How To Build a Personal Learning Network (Video)

Embedded above is a video I found on TeacherTube covering the subject of personal learning networks. This video is just an example of the MANY that can be found on this website and accessed by other educators for free! Some videos are better than others, but there is no shortage of useful videos! Borrowing videos and printable lesson plans throughout the school year is a good way to keep the classroom fresh and exciting, and it gives students access to different viewpoints that they might not have been exposed to if you had designed everything that the class did throughout the year.

My Personal Learning Network

Embedded above is a concept map illustrating my current personal learning network (PLN). It is still a work in progress and will grow throughout this semester, and through my career as an educator. Links are included on the concept map for all online sources, including podcasts and helpful Twitter and Pinterest pages. Later on I will post a picture of a rough draft/pre-map that I created at the beginning of the semester. The difference between the two is already surprising to me, and continues to get larger and larger as I find new resources. If your computer is not able to view the embedded content, here is the external link: Sean's PLN Concept Map (link will open in a new window, no sign-in required). Below are ten of the resources I found, with a short description and a screenshot of each.

@edutopia

This resource is a Twitter account that tweets about a variety of things relating to education. The posts range from studies on seating charts to fun graphics you can print and hang in your classroom. There are also suggested accounts to follow listed, and many of the linked pages are helpful sources for continuing learning as well.










@teachthought

The goal of TeachThought is to help teachers continue their education throughout their careers. They want to innovate and improve upon the education system by improving teachers. The account tweets links to helpful podcasts, new ways to teach science experiments, and classroom management strategies. The entire focus is to better educate teachers and encourage them to incorporate technology into the classroom.

Classroom Bridges
Classroom bridges is a website aimed at helping teachers connect with other classrooms. The two teachers both fill out their search criteria and wait for a match. Once the teachers have been matched they exchange contact information (email, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) and design their connected classroom activities.





blogger.com
Blogger.com is free website where you can create blogs discussing any subject you would like. You are also able to access any blogs set to public viewing, and this enables you to connect with other people in areas you are interested in.
This is a helpful tool in any field to learn from others.

#edchat Radio
#edchat Radio is a podcast that goes along with the following resource on the list. This podcast is once a week, and the subject matter varies week to week. The topics for discussion are drawn from the most talked about things on #edchat on Twitter that week.







#thirdchat

#thirdchat is a tag on Twitter that connects you to other people discussing third grade. The discussions can range from interesting projects a class has done to suggestions about how to teach a difficult subject. Along with this group for third grade, there are other groups such as #edchat (general group for educators) and #fourthchat (fourth grade).







Pinterest.com

Along with all the fun crafts and foods that Pinterest will show you how to make, there are also a ton of educational boards on the site as well. Other educators share interesting graphics, activity ideas, community projects, and more. This is an excellent resource to stay connected with other educators and share ideas.







@edudemic


Edudemic is a resource that I found after creating my Twitter profile. I was initially interested because their 'about me' section reads "Connecting Education and Technolgy". The posts are informative and cover a wide range of topics while still being interesting and enjoyable to read.

TeacherTube.com
Teacher Tube is a website with many different types of educational content. On this website you can find study guides, lessons taught through videos, photos, and more. The content is user created so evaluation of anything used from the site is important.

edpuzzle.com

Ed Puzzle is a website that allows teachers to create and share educational and instructional videos. One of the many cool features of this site is the ability to add pauses and questions to the videos to check student's understanding of the topic as they go along.





(Edit: Updated PLN)
(Edit: Answered questions about each source)

Why Use Twitter as a Source of Continuing Education?

1. Twitter fits into your schedule whenever YOU have time, which is incredibly convenient for an educator who always has something new to be working on. Free moments are scarce, and the simplicity and length of many tweets allows you to take advantage of those moments.

2. Allows you to meet other people that share the same interests or views as you, and engage with others that may challenge your beliefs. There are more Twitter accounts in existence than most people can even imagine. While that can cause confusion and make it more difficult to find reliable sources; with just a little bit of an evaluation of the accounts you look at, it won't take much time at all to find a few good sources of information.

3. Hashtags are an incredibly convenient way to organize the thoughts of many people on a certain topic. For example, when I log into my Twitter account, I can search "#edchat" and see what people are talking about regarding education in real time. I can even search for more specific grade levels and subject areas if I would like.

4. Twitter is ever changing and updating, and this allows its users to communicate and collaborate in real time. Surveys of groups of people can be done live, and input from millions of people is just a click away. Because of the ever changing nature of the website, information is shared quickly and with a large audience. This also allows Twitter to be used to stay up to date on new/changing professional standards and requirements.

You can visit my Twitter by clicking HERE or by 

clicking the link on the right side of the page.

Original Concept Map of PLN

     This is a photo of my original personal learning network concept map. These are the places I learn from that I thought of at first when asked to create this map, and the version posted here (link will open in a new window) is the ever-growing map with my new sources. This version is good as a rough draft, but after seeing how much it has grown already throughout the semester the newer version is definitely better.