Journal 7- My Personal Learning Network

A Personal Learning Network (PLN) is a collection of people who connect together by sharing information, resources, ideas, and thoughts online.  A PLN can be really helpful because it is an easy way to connect to others involved in education, and find and share ideas and information.  I’ve created my own PLN by using Twitter, Diigo, and the Educator’s PLN.  My PLN will help me because it gives me the opportunity to learn from people who are currently working in the education system.  I can also find different lesson ideas, educational news, and collaborate with other educators.

Twitter is an online information network that connects you with people from all over the world.  It allows you to share resources, articles, opinions, ideas, etc.  When you find a topic or a user interesting, you "follow" their profile, and their posts appear on your own newsfeed.  Posts are called "Tweets," and they are only 140 characters long, so posts are quick to read and concise.  With my Twitter account, I am able to follow a lot of teachers, school administrators, and some educational news websites.  Some of the people I currently follow are Lisa Dabbs, Alina Davis, Robert Clay, and Seth Bramble.  I also follow a couple organizations like, ASCD (The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) and CTA (California Teachers Association).  There are always fascinating articles and new ideas posted on my newsfeed.  I’ve read a lot of various articles about the use of cell phones in the classroom, longer school days, and children’s involvement in activities outside of school.  Most all of these articles and resources I have discovered would not be found so easily anywhere else.  The cool things about my Twitter account is that I am exposed to information and resources that applies to my career and only things I am interested in.  Through my Twitter account, I was able to join a live educational chat with people from all over the world.  I chose the #K12media chat to participate in because I recently did a project about the effects of media on children’s aggression, so I was interested in the general topic of media.  The educational chat takes place every Monday at 8:00pm, and the one I participated in was on April 2, 2012.  Participants discussed issues of racism and sexism on school campuses.  People gave ideas on how to deal with these issues in the classroom, and gave examples of situations that had happened in their own classroom.  Some resources were shared too, and I was able to read over a couple related articles.  The overall chat was perfect for me because it is related to all grade levels, so any educator can relate it to their classroom.  I also found it interesting because I am currently enrolled in a “Cultural Diversity and Schooling” education class, and we discuss the topics of racism, sexism, equity and equality a lot.

My Diigo account provides an online bookmark for all the articles and websites that I want to save. It is a research tool that allows the user to "bookmark" a website page to their own library.  You can highlight sentences or paragraphs and leave virtual sticky notes on your bookmarked page.  You can tag different words or acronyms, making it easier to find articles or websites later.  I found an article on the ISTE website that gives information on Personal Learning Networks.  I bookmarked the page to my Diigo library and tagged with different phrases that described the article like; "PLN," "educators," and "blog."  If I am looking for this specific page or a similar one in the future, I can search my library using different tags.  It is also a social networking site that allows the user to follow other people and see the sites they have saved in their library.  Some of the Diigo users I follow are, Jil Wright, Doug Belshaw, Lacey Bridges, Jennifer Dorman, and Katie Day.  More resources are available to you when you follow more people because there are more articles, news events, and websites that are shared.  I follow other educators and some professionals who have updates from the technology world.  Since technology use in the classroom is rising, I want to stay updated with the new advances and tools.  

I have a membership for a Digital Discussion Forum that is a part of the Educator’s PLN, which is a learning network for educators.  There is a discussion forum, posted videos, and lots of articles, and many other resources.  I was drawn to the video, “What Is 21^st Century Education?”  The video was short but I was really surprised by some of the statistics and facts that were given.  It is a reminder for future educators to motivate and inspire their students so they can keep up with our world that is always changing.  One quote that really stuck with me advised educators to “make your classroom as dynamic as the world around us.”  It’s important for educators to continue to motivate and inspire students because education in the 21^st century is so different and so much more advanced.