It is a series of people who interact to form a network of continuous learners. It is an informal setting that creates a learning community that derives knowledge and experience from each other. Even though it is informal learners do tend to connect with other learners of the same subject matter.
How can they help you as a teacher?
It provides quick, instant, and various viewpoints of the same subject to broaden perspectives. The interaction helps show to students and teachers that there are different ways to coming to the same conclusion and gives more opportunity for students to grasp it whereas they otherwise might not have. Dr. Strange explains it well by comparing it to a "stream...you can dip into it, and it keeps on flowing" Dr. Strange PLN. He gives several examples of different kinds of PLN's.
Using his examples to begin formulating my PLN forum I found another site that will assist me, Symbaloo. I set up a free account through Facebook and began to explore the site. I toyed with the background and started "liking" sites that I use frequently and personalized my information.
I am really interested in moving forward with PLN's. I believe they will be a fruitful option to provide and discover new sources of information for both my students and myself.
" Dr. Strange explains it well by comparing it to a "stream...you can dip into it, and it keeps on flowing"" I was writing about Twitter, not a PLN.
ReplyDeleteYou must emphasize the people that constitute your PLN.
Hi Kelia! I really liked the way you described how PLN's can help you as a teacher by saying, "It provides...various viewpoints of the same subject to broaden perspectives." I did not think of it like that but it is a great description! I also, signed up for symbaloo but if I had not, I would definitely want to after reading this blog post on getting started with PLN's!
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