ABCDEFG... PLNs for You and Me!

Yes, I was a cheerleader.

Education, like many other professions, has a multitude of acronyms that are specific to the field. Teachers spout off letters like IEP, SPED, GE, OT & PT, SLP, ESOL, and ASD. But perhaps one of the most important is the PLN or Personal Learning Network. This is the one acronym to understand them all.

The following video will explain what a PLN is, and why you should have one:

This week, I explored a few PLNs. Some were brand new to me, and others I was already using but hadn't looked at them as PLNs yet. 

Diigo:

Prior to this week, I had never heard of Diigo, but I can tell you that it is nothing short of amazing. Diigo is a social bookmarking tool. What this means, is that you can bookmark articles, websites, videos and pictures within Diigo, and then you can share them to groups, other people can bookmark them directly from your library, and then... poof! - You have expanded your PLN. Here are some of the things Diigo can do:

Click on this image for more information about Diigo

As an educator, if you sign up with your school email, you can have access to even more features of this great tool. I highly encourage you to check this out.

Twitter:
This one is my favorite PLN because it is quick and easy! I already had a professional Twitter account, so getting started using this as a PLN was simple. If you don't have a professional Twitter account, I would advise that you set one up. It's good to keep your professional and personal Twitter separate. No one is going to take an educator seriously when they follow the Kardashians and Real Housewives on Twitter. You can find my Twitter feed over on the right-hand side of this blog. Feel free to follow me! Now, if you're not all that familiar with Twitter, you may not understand why this makes a great PLN. Well, along with following some other awesome educators, you can take part in Twitter chats about education. This is how they work:

Here is the Official Education Twitter Chat Calendar. I personally like #4thChat for obvious reasons!

There are plenty more PLNs for you to try out. Here are a few that I like:

EduTopia (Education-focused links to articles, videos, blogs, etc.)

GoodReads (For finding and discussing books as a teacher or as a class - can set up book clubs)

ProTeacher (Very organized and easy to find what you are looking for - like a giant teacher's lounge)

Pinterest (Can create boards for specific topics and subjects, share and follow other educators)

Instagram (Follow educators and Edu blogs for quick links to articles)

The most important thing is to find a Personal Learning Network that interests you and that you think you'll be able to have the most interaction with. The point is not just to get information, but to share, as well! Happy learning!