Group S: Personal Learning Networks

Computer Use 774:
Bloggers S: Blog post – 16 October

A Personal Learning Network for the future:
A personal learning network as described by Wever (2016) is a map where you are at the centre. It is different places and people you connect with, to receive advice, ask questions, get ideas from, to receive guidance from and to help you when you face a problem or situation. “But now with the Internet, you also have access to more resources online. Your PLN then also becomes a resource” (Wever, 2016).

Personal:
Personal Learning Networks are about making connections and building personal contacts with educators, school administrators, universities, and professionals around the world. It is a way to create a resource on which you as the teacher can rely on and draw from.

Learning:
A PLN is about sharing ideas and resources, partnership, and education. In a PLN, learning, ideas and expertise are shared in different ways; using different media and tools.

Network:
The PLN is a global learning network, enabling people access to share diverse, global perspectives on teaching strategies, educational related issues, and technologies.

Why should you build a PLN?
Dryden's and Vos' (2005) book on learning networks said: "For the first time in history, we know now how to store virtually all humanity's most important information and make it available, almost instantly, in almost any form, to almost anyone on earth. We also know how to do that in great new ways so that people can interact with it, and learn from it."

There is a huge cultural shift among young people. Children and adults prefer social media to TV. Joe Dale said, “When we go through websites all the information comes back to us, so we need to organise our PLN”.

By integrating PLN learning strategies into our pedagogical approaches, teachers can create interactive spaces for their students. Further resources are shared, pooled and evaluated in a variety of spaces to which the development of the students and educators can only benefit.

How can a PLN assist you as the teacher?
A PLN can assist you to locate classroom resources and develop lesson ideas, find solutions for the challenges you face in the classroom and locate research and news for lessons. You can also learn from experts and colleagues, build your own digital literacy skills and learn how to integrate these skills in the classroom and establish collaborations to conduct research or set up professional development opportunities.

Some recommended sites:
www.tweetdeck.com to organise your PLN.
http://paper.li/MFLTimes a newspaper updated daily with a selection of articles, blog posts, videos and photos.
http://www.boxoftricks.net/on tried and tested Internet tools for classrooms.
You can also find tools and tutorials for digital storytelling on http://mfl-digitalstories.wikispaces.com/Tools+and+Tutorials
4 Fantastic and Free Professional Learning Networks for Teachers http://bit.ly/2yE8436


Contributors:
Anja Baxter, Maxine Gordon, Tyler Jansen, Christopher Morrison, Elsje Mortimer, Ina-Mari Pretorius, Erika Schabort, Ancheri Van Greunen, Carmen Williams