Personal Learning Network: Exploring Web Technologies

Our Personal Learning Network (PLN) at times reminds me of a Spirograph. It first starts out very simply. First you add a few friends on Twitter, you mark a few blogs so you can come back to read posts, and you may join a Ning. Then you start adding more, perhaps comments to a blog (or even your own blog), you create a Delicious account, and you add your name to a list somewhere.

Eventually you journey into Facebook and Diigo and Evernote and Flickr. Each time, you are taking others along as you go. And suddenly, something that was very simple when you started out is now overlapping with people from all over the world. That is now called your Personal Learning Network.

At times it is a beautiful thing. At other times it may be chaotic, crazy, and seemingly unmanageable. So how do you make this thing manageable, workable, and productive?

Glad you asked! Here are my thoughts:

1 Stretch yourself by 10 percent. Invite more people to be your friends on Twitter, join a Ning and comment on a forum, participate in a project, try a new option in your classroom.

2 Don't hesitate to share an idea that you think everyone already knows about. Not everyone is online 365/24/7, and ideas get missed, overlooked, or not seen for a variety of reasons. So go ahead and share; I can promise you that someone will say, "Wow, I had never seen that before, and thank you for sharing."

3 In total contradiction to #1, it is also wise to occasionally weed through your PLN. It is okay to stop following someone; it is okay to remove names from your blogroll; it is okay to trim your Delicious feed.

4 Wander through your Twitter friends to see who their Twitter friends are and who their twitter friends are. This is not stalking; instead, your Twitter friends have given silent recommendations of people they think are worth listening to.

5 Next time you are at a conference, walk up to a name you recognize, introduce yourself, and then join in the conversation or start a new conversation. Don't keep your PLN at virtual arm's length.

6 You don't have conquer everything. At times, on Twitter, on Delicious/Diigo, blog posts come pouring forth like a waterfall and you simply cannot grasp everything that has been shared. That is okay. If it proven to be educationally sound, it will come around again. One nice thing about waiting is, you let the others conquer and you can read how they did so.

7 Join in a conversation, but backtrack a bit in case you are joining midstream, to catch up with what has already been said. Also, follow a chat. The #edchat conversation on Twitter is something I just don't have time to join yet. But because they use the hashtag (#edchat-http://twitter. com/search?q=%23edchat), I can search that tag and go back and read the conversation when I have time.

8 Walk away. Do something other than tech every so often. Have a conversation that does not include the words Web 2.0, Twitter, PLN, Google, Flickr, 2.0, tech, etc. (Just FYI, it is okay to turn off your phone sometimes!)

9 Be yourself, and find one name that sticks. Don't be TechGal47 on Diigo, JenW49 on Twitter, and Hoping4Snow on Flickr. Find a way to merge yourself into one name that people will know.

10 Remember, just like the lines in a Spirograph, at times your PLN will seem distant and far away, conversations will dwindle, and you may post something that gets ignored. Don't give up. The conversations will return, your comments will be noticed, and your PLN will seem very closeand without a moment's notice, it may all seem far away again. That is fine. It is normal, and it's part of being in a PLN of people with lives, families, papers to grade, etc.

And always remember that as with a Spirograph, with the single twist of movement the conversations, the contributors, the possibilities may change. Always it's something new, something different, something crazy, and something beautiful. All the overlaps contribute to make you better at what you do best: sharing the possibilities of edtech with others.

So take a spin and enjoy your PLN!