Personal Learning Networks are based on the principle of just-in-time learning by encouraging teachers to surround themselves with others who share similar interests or knowledge.
A teacher with a well developed PLN is able to turn to her network of colleagues to share ideas, ask questions, get feedback or find an audience.
Many teachers have limited opportunities to surround themselves with like-minded others, either because they work in a small school, teach a unique subject, or simply don’t have access to people who think like them. Consequently, it becomes easy for many educators to feel as though they work in a vacuum, with limited opportunities to discuss ideas or get advice from others.
Attending conferences or professional development days can be really useful, but these are usually limited to a few days a year.
We have the tools at our fingertips to develop learning networks of friends, families, colleagues and experts.
What Tools are available to help you create and communicate with your Personal Learning Network?
By using tools like Twitter, Bloglines, Diigo to surround themselves with a network of other educators, and then using these networks to engage in ongoing conversations about teaching and learning, any teacher can have access to the “brains trust” of a larger groups of people at any time. These tools can play a key role in connecting people together to form these personal learning networks.
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