My task as a future educator is to gather as much relevant information as I can that will aid me in becoming a caring, accepting, and well versed teacher. In order to accomplish this goal I have used my Personal Learning Network (PLN), a network of individuals that connect to share ideas, collaborate, and increase their understanding on a certain area of interest. My PLN consists of individuals I have met using the following forms of networking Twitter, Diigo, and Educators PLN. Twitter can be defined as an online social networking service. Similarly, Diigo is a social bookmarking website that grants its users the ability to bookmark and tag webpages of interest. Lastly, Educator PLN is a network designed specifically for educators and offers its members the opportunity to discuss an area of interest within education. Below I will describe the people I have met through my PLN and what I have been able to accomplish.
Above I gave a quick definition of Twitter, however, I would like to expand on that definition. Twitter is a real-time information network meaning that individuals possessing an account receive a chain of ideas, opinions and news from the people they follow. Slowly but surely, I have been able to increase the list of people I follow. Currently, I follow friends, classmates, professors, current and retired educators, principals, and organizations that seek to improve education. I have learned so much from the people/organizations that I follow through Twitter. Reading their comments has broadened my education and keeps me well informed about the events in education. Among the people that I follow are Brenda Hauff (@BrendaHauff) a technology teacher, Kylene Beers (@KyleneBeers) educator and author, and Stacey Cole (@StaceyCole) a preK-5 principal.
Another amazing tool provided to users of Twitter is the ability to engage in interactive and informational chats about an array of topics. On Wednesday, March 14, 2012 I participated on a chat with followers/members of the New Teacher Chat (#ntchat). The chat initiated at 5P.M. and the topic discussed was strategies for providing a quality math program. The moderator of the chat was Lisa Dabbs who is one of the founders of #ntchat. The chat started by participants introducing themselves and answering the question “what is mathematics?” Every participant defined mathematics in his or her own terms but we all agreed that it is a subject that is essential for student development. Throughout the chat, I was amazed at the ideas and websites shared by the participants. My favorite part of the chat was when ideas were shared on how to engage students in math. Overall, engaging in the chat provided by #ntchat was great and I obtained a lot of great information. I see myself engaging in another chat in the near future.
Using Diigo, a free social bookmarking, research, sharing tool, I have been able to bookmark and save interesting web-pages for later review. Another great feature of Diigo is its ability to allow me to share my bookmarks, complete with annotations, with friends and peers. Additionally, I have access to numerous other bookmarks created by members of the Diigo community by simply searching tags that pertain to my topic of interest. Diigo also allows its users to follow other Diigo members very much like Twitter. I have taken full advantage of this tool and follow individuals who are connected to education such as Mary Beth Hertz, Chad Lehman, Clif Mims, Kay McNulty, Samantha Morra, Ryan Bretag, and Jeff Mummert. All of these individuals are a wealth of information and have granted me access to great resources that will aid me in my future career as an educator. I decided to tag PLN four web-pages that deal with the topic of PLN and methods to implement this great tool in education. All four blogs and articles describe PLN as it relates to education and students. My favorite blog dealing with PLN was by Jeff Utecht who did a great job in describing the steps that a new PLN member should take to successfully participate in these learning networks. The best advice that I obtained from his blog was to find a balance between learning and living. In other words, participating in PLN is great as long as it does not control your life.
Through my membership with The Educator’s PLN, a personal learning network for educators, I have been exposed to many great ideas that aim at improving education. The Educator’s PLN grants its members the opportunity to view informational and inspiring video and read article written by educators. The video that I decided to view was titled An Introduction to Project-Based Learning that dealt with the topic of giving students the opportunity to engage in activities that allow them to demonstrate what they learn through group presentation, plays, among other forms of expression. The video stated that project-based learning is beneficial because it encourages students to engage in depth investigation and hone their critical thinking skills. In other words, students become the active agents of their education instead of mere passive recipients of information. Watching this video and hearing student testimonials has made me realize that project-based learning is great because it makes learning fun.
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