Who should be in my PLN?
The members in your network are not necessarily people with whom you liaise directly or know on a personal basis. The members of your network should be people, both inside and outside of your immediate circle, who have the knowledge that you are trying to master and who are willing to share their knowledge and experience with you.
How can a Personal Learning Network help me?
According to the blog, “Once a Teacher”, there are a number of benefits to establishing a Personal Learning Network:
- Professional development – learn from content-area specialists;
- Locate resources for your classroom, such as free websites and software;
- Get lesson plan ideas from master teachers;
- Learn about new technology and how to integrate it into your teaching;
- Find collaborative solutions;
- Find interesting links to education news.
How do I establish a Personal Learning Network?
If it is a very new concept to you, the trick is to start small. Ask other people in your group, or with whom you have gone through a training programme, to participate in periodic discussions and share experiences with each other.
Teachers use ICT to access outside experts and learning communities to support their activities and their own professional learning (KD.6.b).
