Establishing your PLN 

We all know how time consuming and difficult it can sometimes be to fit in Professional Learning on top of our regular teaching commitments.  But there is another answer.....Establish your own PLN, your Personal Learning Network.

A Personal Learning Network is an online network of colleagues/peers/like minded people who share ideas and thoughts on topics that are of interest to the participants.  You can build your PLN to suit your own needs, for example, my PLN consist mainly of Teacher Librarians and Curriculum Support Teachers.  The beauty of a PLN is that once upon a time, our PLN were the other teachers in our staff room, which in my case were only 10!  While these people are definitely an important part of your network, think of the extent to which you can learn by connecting with colleagues all  across the world.

Social Media has played a large part in the development of my PLN.  Twitter, Google Plus and PINterest are my favourite tools, but there are many, many more.

Google + is a great way to network and gain ideas and insights into all things education.  Can be accessed through your Google Drive—or simply search for Google Plus and then use your CES email details sign up. Recommended communities to follow are Google Apps in Education, Google Apps for Education, I Teach I Learn I Create I Share.  Many teachers in the Cairns Diocese are already using Google +and can be searched for and followed.

Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables users to send and read short 140-character text messages, called "tweets". Registered users can read and post tweets, but unregistered users can only read them.  It is invaluable for teachers because you can follow professionals and get some great ideas.  You can follow # hashtags which are tags for subjects or topics.  There are regular twitter chats based on educational topics.  Suggested educators to follow to begin your twitter experience are

@cedwards72   @cybraryman1    @rmbyrne   @Edudemic   @ABCyagames

@Pinterest   @edutopia   @EduTECH_AU   @scootle   @ABCSplash  

@AusLesson     @franlhughes

Pinterest is a visual discovery tool that you can use to find ideas for all your projects. Teachers in Catholic Education Cairns Diocese have now been given access to PINterest. What a valuable tool for ideas for your classroom! Once you join they will send you a weekly email of ideas related to your previous searches.

NOTE: It has a 13+ restriction for access, so is not available for students.

Bookmarking is another way to use your PLN. Share bookmarks with others and see what others are bookmarking.  You can join groups and get email updates on new bookmarks.  The most commonly used bookmarks in this diocese are Diigo and Delicious.

Blogs, Wikis and Webinars are also invaluable for professional development. Check out Classroom 2.0 Live , EdTech Talk Live .  Also there are a variety of social curation tools that allow for sharing of resources and ideas, like Symbaloo .

If you'd like any help establishing your PLN, let me know, but in the meantime, check out this blog title "Building your PLN" by Edublogs.