When in doubt, ask the internet: "personal learning network -- a group of people who can guide your learning, point you to learning opportunities, answer your questions, and give you the benefit of their own knowledge and experience." That's according to Daniel R. Tobin, Ph.D. from http://www.tobincls.com/learningnetwork.htm. Not sure if this website is authentic or if it's a consultant trying to sell things, but it's a definition that fits with what we've learned in class.
So what it boils down to is that all of you classmates are my personal learning network. How do I feel about it? Glad to have you as teachers. I expect to learn more from all of you guys than I could by myself. My main question for this course, is how do I use this stuff in class? It's one thing to be Clarence Fisher and have kids read about a Global Voices blog for a Social Studies class. That seems logical. But how about EAP Math/Science?
Great definition of PLN! And you're right, we can all become a part of each others PLN. How's that for connectivity?
ReplyDeleteI think that throughout these IT courses we will continue to learn how we can use the tools we are learning in our classrooms by sharing with each other (our PLN) our attempts, successes and challenges.
I thought PLNs did not exist yet because there was no wikipedia article on them yet. Conflicted, I sought to remedy the situation by starting an entry myself. Unfortunately, my IP address is blocked (because it is shared with so many people) so I was not able to do it. No big deal, because I was really hoping to get it started and have someone who knows the answer update it, then go back and read it.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure I agree with the definition you quote from Tobin, but assuming that is accurate I don't see how we, your classmates, get implicated. Quick, find people's blogs and websites outside of your classmates that know what they are doing already. Go watch TED talks for inspiration, read things outside of the education echo chamber. How are ideas being fostered in marketing? political campaigns?. Oops, did I just "point you to learning opportunities" and undermine my point?