Reflection Paper u02a1 – Personal Learning Networks

By

Rod Murray

For Course EDIM 510 INB

Wednesday, July 1, 2009
 Personal Learning Networks (PLN) are already a familiar tool for educator

professional development for me. However, the challenge that is now presented

to me, in my role as Instructional Technology Resource Teacher (ITRT) this past

year as a result of this course, is to narrow and define which networks will meet

my needs and which ones should I develop and share with my colleagues?

My work team of ITRTs has a website where we share and collaborate,

and develop resources for others in the form of website links, documents, FAQs,

How-to Videos, Hardware support, and Software support. Our website also

includes a private area where we can collaborate and share information and

develop plans for the schools we support. This PLN is first and foremost the one I

use to help my team and the schools. I cannot possibly know everything, so this

is where I start when I need background information on a topic I am being

requested to support.

Learning Connections is an online community set up by a neighbouring

school district to develop partnerships and shared learning amongst teachers in

the largest school districts in Ontario. As a member district, our school board sent

my work team to the winter face-to-face meeting where we contributed our

resources and showcased our Teaching with Technology project. We continue to

be involved in the development of the website. The goal of the site is to support

K-8 teachers to be better instructors of Literacy and Numeracy. The project is

spearheaded by a former member of my ITRT team.

Classroom 2.0 is a Ning that has been recommended in this week’s

lesson to which I had already subscribed. It’s a great source of info and the
webinars have been particularly insightful. While taking in one of the webinars a

few months ago, I was introduced to the PLN Me.com.au, a PLN for Australian

teachers. Having taught in Victoria, Australia in 2007, I was intrigued to find this

rich resource and a connection to my former colleagues back in Australia.

The Credenda College Tuesday Elluminate group that I joined in February

has been the source of considerable professional learning. As classmates in

Using Technology to Support Creativity, the school Principal of Credenda invited

us, to join our classmates in a Tuesday evening discussion and share

assignment ideas, questions, concerns and personal learning. This live

interaction with Wilkes classmates has been an excellent learning experience,

and I hope to connect again soon, as time permits.

Finally, as a follow through from an earlier Wilkes course, “Using

Technology to Support Creativity,” and as a result of the globalization

discussions held through Credenda’s Tuesday night meetings, I became

convinced that further interaction between international teachers was needed, a

point I made in the final paper for that course. At that time, I intended to create a

forum, which I called LESF (Les Enseignants sans Frontiéres), after the

international medical organization. This course required the creation of a NIng,

and the final step was taken to create the forum, which I intend will continue to

develop. I have since learned from a classmate in this course that there are other

similar groups on the Internet.

Utecth’s (2008) continuum has helped me see the need to narrow my

focus of PLNs. Unfortunately, I would have to admit that I find myself in Stage 3,
where I am all to often looking for new sources of professional learning, instead

of narrowing the scope to those that provide focussed learning on areas where I

will benefit most. I am expecting that once I have completed this course, I will

have mastered skills that will help me to decide to follow only the ones that will

be of the greatest benefit, and unsubscribe from the ones that offer limited

benefit. Having this course over the summer, I expected to have more time to

explore new PLNs and resources, but that is not always the case, with summer

activities, travel and overseas guests requiring attention. By the time school

reopens in September, I intend to reduce my contact with PLNs to a reasonable

number of forums that will assist me in my new role back in the classroom, and

blissfully approach Stage 5 of Utecht’s Stages of PLN Adoption.

References

Learning Connections. (n.d.). Retrieved July 2, 2009, from

http://www.learningconnections.on.ca/

Me.com.au. (n.d.). Retrieved July 2, 2009, from http://me.com.au

Tobin, D. (n.d.). Personal Learning Network. Retrieved July 2, 2009, from

http://www.tobincls.com/learningnetwork.htm

Utecht, J. (n.d.). Stages of PLN adoption | The Thinking Stick. Retrieved

July 2, 2009, from http://www.thethinkingstick.com/stages-of-pln-adoption