Journal 6: Grow Your Personal Network

NETS-T 4, 5

Warlick, D. (2009). Grow your personal learning network. Learning and Leading, 36(6), Retrieved from http://istelearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Grow-Your-PLN.pdf

David Warlick’s article on growing your personal network begins by explaining to the reader that this idea of a personal network is not a new one. Rather, we have always called on sources to grow our network. This includes the people in our lives (family, friends, and co-workers) as well as the texts and periodicals we use to learn. However, with the rise in technology he explains that our network is a growing and more information is accessible and delivered by many more people.  Through ICT, Information and communication technologies, those voices that did not have access to deliver information now have a voice.  

It is important in an ever changing world, and especially in technology, to be a good educator we must always be open to learn as well. We need to stay up to date on all of the innovative forms of technology and ways to retrieve valuable information. Warlick describes that there are three main types of our PLN:

1. Personally Maintained Synchronous Connections

This type of PLN is the traditional network that consists of the people and places that we consult to find information.  This is where we turn to answer questions and problem solves. Examples of these connections are Skype and Twitter.

2.  Personally and Socially Maintained Semi synchronous Connections

This is perhaps the best part of information sharing in technology because we are not limited to proximity or time constraints. This type of sharing is not in real time and we can participate based on our schedules and we can multi-task while doing so. For example, we can read and respond to blogs on our own time as well as Facebook.

3. Dynamically Maintained Asynchronous Connections

This PLN refers to our ability to stay connected through sources. For example, if we subscribe to a blog on a particular subject we can subscribe to the RSS feed with our aggregator and the software does the work for us. It will retrieve relevant post and information and relay that to us. In class we learned about Social Bookmarking sites such as Diggo. When searching for information the results contain more manageable and reputable lists of sites to visit.

As educators we are learning ourselves and we need these tools and opportunities to gain and develop skills to remain up to date with society and especially our students. Warlick offers a piece of cautionary advice when he states that it is important to understand the responsibility of our PLN. We are retrieving and then re-issuing this information to our network therefore it affects people other than just ourselves.

He also explains that it is human nature to find sources and people that agree with our view of the world, but he challenges us to find networks that test our ideals. As teachers we will realize that our students are facing an uncertain world filled with the ups and downs of life. We must teach our students to trust in themselves.

Finally, Warlick offers a list of tips to get our PLN started and how to keep it simple. Again, he mentions to be smart about what we subscribe to because it all affects our PLN. He suggests that we remain organized including ways to organize our folders and blogs by subjects and usage.   Many of us do not want to commit to creating our PLNs because we are already so busy and time is limited. Warlick suggests just 15 minutes a day is all it takes to learn something new.

Q1. What are the responsibilities that go along with your PLN?

The article reminds the reader that our PLN does not just affect one person. This is a way to gain information and then pass this information onto others. Especially when developing your PLN for professional reasons, it is important to understand the quality of information that you re-issue. You are developing a reputation for yourself and you cannot issue information that is not based on facts and quality. You should be selective in your choices.

Q2. Why is it important to visit networks that challenge our point of views as educators?

The world is changing. The world always changes and our world views may need to shift as well. As educators, we will have students from all different walks of life and they may have very different backgrounds then our own. We need to realize that everything will not be viewed from our rose colored perspective and we need to educate ourselves to be empathetic.

I am going to follow a twitter chat that is based in Europe because I would like to see the issues faced as well as hear the many ideas these educators have. I believe if we look into a diverse network then we will learn so much about the world. 

Sometimes, our ideas are based on biases and sometimes even generalizations that we didn’t even know we possessed. It is always a good idea to see the other side. Visiting sites that challenge our point of views will show us that other side and perhaps help us to realize and squash the ideals that are holding us back as educators.