These days, it's all about collaborative/social networking; it's a tidal wave sweeping through education. Facebook and Twitter are key players. With them, you can grow your own group of followers, while sharing your knowledge and picking their brains. If I had a group of educator followers I'd have my own "Personal Learning Network" and I'd be able to ask whether I'm doing the right things with my "
Provisional Computing Driving Licence" for teachers. I'd be able to ask for pointers to resources that I could use in developing it. Since these people will be experienced educators, many familiar with integrating ICT (Information and Communications Technology) into the classroom, they'd be high quality resources.
But I don't have my own PLN. I can follow lots of educators, but which educators would want to follow me? I have little I can trade. So, for now, I trawl through the web, looking for material to support the driving licence, getting frustrated and distracted, and wasting a lot of time.
I had never heard of a VLN!
ReplyDeleteHave you heard of project aardvark? Its a project where you ask a question, and the site directs your question to someone who it think is authoritative on the subject matter. It's still in baby stages, but might be worth a look?
http://vark.com/
I had never heard of project aardvark! Yes, looks like it might be worth a try - thanks for the pointer, Christoph!
ReplyDeleteHi Clive
ReplyDeleteI call it a PLN (personal learning network). I have an offline one and an online one :)
The easiest thing to do on twitter is to follow hashtags like #edchat and #edtech (easiest in tweetdeck where you can set up columns) and gradually find people to follow who interest you. Email if you want help getting a headstart. We have some common interests to talk about... My son and his wife just finished a year volunteering in India for Nasvarjan. I'm looking forward to reading your blog and your story!
Hi Edna, Very nice to hear from you!
ReplyDeleteYes, I called it a PLN in an earlier post and a VLN here; so much for being consistent! Either way, I don't have much of an online or offline one! I actually loaded up Tweetdeck yesterday and will look into setting up columns as you suggest.
How do I find your email address, Edna? It's not on your blog AFAIK. I could do with a headstart so thank you for the kind offer!
Hello Clive. I've followed you on twitter - I'm sure you'll learn a lot there.
ReplyDeleteNow changed from Virtual Learning Network to Personal Learning Network. They're equivalent in my eyes, but "PLN" is becoming predominant.
ReplyDelete