Friday 19 August 2016

Building a Professional Learning Network

Today at our digital immersion day we discussed how we can extend our professional learning network beyond the people we see everyday.

Why have a PLN?
Today the world is extremely connected through the internet. As educators we have the ability to connect with educations all a round the world to build knowledge and share ideas. By connecting with ours you make your own learning visible and you have people to ask when you are unsure.


The Power of Social Media
We were extremely lucky to hear from James Hopkins.

He explained his learning journey, the idea that at the start he was planning alone and as he started his journey on Twitter he gained more learning through exploring blogs and engaging in Twitter Chats. He explained that when you are tweeting you can explore who you are by finding like minded people and be challenges by those with different opinions. He also suggested that your PLN gives you critical friends, people who don't know you, your context, your kids who can be much more critical and provide the ideas you are yet to think about.

Building a PLN online gives you the opportunity to really grow through sharing!

Twitter is about sharing your pedagogy and wider thinking rather than sharing resources.

Well good professional development costs a lot of money making online connection to other educators in FREE!!

What is a Hashtag? 
A hashtag is like a label on a blog it allows you to find the Tweets about an idea. The biggest difference is that it is not just post by on one persons blog but all the Tweets from everyone who has used that Hashtag. You can try it, have a look at #EdchatNZ

Education Chats
These chats are a great way to share you ideas, refine your ideas and gain an external view on the things you keep saying. There are are lots of good people out there that you just haven't met yet.

You don't know what you don't know and if you share a spark of an idea it can build through the ideas of your PLN.

I am excited to keep Tweeting and be the best Tweetcher I can be! @MissDavisNZ


MDTAchat
Today as part of becoming better Tweetchers the MDTA teachers took part in the MDTA Chat. This was a provocative chat considering New Pedagogies.

Taking part in this chat was a really great way to think about and express my ideas in short soundbites. It was also really interesting engaging with other peoples Tweets.

Here is a link to our Twitter discussion #MDTAchat:




1 comment:

  1. I do like the way you have structured this reflection Clarelle. I have seen you working at developing your PLN prior to this and agree with your comment that the virtual experience is enhanced by meeting face to face as you did at a couple of conferences recently. I look forward to seeing your tweets from the Hui next week.

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