PLNProfessional Learning Network Colin Matheson Carmel Unified School

PLN-Professional Learning Network Colin Matheson Carmel Unified School District First Year as a Full Time Technology Coach Taught Science for 7 years http: //www. carmelunified. org http: //www. cytochromec. net

PLN-Professional Learning Network • Any group of people sharing the same profession or interests that share ideas • This conference is an example of a PLN • Your department is an example of a PLN

Frictionless Medium • The internet allows us to form PLNs with more people and much more easily • “A frictionless medium for communication”some BBC reporter • Keep the conference energy alive • Why write a letter when you can email? • Why email when you can text/twitter?

PLN also Stands For Personal Learning Network • Informal Learning • “Just In Time” Learning • Social Learning Theory: Bandura, Vygotsky • Professional Learning Community-PLC

My PLN success stories • Copyright law • One to one computing-real people with real stories • Teaching evolution discussion • Canadian Math Teacher Moodle Site • #edchat

The stages of PLN membership 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Lurking/Skimming Asking for help/opinions Giving help/opinions Starting something (group/discussion) Joining every social network possible Becoming overwhelmed and dropping the whole thing 7. Finding the right balance

Twitter • The Human Search Engine/Your Personal Newsfeed http: //www. twitter. com • Some Basic Terminology – #Hashtags, @reply, RT, DM, Shorten Urls • Setting up your profile – Notifications • Pick one username, use the same email, and a consistent password for all of your PLN sites

Who to Follow? • The people in this room – http: //bit. ly/1 py 7 z 6 • Other people’s followers • Lists – http: //www. wefollow. com – http: //www. twibes. com • Manage it with a “client” – Tweetdeck, Hootsuite

Nings • Smaller Social Networks (Usually Interest Based) – Profile, notifications/subsciptions • • http: //thesynapse. ning. com http: //molecularforces. ning. com http: //www. clasroom 20. com http: //smartboardrevolution. ning. com/

Social Bookmarking • Diigo/Delicious – Diigo has a few more features (groups, sticky notes) – Accounts can be synced so you really are using both • Use tags to classify – Your school, district, department, class could set up a tag to collect all of your finds • Can install a toolbar to make it easy to maintain and share a single list of bookmarks from any computer

Many Other Ways to Connect… • Google/Yahoo Groups – hs chem group – http: //www. hschem. org/Join. Us/membershipfor m. htm • Listservs – AP College Board – http: //apcentral. collegeboard. com/apc/public/h omepage/7173. html

Many Other Ways to Connect… • Curriki – http: //www. curriki. org – Share lesson plans • Platform/Software specific discussions – http: //www. moodle. org

I have always relied on the kindness of strangers • Great sites where: – teachers have shared their lessons – People/companies/universities have created and posted great animations/activities

PLN Extends That Tradition • Now I can ask my network and get recommendations from other professionals. This makes it easier for me to find great resources. • The cloud also makes sharing easier. • Make the internet human again