Yes, Another PLN Post...

Yeah, there are a hundred or so PLN posts out there. Here's another one. Why? I'm presenting this stuff at an in-service, and I couldn't find all of this stuff in one place. I decided to compile it all on our district web page. Here are the fruits of my labor.


My slide deck for the presentation...


What is a PLN?

Personal Learning Networks, or PLNs, are the collegial relationships you have with peers. Originally, they were your family and friends, maybe other educators you worked with, but thanks to the internet and web 2.0 tools have become much much larger. PLNs can now include myriad communities, including but not limited to social networking sites like Facebook, blogs, Twitter, wikis, social bookmarking tools, LinkedIn, Goodreads, and Ning.
n. – the entire collection of people with whom you engage and exchange information, usually online. (http://bit.ly/Klingensmith) 


How to build it


Twitter (not just for breakfast anymore)

Okay, so maybe a few years ago you saw this video, and while it is cool, you got the completely wrong impression of twitter. Honestly, Twitter is one of the most stupid inventions ever brought online, but some really smart people leveraged this tool with great apps like Tweetdeck & Hootsuite, making it a thing of awesomeness.



Leveraging your twitter feed with advanced tools

Hoot Suite


Yes, there's also an app for that (also on android)

Tweetdeck

This is one for those of you who want a Twitter app for your own computer. Unfortunately, thanks to our new UAC limitations, we can't use this one at school.


Hash Tags, Lists, & Finding who you're looking for....

    Other tools & Networks

    Okay, so twitter doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's a great tool to find great content within your field, but it isn't an end in itself. Let's take a look at some of the content that Twitter users refer to regularly.

    Goodreads

    Not necessarily first and foremost in educational content, but certainly gaining popularity here at Spring Grove, is Goodreads.


    Ning

    Ning used to be a place to set up your own social network around a topic for free. This was an awesome teaching tool. It was everything Moodle wants to be but isn't Now it costs some serious cash. There are, however some sweet communities out there to join:
    You get the idea. Just go to Google, and search "your term here" with "ning" (eg: engineering education ning).

    Edmodo

    Resources

    Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list. I haven't even mentioned blogging. This is, however, what I wanted to share with my colleagues, and I hope it helps you.

    Good luck, and good tweeting...

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