PLN's

The Power of Personal
Learning Networks
Eric Sheninger
Principal at New Milford HS (NJ)
Website: ericsheninger.com
Twitter: NMHS_Principal
#CAMT13
Saturday, July 13, 2013

Let’s Send a Tweet
Why should educators use Twitter for their PLN?
Tell us where you are from and use #CAMT13

Problems With
Professional Development

Image credit: http://emilysquest.ﬁles.wordpress.com/2009/04/no-choice-andre-jordan1.jpg?w=500

Personal Learning
Networks
Collection of people with whom you exchange
information and engage in conversations.
Been around forever (originally friends,
family, etc.)
So what has changed?

Social Media Revolution

Image credit: Alec Couros http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/courosa

A New Era of PD
Anytime (24/7)
Accessible anywhere
Real-time
Connect with best minds in the ﬁeld and
practitioners
Cost-effective
Result: knowledge acquisition, resources,
feedback, strategies/ideas, conference
tracking

!"#$%&'(%)*+,&-./,00123$456#7"%)*#4'3"0#('-*8%90:;;<0=;0=>0$%+?37?+-%?93'*#2?"%)*#0&

Image credit: http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/issue_80/articles/if_you_dont_have_a_pln.html

Image credit: http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/dnorman/

Image credit: http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/08/5-ways-to-build-your-10-and-20-personal.html

My PLN

Elements of a PLN
Image credit: http://www.abpc21.org/images/21teacher4.jpg

Essential PLN Tools
Twitter
Blogs
Google+
Social Bookmarking
RSS Readers
Digital Discussion Forums
Tablet Apps
LinkedIn
Other (Wikis, Pinterest, etc.)

Twitter
Microblogging platform that allows educators
from all corners of the globe to communicate
in 140 characters or less.
Allows for the sharing of resources, discussion
of best practices, and collaboration.
Use hashtags (#) to track specific
conversations and conferences (popular tags
include #edchat, #cpchat, #edtech)

Let’s check that tweet

Blogs
Incredible sources of information that allow
educators to reflect, share opinions, and
discuss various topics.
This is a common medium to discover best
practices, examples of innovation, and learn
from professional experiences of both novice
and veteran educators.

Google+
Contains both Facebook and Twitter-like
attributes.
Within Google + users can create a profile
page similar to Facebook, group people in
circles (organize people into categories), and
set up hangouts (free group video chats).

Social Bookmarking
Method for storing, organizing, and sharing
bookmarks online.
Popular sites such as Delicious and Diigo
allow you to add descriptions as well as
categorize each site using tags.
Educators can even join groups and receive
email updates when new bookmarks are
added.

RSS Readers
RSS stands for "Real Simple Syndication".
An RSS reader is a tool that allows you to
keep up with educational blogs, news, wikis,
and podcasts all in one convenient location.
By subscribing to various RSS feeds
educators then have a customized flow of
information that is continually updated and
accessible through the use of mobile devices
or the internet.
Feedly

Digital Discussion Forums
Consist of communities of educators
interested in similar topics.
One of the most popular sites is called Ning
where educators can create or join specific
communities.
Ning sites offer a range of learning and growth
options such as discussion forums, event
postings, messaging, news articles, chat
features, groups, and videos.

Popular educational Ning sites include
The Educator’s PLN (edupln.ning.com)
Classroom 2.0 (www.classroom20.com)
English Companion Ning
(englishcompanion.ning.com)

Other popular Digital Discussion forums
include ASCD Edge and edWeb.net
Join edweb.net/
leadership

Tablet Apps
Channel user-selected content into once
place in a magazine format
Can add various channels as well as link
social networking and RSS accounts
Best apps are Zite, Flipboard, and Pulse

LinkedIn
Professional networking site that allows
educators to connect, exchange ideas, and
find opportunities.
Educators can join a variety of groups that
cater to their individual learning interests and
engage in discussions as well as submit, read,
and comment on articles.

Other PLN Tools
Wikis: websites where users can add, modify,
or delete its content using a web browser.
Educational Wikis
(educationalwikis.wikispaces.com)
Wikis in Education
(wikisineducation.wetpaint.com)

Other PLN Tools
Pinterest:electronic bulletin board where
users can “pin” images from around the web
images are categorized into various boards
on the users’ profile
images are linked to websites
Pins can be shared and searchable

Text
http://pinterest.com/esheninger/personal-learning-networks/

Concrete Functions of a PLN
Image credit: http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/2011/11/tools-of-trade.html

PLN Functions

Edcamps
PLN’s have helped to fuel the Edcamp
movement http://edcamp.wikispaces.com
Also refereed to as unconferences. An
unconference is a participant-driven
meeting.” It’s a gathering that tries “to avoid
one or more aspects of a conventional
conference, such as high fees, sponsored
presentations, and top-down organization.”

What Has My PLN Done
For Me?
Transformed the teaching and learning
culture at NMHS
Web 2.0 tools
Professional Growth Period (PGP)
BYOT
Purchasing decisions
Blog
Edscape

Edscape
Saturday October 19, 2013 at New Milford
HS (NJ)
Only $35 to attend, 60 concurrent sessions,
nationally-recognized keynote, breakfast/
lunch, givewaways
edscapeconference.com

Image credit: http://justintarte.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html

Collaborate and Share

Time is NOT an Excuse

Learn More
Google site I created with tutorials, videos,
and examples of everything discussed today
https://sites.google.com/site/anytimepd/
Communicating and Connecting With Social
Media (Solution Tree)

The Power of Personal
Learning Networks
Eric Sheninger
Principal at New Milford HS (NJ)
Website: ericsheninger.com
Twitter: NMHS_Principal

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