Creating
a local and global learning network can be a scary prospect for educators who
are unfamiliar with technological tools. There are many tools out there that
educators can use to connect with other educators and build their personal
learning environment. Building the professional learning network of any
educator not only allows them to enhance their knowledge but also allows the
educator to enhance the learning environment in the classroom (Caron, 2013) . Below we will look
at three technological tools that can be used to assist educators in building
their professional learning network.
Boasting
a set-up similar to Facebook, one of the more popular ways to grow your
professional learning network is through Edmodo.
The set-up of Edmodo is extremely similar to Facebook but with the intention of
focusing on educators. You can have students, parents, and coworkers linked to
your account. You can make posts like you would on Facebook to share resources
or just to start a conversation. There are apps that you can add as well as add
events to a calendar so that all the people attached to your profile can see
what you have scheduled. My district actually uses this as part of our
technology committee.
The
technology committee in my district consists or teachers, administrators, SAU personnel,
technology support as well school board members. Since we do not see these
members on a regular basis except on days when we are meeting, Edmodo allows us
to stay in communication in between meetings. We send each other articles, apps
and other resources that are about whatever issue we are currently dealing with
in the committee. It truly provides us a way of staying connected without
having to send constant emails about the information.
Another
site that is used by people looking for a fairly controlled environment is Linkedin. Similar to Edmodo Linkedin
allows an educator to connect with individuals that the educator already knows.
The educator could then connect with the connections of friends but would have
a hard time finding educators that are far outside of their original learning
network. Educators are still able to post information and send information to
friends just like in Edmodo. In Linkedin however educators are able to connect
with people who are not involved in education. There may be connections that
educators want to make with workers in a specific field and Linkedin would
allow educators to do this in a safe environment. Messages can be sent as well
as different groups joined. Most importantly the news feed not only includes
the people that the educator is connected with but also includes information
about trending items specific to the educator. I have used Linkedin to stay
connected to past coworkers or classmates.
My Linkedin
account consists of people I have met on jobs outside of the classroom as well
as old classmates who are now teaching in other districts. By keeping in
contact with these people I am able to communicate with them if I am looking
for resources. In the case of connections outside of the education world, I
have them so if I need to contact them for a student or in some cases they are
willing to make presentations to students about how they use the information
from the class in their everyday life. Both of these technological tools are
great for creating a local professional learning network but lack the ability
to make a truly global learning network. If an educator is looking to have a
global learning network they should be looking at another technological tool.
The
tool I would suggest to start with in terms of a global technological tools
would be Twitter. Twitter allows people
to connect with anyone around the world quickly. Unlike the previous two tools
an educator does not need to know the individual they are connecting with
before making the connection. An educator could connect with an educator that
lives around the world without needing approval from the educator first. Unfortunately,
individuals almost need two separate accounts. One account for strictly
education work and one account for personal connections. Without two accounts Twitter
can be overwhelming at times. It is a great place to connect and send quick
messages as well as sharing resources quickly but for someone like me it is
difficult to maintain.
I
originally used Twitter as a means to stay connected with friends and now that
I am also using it for educational purposes it can be very overwhelming. I find
at times that I am scrolling through many tweets looking for the educational
references and resources. I do enjoy being connected and following educational
leaders from around the world however. I have come across many great resources
through this avenue but do not like to be on Twitter as there is so much coming
at you at once. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these tools.
It is
important to keep in mind what the goal of your professional learning network
is before choosing a tool to use for that network. Both Edmodo and Linkedin
allow you to connect with individuals that you already know as well as connect
with people your connections know. Twitter allows you to connect with anyone
you can find without permission from the individual. This allows you to see and
have access to all the resources that individual has to offer. In all cases you
can connect and build your learning network.
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