended Arkansas Leadership Academy in 2011, our training facilitator had us all set up Twitter accounts and start developing a PLN. I have to say that is one of the very best things I’ve done. I follow about 1300 people, and whenever I have a few free minutes, I just log in and learn something new. I am mostly a lurker, but have joined in a chat once in a while. I’m hoping to do that more as a result of taking this class. This was my first time to useTweet Deck, and it will certainly make chats easier to follow. I have lots of teacher friends on Facebook. They share things there from time to time. I enjoy some blogs and Pinterest as well.

When I taught fourth grade, I used KidBlog for our class to share writing and math stories with each other. It was a closed environment, and I kept a close eye on it. I also used it with my virtual fourth grade class. The students really enjoyed it.

Our office has a blog that we hope to utilize more for sharing with and among faculty. We just need to make it a priority. There are some faculty that indicated on a survey that would like training on setting up a PLN with Twitter. I plan to do that, but may need to do something asynchronous to reach people. So I’m excited about the Twitter resources provided. I think our office could also benefit from using a Diigo group.

During this course, I’m hoping to become more frequent with sharing on social media. I’m pretty cautious and tend to overthink things, so I don’t share as much as I’d would like. I’m also looking forward to sharing with my colleagues the benefits and best practices of using social media with students.