In looking to further establish my PLN, naturally I turned to my friend Google. Thankfully I did as I found this fantastic blog by Michael Graffin. Here he discusses "What is a PLN", going into the what, why, and how of Personal Learning Networks. He has further posts that I am eager to look into such as "Using Twitter to Build Your PLN" (I admit that I don't really get the whole hashtag business.....I tried #inquiry and it wasn't providing me the results I wanted so I definitely need some more work there), and "Using Blog Posts as Part of your PLN". I love that the internet has allowed such generous sharing of information. This website was an excellent jumping off point and one I will continue to refer to as needed.
This video is an excellent summary of PLN in less than 2 minutes. Check it out if you want a quick overview.
Too Much!
Something I struggle with (and I know I'm not alone here) is the vast wealth of information available and how to possibly keep up. I have tried to subscribe to blogs and various twitter accounts before and found myself inundated with information. Going forward I decided that my PLN needed two things:
1. Focus - my PLN needed a clear direction for what I wanted to learn about and where I wanted to take my learning. Sometimes I just want to learn everything, but that becomes frustrating when nothing takes hold.
2. Organization - in creating my PLN I want to have a way to manage it that works for me.
Where am I Going?
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For determining the focus in my PLN I decided to refer back to my first post from this course. One of my focus words from that post was inquiry. Using inquiry in the classroom is something that I haven't experimented with but I am eager to; however, inquiry is a bit daunting and I definitely want to connect with other educators before just jumping in. A quick Google search nets me some fabulous first ideas. Edutopia's "What does a 21st Century Classroom Look Like:Inquiry?" not only discusses the concept of inquiry but dives into some examples that teachers have used and discusses how to get started. I found this post helpful as it demonstrates some sample inquiry questions, mentions some things to consider before getting started, and discusses some aspects of inquiry that teachers can cultivate into everyday lessons such as creating guiding questions.
Next, understanding that I learn best through experiencing someone else's process I decided to seek out a blog that followed another's inquiry journey. I came across the fantastic "52 Weeks of Guided Inquiry" blog which follows a new educator each week as they dive into inquiry. I really enjoy the unique perspective that each poster brings to the blog. One of the posts that I came across was Rebecca Wilkin's where she shares about her experience Skyping with a ranger from Yellowstone National Park through the Skype in Education tool. This is where the beauty in collaboration comes to play -- in searching resources for inquiry I am introduced to new tech tools that can make my job as an educator more efficient. Rather than sifting through the myriad of technological tools available, another educator has shared their experience working with a tool and how it worked for their students.
Another blog that I came across is Kath Murdoch's "just wondering". Kath is an Australian based educational consultant focused in inquiry based methodologies. One of her posts that I came across was her "My Favourite Inquiry Journeys of 2017" found here. In it she discusses some of her most successful inquiry experience for the past year. While the content is certainly thought provoking, I became frustrated that the list didn't have links to previous blog posts where each inquiry was details....I guess my standards are getting pretty high now.
All About Organization
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In compiling my newfound list and resources and contacts, I had to figure out how to keep them straight in a meaningful way. This is really the bread and butter of ICT - I no longer have to keep a tedious list of websites or even print out the resources - there is technology to help me manage things! I haven't finalized my system yet but for now what I've done is subscribed to the blogs that really struck me and bookmarked others under a "teaching resources" tab. Additionally, any specific educators that really struck me I have been sure to follow on Twitter so I can keep up to date on their latest and greatest, and widen my PLN through following their tweets. Additionally, as a user of the internet conglomerate site Reddit, I created a multireddit of my favourite educational subreddits. Currently I subscribed to /r/literature; /r/history; /r/ELAteachers; /r/teachingresources; and /r/ted. If you are also a Reddit user and are interested in the idea of a multireddit find a how-to here. These tools are helping me manage my PLN in a way that won't be overwhelming.
I am still looking to further develop my PLN but for now I have made some excellent connections and I am excited to see where this takes me!
Resources
Common Sense Education. (July 21, 2017). "What's a PLN? And 3 ways teachers can get connected." [videofile] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju54C5A3RCw
Goetz, Patrick. (May 12, 2015) "What does a 21st Century Classroom Look Like: Inquiry."[blogpost] Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/what-does-21st-century-classroom-look-inquiry
Graffin, Michael. (n.d.) "Step 1: What is a PLN?" [blogpost] Retrieved from https://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/pln-challenge-1-what-the-heck-is-a-pln/comment-page-6/#comments
Murdoch, Kath. (January 2, 2018). "My favourite inquiry journeys of 2017." [blogpost] Retrieved from http://www.kathmurdoch.com.au/blog/2018/1/2/my-favourite-inquiry-journeys-of-2017
Wilkin, Rebecca. (April 20, 2018). "Immersed in Learning." [blogpost] Retrieved from https://52guidedinquiry.edublogs.org/2018/04/20/immersed-in-learning/
Hey Natasha,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I could totally connect with you at several place - the hashtag mystery (still trying to fig out the whole deal), feeling overwhelmed, and having a pressing need to get organized with the ocean of incoming and excellent information. I love your PLN idea and am tempted to create one for myself. Something similar to PLN is our internal portal Richmond school district librarians have a place in the portal where we discuss, tweet, and ask questions every now and then. As much as I'd like to visit the place regularly, sometimes weeks go by without a visit. Nevertheless, there is a place as such. Thanks for sharing all the wonderful ideas! I'm quite excited to explore the blogs you mentioned.
Vandy
I love the idea of an internal portal for school district librarians to connect - do they have one for English teachers etc as well? I understand letting time go by without visiting - the 'right now' stuff can take over sometimes...
DeleteGreat post Natasha!
ReplyDeleteI had never quite understood what PLNs were until now. I can now see how my Pinterest folders are one of my PLNs, and my Twitter feed is a PLN too! I on often find ideas there but I never considered what they were!
You mentioned that there are sites that keep track of your preferred links and websites, can you recommend one? And is there a way to search for blogs? I am quite behind where using personal blogs for information is concerned, I always just google it.
Hi Luana - excellent questions! I have generally relied on Google to search for blogs...I find that searching something like "best educational blogs" or "education inquiry blogs" yield better results. In managing my blog subscription I tend to email subscribe and then have those automatically sort into folders. As Saisha describes below however, a Listserv would be an even better way to do this - I might go that route if I find the number of blogs unmanageable. Here is a ListServ specifically for school librarians: http://www.lm-net.info/
DeleteKeeping track of links and websites I usually do through sorting my booksmarks into an "Education" Folder. Still kind of old school but it works for me right now!
I too find organization to be one of the biggest obstacles when collecting information in this way. Listservs are one of my favourite ways to stay connected, so I've created folders in my email inbox that listserv mail is deposited directly into. I can then spend a slow morning looking through each one of them over a coffee rather than having multiple emails swamp my inbox when I'm rushing to get to other tasks. The issue now, however, is the scarcity of those slow mornings!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the user guide for reddit and creating a multireddit. This is one resource that I have not yet taken advantage of and would like to add to my toolbox. This is a very straightforward guide, and an educational multireddit is first on my list of new tools to add.
Thanks for reminding me about ListServs! I was introduced to these in one of my previous TL courses but found I was so inundated with the information that I ultimately unsubscribed....something to come back to though I think!
DeleteI knew the multireddit would help someone! I'm glad you found it helpful :)
In reading others' blogs mine appears confused and mismatched....I know that the title is ICT Skills and Pedagogy, but in reading the description I understood it to be creating a PLN for further developing our ICT skills....apologies if I misunderstood!
ReplyDeleteI went the same route! I felt that ICT was super general and I decided to focus on something I felt was attainable. It's hard to get it all in at the 300 word mark (Let's be honest, I'm usually way closer to the 1000. Maybe I need to do an inquiry project on being more succinct).
DeleteI loved your post! You are so right about staying organized. I have yet to find the perfect solution, but I have been using Padlet to keep track of sites and ideas. I also really liked your links to those great blogs. I would love to point you towards #InquiryMindset and Trevor MacKenzie's book, Inquiry Mindset (the follow up to Dive into Inquiry). If you search the hashtag, it will bring up anyone posting about it. Lots of really great ideas that inevitably lead you down a long dark rabbit hole. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThank you thank you thank you for connecting me to #InquiryMindset! First off, a hashtag around Inquiry that actually gives me results that I'm looking for - and then connecting me to the book! Such a fantastic resource - I can't wait to dig into it!
DeleteYou have included good discussion of your process to explore inquiry through the development of a focused PLN. That is an interesting take on the topic this week; how to use ICT to further your professional goals. I like your considerations of focus and organization for your PLN. You discovered new resources and ways of curating them effectively for your own use. I wonder if also searching #inquirybasedlearning on Twitter would provide results?
ReplyDeleteAnother hashtag to add to my list! Thank you!
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