Views & Opinion
Building a personal learning network (PLN) - what teachers need to know
Comment by Mark Anderson, Director of eLearning and Assistant Head Teacher at Sir Bernard Lovell School
In an average week, a teacher spends 12 hours above what they consider to be their normal working week planning. A PLN can really help to cut this down. Apart from being a great place to share ideas with peers that can engage and inspire you, colleagues in my PLN regularly help me with ideas for my lessons when I ask. More often than not I find the answer in one of their brilliant blog posts which they have shared on Twitter.
I want to demystify Personal Learning Networks, to explain why you need one. There are just a few small and actually very easy steps to creating one and once you’ve started your PLN journey, you’ll quickly realise that creating a PLN is the smartest CPD decision you will ever make.
What is a PLN?
The name PLN, if you don’t have one, may not mean a lot. But, you’ve been reading about this amazing thing called a PLN, so what is it? A personal learning network provides different things for everyone who has one. You probably don’t realise it, but you may already have a PLN in one guise or another. But, once you create an online PLN the power the web brings, connecting you with peers to share resources and best practice on a global scale, takes support networks to a whole new level.
PLN is three key things: P, personal, is about building personal relationships with those in your field, teachers, headteachers, TAs etc. The L, learning, is a two-way process asking and answering questions and sharing best practice. Then third and finally, the N, network; in reality it is just tapping into shared resources from a global colleague base. The network is far more powerful than the lone node!
Where do you start?
It may be a little daunting and you’re wondering where to start, but actually, building a PLN isn’t difficult, you just need to make the time. The first step is setting up a Twitter account. Spend time getting to learn how to use Twitter; learn your tweet from your retweet and your favourites from your DM. Look at the people who converse with people you already follow. Check out their blogs and their profile. I don’t often follow someone without a profile image or bio. Remember, it’s called a personal learning network for a reason; the tools you use and who you connect with are personal to you. The next step is making it a priority on your to-
do list. When you consider the benefits you reap from having a good PLN, investing a couple of hours each week or a few minutes a day to build your PLN (and learn from it) is worthwhile. Step three is to work out what tools you want to use. Ideally, you have a smartphone or tablet as this will really help maximise the opportunities to engage during dead time, on your commute perhaps.
The last step is looking at who you want to connect with. This is very much a personal choice and depends on several factors, from what subjects you teach to the year group you’re
January 2015
working with. Tweacher is a free tool which can help you easily find who to connect with. Joining Twitter chats which are most relevant to you is also a good place to start; some popular education hashtags and weekly chats are #UKEdChat and #SLTChat.
Rules of engagement
There are a few key rules of engagement to keep at the forefront of your thoughts when communicating with your PLN. Firstly, it is public and it’s always best to keep that at the remember that. The other rules are simply that of any online network, being both courteous and polite. Where you do share existing content or retweet it is only polite to give credit to the source. Finally, keep content relevant to the chat as random responses or content being posted won’t sit well - and don’t spam, unless you want a mass exodus of followers.
How can a PLN help?
Before you have a PLN, you may think that you don’t have the time to set one up, but after a short while you’ll look back and wonder how you ever managed without one.
By creating a successful PLN you will work with real people and teachers who can give you a helping hand with many challenges. You’ll get practical solutions from their day to day happenings in the classroom.
My PLN Journey
My PLN journey has been a long, meandering one which I wouldn’t change at all as through it, I have grown more as a professional than I would have otherwise. TeachMeets and Pedagoo are great events that are often, mostly organised via Twitter where you’ll also meet great people taking the time to do the extra. It’s the virtual colleagues you meet on Twitter who will share the ideas you’ve never thought of and that they have already tried and tested in the classroom. Teachers I’ve spoken to about PLN say that once you’ve created your own PLN you will realise it is the best CPD for teachers you will ever take part in. It’s a resource that’s available to you, personally, 24/7/365 and it will transform your CPD and teaching approach. One thing is
guaranteed, the value you get from investing time in developing a PLN is the smartest CPD decision you will ever make.
TOP TIPS
1. Persevere, watch, listen and follow links to begin with and wait until you're confident enough to join in with conversations. Julian S. Wood, Primary Assistant Head. (@ideas_factory)
2. Join in on chats like #PedagooFriday. Share classroom highlights that week. It is a fantastically positive way to end the week. (@Pedagoo)
3. Tools like Tweacher help you identify the right people to connect with. (@ICTevangelist)
4. Contribute-Your PLN is only ever as good as what you put in. (@ideas_factory)
5. Take part in twitter chats and use relevant hashtags. #UKEdChat (@ICTevangelist)
6. It’s all about sharing ideas. (@ianaddison)
7. Use relevant hashtags in your tweets to widen your PLN and engage conversation. (@ICTevangelist)
8. Look at people’s twitter lists to see who has similar interests to you. (@ICTevangelist)
9. Be realistic, it takes time, building up over months not days. (@ideas_factory)
10. It’s the best way to engage with others. (@ianaddison)
Mark Anderson is a Director of eLearning and Assistant Head Teacher at Sir Bernard Lovell School. He is the author of the best-selling ‘Perfect ICT Every Lesson’ and an Apple Distinguished Educator and Google Certified Teacher. With 20 years’ experience in the classroom, Mark is a passionate advocate for the use of technology in the classroom to improve and enhance learning. Mark shares his knowledge through @ictevangelist.
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