Creating Your on Personal Learning Network

Where do you go to be inspired and informed in regards to your teaching? Who do you consult with when searching for a curricular resources or answers to technology problems? If you'd like to broaden your network of trusted colleagues, than maybe it's time to create your own personal learning network.  

Creating your PLN is easier than you might think. Many of you are already familiar with some social media platforms such as Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Diigo, LinkedIn, but do you really know how to use them to create a personal learning network? 

Take a look at a short video that explores the benefits of one teachers' network or review a few guides that can walk you through all the tips and tricks you need to know to start a powerful PLN.  I've also included a list of tools to start you in your search. 

Once you get comfortable creating your own network,  consider how you might challenge your students to develop their own networks that connect with their classes and academic interests.  These networks can be a great way to bring the relevance of the outside world into your curriculum.  Check them out and share with us your feedback in the comments.

• 50 Great Ways to Grow Your Personal Learning Network: Our very own guide to growing your personal learning network has lots of great ideas for tapping into social media.
• The Innovative Educator: 5 Ways to Build Your 1.0 and 2.0 Personal Learning Network: Check out this post from the Innovative Educator to see how you can use blogs and other social media to build a personal learning network.
• How to Use Twitter to Grow Your PLN: Here, Edutopia shares an insightful post on why educators should use Twitter to grow their PLNs, plus a great list of chats to join.
• 21st-Century PLNs for School Leaders: Take your PLN into the next century with this guide for using social media tools like Twitter and blogs to grow your PLN.
• How to cultivate a personal learning network: Chuck Frey’s post explains how you can cultivate a strong personal learning network, through social media and beyond.
• Tools for Building Your Personal Learning Network: Check out this LiveBinder to find several great tools for building a personal learning network.
• Using Social Media to Develop Your Own Personal Learning Network: This presentation from Sue Beckingham and David Walker is a great resource for learning about the many ways you can use social media to grow a PLN.
  
  

Tools

• Classroom 2.0: In this networking group, you can get connected with other educators who are interested in Web 2.0, social media, and more in the classroom.
• Ning: On Ning, you can create your own social website to bring your PLN together all in one place.
• Diigo: Collect, highlight, remember, and share all of the great resources you find online with your PLN on Diigo, and annotation and online bookmarking tool.
• Google Reader: With Google Reader or any other great RSS tool, you can subscribe to blogs and stay on top of it all.
• Slideshare: On SlideShare, you can upload presentations to share with your personal learning network.
• Twitter: Perfect for finding people to add to your PLN, participating in chats, and sharing what you’ve found, Twitter is one of your most powerful tools for growing and maintaining a personal network.
• Scribd: Read, publish, and share documents on Scribd with your PLN, whether you’re sharing classic novels or lectures you’ve delivered. Plus, you can find documents and get connected with their owners.
• Yahoo! Answers: Find and share information, connect with others, and build upon your personal learning network on this popular answers site.
• LinkedIn: The gold standard in professional networking, LinkedIn is a great place for education professionals to get connected.
• Quora: Similar to Yahoo! Answers, Quora offers a professional place to share your knowledge and grow your network.
• Google+: Often overlooked in favor of Facebook and Twitter, Google+ is a growing network that offers lots of great possibilities for developing PLNs.
• Pinterest: Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ get a lot of love from personal learning networks, but Pinterest offers a great way to find other educators, and great resources.
• Delicious: One of the most popular social bookmarking sites on the web, Delicious makes it easy to share what you’ve found and find new followers for your PLN.
• Paper.li: Using Paper.li, you can curate and share your favorite PLN tweets on a daily basis.
• Scoop.it: Like Paper.li, Scoop.it is a great tool for curating an engaging PLN magazine based on resources from your network.
• AddThis: Become a sharing machine with the AddThis toolbar, a great way to immediately share web resources on the web’s most popular social media tools.