Personal Learning Network
Throughout our ED431 course we have been encouraged to create or expand upon our personal learning network.
Infographics or mind maps of PLNs are always interesting. I use them for ideas for new or underutilized sources. Email subscriptions come daily or weekly vying for my attention. I once wrote, “I feel somewhat overwhelmed by the daily e-mail nudges from Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, numerous newsletters, Diigo, and so on. It’s as if I’m hearing, ‘Look at me! No, me! Over here! now over here!’” and that still holds true. Our attention is sought by so many, whether it be online or in person.
I was already on Twitter, but added my current classmates to my Followed list as well as some that they were following. I am more of a reader of tweets than a poster of them, but did manage to post a few this semester. I find Diigo extremely useful for keeping track of useful information as well as Pinterest. I am often seeking help for various teaching or technology issues and am very appreciative of the assistance.
As I have progressed through various courses in ONID, I find myself returning to class pages, where an instructor has provided helpful links for specific topics. An example this semester is the videos Skip shared on how to create Google Forms surveys.
My colleagues in my department and at elearning provide a wonderful exchange of ideas. Meeting faculty from other disciplines in UAF’s iteach training has given additional perspective to teaching approaches.
Although there are many, many, more, here are a few sources I read regularly and will recommend to my classmates:
I appreciate the sharing of useful sources by my classmates. It has been inspiring to see the products of their homework assignments. My own homework assignments suffer from a lack of clarity. I read many sources, get lost on side trails, and then find that after many hours I have done little actual writing. Days or weeks will then pass, and I have to start all over. Despite the writing issues, I do feel that I have learned quite a bit from the class and will continue to modify my PLN over time.
