This document discusses personal learning networks (PLNs) and how individuals can develop their own PLNs to facilitate lifelong learning. It defines a PLN as a self-managed collection of online resources that allow individuals to organize and share information. It provides examples of different tools that can be used to develop a PLN, including blogs, social networking sites, RSS feeds, and content aggregation platforms. It emphasizes that a PLN is learner-centered and supports learning that is lifelong, life-wide, and available on demand.
5. The Personal Web “collection of technologies that confer the ability to reorganize, configure and manage online content rather than just viewing it.” 2009 Horizon Report: The K-12 Edition
34. Widgets “What they all share is size (small), flexibility (they can be programmed to any specification) and compatibility (they can be adapted for many platforms)” (Guess)
42. Professional development “connected teaching” “online learning communities” Professional learning “collaborative, coherent, and continuous” Learning is always “on” Students as “networked learners” “Connected teachers”
46. Wikispaces was blocked by a WebSense (the district filtering software) update because, as the IT guy I spoke to said, “It’s social networking isn’t it? What’s to keep students from uploading porn to it from home and sharing it at school?” And my internal response to that was “Nothing including WebSense is keeping students from doing that. Ever hear of a flash drive?” Fortunately, someone higher up in the food chain must have been using Wikispaces, because it was unblocked the next day. Musicwms http://csriu.wordpress.com/2009/12/28/web-access-management-a-new-approach/ COPPA CIPA Fear
47. This is who we need to be ready for http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT4EbM7dCMs
48. Personal Learning Networks Additional Reading EDUCAUSE, "7 Things You Should Know About Ning" <http://www.educause.edu/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAboutNing/162903>.Hawald, Sarah. “Diigo, with a Twist (Reading Comprehension).” Independent School Educators Network. 18 Nov. 2008. Web. 3 July 2009. http://isenet.ning.com/profiles/blogs/diigo-with-a-twist-readingHooker, Daniel. “10 Ways Library Schools Should be Teaching Social Media.” Sociallibrarian. 23 June 2009. Web. 3 July 2009. http://blog.danielhooker.com/2009/06/23/10-ways-library-schools-should-be-teaching-social-media/Purdy, Kevin. “Netvibes Adds Multiple, Publish-Ready Pages.” Lifehacker. 27 May 2009. Web. 5 July 2009. http://lifehacker.com/5271235/netvibes-adds-multiple-publish+ready-pagesValenza, Joyce. “Netvibes Enhanced!”Neverendingsearch.School Library Journal, 27 May, 2009. Web. 5 July 2009.http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1340000334/post/1270044927.htmlWarlick, David. “Grow Your Personal Learning Network.” ISTE: International Society for Technology in Education.” 2009. Web. 3 July 2009. http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/EducatorResources/YourLearningJourney/CreativityandInnovation/Warlick.pdf_, “The Art & Technique of Personal Learning Networks.” Warlick’sCoLearners.n.d. Web. 3 July 2009. http://davidwarlick.com/wiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheArtAmpTechniqueOfCultivatingYourPersonalLearningNetwork
49. Works Cited American Association of School Librarians. "Learning4Life Webinars." http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/conferencesandevents/l4lwebinars/l4lwebinar.cfmClassroom 2.0 <http://www.classroom20.com/Diigo. http://www.diigo.com/.“Dublin City Public Libraries.” n.d. Netvibes. 3 July 2009. http://www.netvibes.com/dublincitypubliclibraries#HomeGuess, Andy. “A Widget Onto the Future.” Inside Higher Ed. 8 Dec. 2008. Web. 3 July 2009. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/12/08/widgetsHayes, Gary and Laurel Papworth. "The Social Media Campaign." Flickr.http://www.flickr.com/photos/garyhayes/2973684461/sizes/l.iTunes. http://www.apple.com/itunes/.LM_NET Discussion list. http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/.Marino, Mark "The Topoi Flakes." USC Writing Program.http://www.pageflakes.com/markcmarino/23536077.McPheeters, Dallas. "My Personal Learning Network." in Scott Leslie's Edtecpost. http://edtechpost.wikispaces.com/PLE+Diagrams#mcpheeters.The New Media Consortium. “Four to Five Years: The Personal Web.” 2009 Horizon Report: The K12 Edition.” 2009. Web. 3 July 2009. http://wp.nmc.org/horizon-k12-2009/chapters/personal-web/Office of Educational Technology . U.S. Department of Education.Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology. Draft: National Educational Technology Plan 2010.http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/NETP-2010-exec-summary.pdf"Welcome." Shrewsbury and Telford Heath Libraries: Team Knowledge Update. http://www.netvibes.com/sathlibraries#Welcome.Show MOs School Libraries: Highlighting the work of Missouri School Librarians <http://showmosl.ning.com>Telstarlogistics. "A 2.5 Year-Old Has a First Encounter With an iPad." YouTube.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT4EbM7dCMs.Teacher Librarian Ning: A community for teacher-librarians and other educators <http://teacherlibrarian.ning.com/>Valenza, Joyce. “Current Events.” Pageflakes.n.d. Web. 3 July 2009. http://www.pageflakes.com/joyce_valenza/24801452Valenza, Joyce. "Joyce Valenza has Invited You to the Event 'TL Cafe: Crisis Webinar' on TLNing!" TeacherLibrarianNing.http://teacherlibrarian.ning.com/xn/detail/672799:Event:98675?xg_source=activity.Wdrexler, "Welcome to My PLE!" <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEls3tq5wIY>Willrich45. "Annotating with Diigo." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGgiyYKdCEQ.Wilson, Hassan. “Wilson’s Biology Lab – The Universe.” Netvibes.n.d. Netvibes. 3 July 2009. http://www.netvibes.com/wilsonsbiologylab#News
Editor's Notes
How do we educate ourselves? We used to rely on books – newspapers, magazines, talking to the other librarian in the district, listening to knowledgable speakers and writers, and going to conferences. We’ve been networking for a long time.
But now we can network on a grand scale. And We have too much of everything – blogs, Web sites, -- a huge rush of information. We need a way to deal with it meaningfully. We have TOO MUCH OF EVERYTHING.
Web content can be sorted, displayed, and even built on according to an individual’s personal needs and interestsWhether it is a portal/network/environment
At the center of the PERSONAL learning network is YOU!!! --- or in other words, it’s all about ME!!! THIS SLIDE B HAYES AND PAWORTH not only shows the the sources of information --- AROUND THE YOU – but also the WAYS you can interact with the information at the bottom of the screen- Involve ; create ; discuss ; promote ; measure
If there is one thing that has made the whole personal learning environment possible is has to be the ubiquitous orange button – RSS feed -- Training content to come to you -- Central tool for dynamic asynchronous connection – connect learners to the world are learning about – we are not just a destination for information but learners engage with the information; add value, and re-issue
Began working with the concept of gathering information from a variety of sources in one place as we called it a PIP
As I did more reading the gathering of information expended beyond accumulation of information – reach out t sources that encouraged me to interact with the information coming to me
Finally the totality of the information and the complexity and breadth of the information for personal and professional development evolved into an environment
There is a HUGE problem facing students in tapping into the Web 2.0 learning network - Policy decisions designed to protect students – filters – inadequate infrastructure and equipment – but particularly filtering. There isn’t an easy answer to this question but I am convinced that throwing up our hands and saying it can’t be done isn’t the answer either. It will take continuous education by librarians and the teachers they can get on board to bring administrators and technology power brokers on board.
Remember the RSS feed? That has changed the whole way we can learn. Instead of going out and finding the information – the information comes to you. All you have to do is subscribe. What to subscribe first?
All of those blogs that you saw in the introduction? That is where to begin. The number of thoughtful people blogging regularly is an a lesson in professional development every day. You don’t even have to reach out to get it. Every day, I learn something new. Every day my previous assumptions are challenged. Every day I find out that whatever great idea I had has already been done and is successfully in place – or not. It is great to learn about that as well – not only what is working but what isn’t working!
Create own social network – Classroom 2.0 is for anyone interested in 2.0 technology and the classroom. Joyce Valenza (the indefatigable Joyce Valenza) started a ning for school librarians where we can post pictures, videos, and questions for anyone interested in the activities of school libraries. I created one recently specifically to highlight the activities of librarians in the state. They are open to anyone and I hope you all will join and ADD to the information on the ning. If you have questions – go to the forum and ask. If you want to comment on the state of the world – go to the blog section and write about your concerns.Our favorite RSS feed will allow you to subscribe to groups and will tell you when someone has posted new information. My ning has two groups right now. Hopefully this will grow as a source of information and inspiration.
Pick topics you are really interested in. Don’t try and do it all at once. Pick and choose. Keep in mind that you have a constitutional right to not read everything in your in-box.
HOW TO GO ABOUT SETTING UP A PERSONAL LEARNING NETWORK – the simplest is iGoogle which has a lot of things going for it. Simplicity and integration with other Google tools is the main reason for looking here first. The students in my classes almost all preferred iGoogle to the other two that make up the big three personalized home pages – because it was the easiest to set up and use. Constant library of information that refresh and update themselvesNote the tabs on the left-hand side
One of the things that makes iGoogle so easy are the wide array of gadgets that you can drop into your pages.
Besides iGoogle one of the big apps in personal pages is Pageflakes said Mark C. Marino, who teaches writing at the University of Southern California and who created a customized widget that instructs students in the use of "topoi," a Greek concept used to better understand an idea. “create pages around particular learning tasks built of widgets that target different learning styles (text, video, interactivityMarino created an entire page, hosted by the Web service PageflakesNOTE THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF WIDGETS – in order to appeal to the different learning styles of students – TEXT, VIDEO, INTERACTIVITY
Joyce’s use of widgets in Pageflakes – she wrote a column about her enthusiasm for the new use of widgets from the point of view of the librarian – she can put widgets from the subscription databases right beside the links to free Web sites –Note the different pages she has at the top of the screen From the librarian point of view vs the student point of view – students put this on their own pages??
The other big name in personal learning environments is Netvibes – my students found this the most difficult to use and lost interest in it – there have been some big changes in this and I’m interested in trying these againUsing Netvibes to create a virtual content awareness service for healthcare staff and students in the library
Number of libraries using as virtual resource centers – use it as a library home pages – suggested to students who are in schools without a Web presence – no server space to host a Web site? No IT support to help with the management of the Web pages? Use Netvibes servers and the drop in widgets instead
Teachers biology site – notice the different tools and how they address different learning styles – blogs – podcasts and videos
Messages we are sending and being sent; social tools bring traffic and connect with users who are not physically or willing to come to the libraryThe point is that if we are fundamental to the learning process the library can play an important role in helping students direct their own education – which in turn drives traffic to us and the resources to the library media center – if we are helping set up personal learning networks we can help the cope with the conflicting messages in the Web world – we help them direct their personal traffic LIKE THIS AMAZING STOPLIGHT – and we become integral to the learning process
Finding the right people to listen to; identifying a network of positive and valuable information sharersRecognize the power of adopting and adapting social media – Twitter not considered a reliable resource for research information and yet we’ve seen several examples recently of its power.We need to helps students identify positive and valuable information sharers
Come back to where we were at the beginning – none of this will happen if the students can’t use the technology that is readily available – and the technology they use on a daily basis.Policy decisions designed to protect students – filters – inadequate infrastructure and equipment
And so on one hand we have the Federal Government telling us to get ready for the connected, digital age and on the other we have things such as COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) and CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act) scaring the bejesus out of administrators, tech directors, and teachers.