Click on image to make larger - (I am really impressed that I have even been able to include an image in my blog - snaps for me!)
A pictorial representation of my Professional Learning Network (PLN) plan.
My PLN is focused towards building a professional network around educators and librarians who use or would like to use Web 2.0 platforms in their classrooms and use these platforms to motivate and engage students in a collaborative learning environment.
The professional networks that I wish to become an active part of lie both in the physical and virtual worlds. On the right hand side of the diagram above is the ‘physical’ world networks and the left hand side is the ‘virtual’ world. The physical world is based around establish networks such as professional associations such as STAV (Science Teachers Association of Victoria), VATE (Victorian Association of Teachers of English) and ALIA, and also attending conferences, seminars and workshops based on using technology in the classroom. I am currently thinking of undertaking a Ph. D in Education looking at Web 2.0 in the senior classroom, so I have added that as part of PLN – but it is a big maybe! The virtual world networks will be a mixture of me joining established networks such as Classroom 2.0 and various Facebook groups dedicated to using Facebook and other social networking sites in the classroom as well as following blogs of other educators to see what they are doing with respect to Web 2.0 in their classroom. It will also involve me being an active participant by starting a blog detailing my thoughts on Web 2.0 and how I have tried to use it in my classroom and hopefully building a network of my own.
Jeff Utecht (2008) proposes that there are five stages of PLN adoption;
1. Immersion
2. Evaluation
3. Know it all
4. Perspective
5. Balance.
After reading his blog post I began to think where am I with respect to the stages and are they stages that are set in concrete, that is does it mean that at any given moment in time I can only be at one stage or can I be floating between two or three?
So reading his post carefully I see that I am past the ‘Immersion’ stage. I have joined every network that I could find, every Facebook group that I could find as well as follow as many educator blogs as I could possible handle – considering I have a full time job, a husband (who would like to see me away from the computer every once and a while!) and two children (who I am convinced think that all mummys sit on a computer all day!). I will be the first to admit that it all got too much and the metaphorical balls were starting to be dropped! Something had to give in and it couldn’t be my family or my sanity…therefore I hit the ‘Evaluation’ stage without even knowing it! It came about out of necessity…..you just can’t keep up with it all…you have to be selective! It is at this point that I am not sure where I am at with respect to the stages as I still want to ‘Know it all’ but know in my head that I can’t, so then I move to the ‘Perspective’ phase but then I begin to think about doing a Ph.D and back I go to the need to ‘Know it all’…..then reports and exams approached at lightening speed so Web 2.0 was put on slight hold so for a minute or two I had balance…..so where am I? (I really want to say I have NO IDEA!- but I know Lyn that is not what you want to hear!!!). I would like to say that I am hovering between ‘Know it all’ and ‘Perspective’ as I wasn’t in the ‘Balance’ stage long enough to say I really was there - it was more of a fleeting visit rather than an extended stay! But as my Mummy Blog – www.mummybalancingact.blogspot.com is all about finding balance - often dreamed about and longed for, but rarely achieved! So like Jeff Utecht I think I will struggle with achieving the ‘Balance’ stage of my PLN not only because I am wearing too many hats but because I keep changing my mind about what I want to be when I grow up!
Reference:
Websites referred to:
Facebook – www.facebook.com
Classroom 2.0 – www.clasroom20.com
Articles referred to:
Utect, J. (2008). Stages of PLN adoption. (April 3 2008). The Thinking Stick. Available at
http://www.thethinkingstick.com/stages-of-pln-adoption.
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