Journal 6 Personal Learning Networks

A personal learning network or PLN refers to the sources from which you derive your information. This may be family, friends, the Wall Street Journal, the textbook in your backpack, or any other source through which your knowledge is expanded. In today's world, this probably includes sources from the internet. If you are an internet novice, this may just include emails from friends and family and probably a news source online such as cnn.com or maybe just your homepage from your server. As you become more advanced using the internet, your PLN sources from the internet will also grow. You may have a favorite blog or wiki you follow. You might use a social media site such as YouTube or Flickr. This year, I have learned how to use social bookmarking, which is a great PLN tool. One of the best sites that I have found is Delicious.com. On Delicious.com, you post sites that you find relevant and interesting. Other people are able to see your sites. On Delicious, you will use tags to describe the sites which makes it easy to pull up information regarding a certain subject. According to Warlick, you can also set it up so that when another member of the social bookmarking community tags a page with a tag you are following, Delicious will update you so that you can expand your list of pages for that tag.
Another PLN that has dramatically expanded in usage is Twitter. When using twitter, people get instant access to answers and information from other people on the twitter network. As one's knowledge of the internet expands, the PLN opportunities expand dramatically. So, the best thing you can do is get out there and start surfing the net!

1. In keeping with the theme from my recent interview for the multiple subjects program here at Cal State, how do PLNs incorporate into the mission statement of the college of education? =)
One of the big themes of the mission for the College of Education here at CSUSM is lifelong learning for educators. Personal learning networks allow teachers to do this. By using the internet and some of the emerging technology available on the internet, educators can also utilize innovative research which is another idea from the mission statement.

2. How will my PLN help me in the classroom?
PLNs have already been useful to me even prior to getting my own classroom. For my recent presentation, I used Delicious to find relevant sites on the topic of my presentation. I then added them into my delicious account and posted the information for the other students in my class to find when they need the information that I presented. In a couple years, when I need to refresh my memory, then information will still be there at the tip of my fingertips, not in some notebook that I will have to dig through my closet to find.

Warlick, David (2009, March/April). Grow your personal learning network. Leading and Learning, 36, Retrieved April 29, 2009, from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/200904/