I have written in the past about building my Personal Learning Network. I’ve truly felt the impact of connecting and collaborating with others. It’s been positive all around as I engage, think harder about education, contribute, and share.
Recently I wrote about some great events happening at school. One of which was our 100 Schools Map project. I think the effects of that experience are still paying off. Teachers are noticing that I may be able to assist them by utilizing my PLN. As a result, at least 3 teachers have asked me to send tweets out asking for comments on blogs, comments on Voicethreads, and comments about an on-going social studies project. I wonder if they’d be asking me to help them in this way if we hadn’t done that project?Did it demonstrate the power of the PLN in a more concrete manner?
Our PLP team is also embarking on an action research project to learn first-hand the benefits of building a PLN. That group, including our administrator and me, is striving to build our PLNs and find ways to measure the impact on ourselves as professionals and on our work with students. I truly look forward to the conversations and blog posts about our journey.
I’m almost finished reading Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach’s The Connected Educator. It’s providing fabulous fodder to support my growth, my thinking, and my next steps. How can I play a part in helping more educators on their journey to become connected?
My hope is that more in our community (and beyond!) are becoming aware of the value of PLNs and want to engage in deeper learning themselves. Teachers are ready to take those baby steps.
Image: Creative Commons/flickr http://flic.kr/p/4WmZiW By San Diego Shooter Nathan Rupert
I find as I try to build my network that I am taken in all different directions. As a person who loves learning about almost anything, with a heavy dose of ADD, I find it quite stimulating. It is amazing how often these tangents become relevant in my class and life in general. Your PLN is certainly helping me in my class. Thanks.