When I first heard the term Personal Learning Network, it seemed like a waste of time...or maybe the name seemed like a waste of time. Wasn't I already reading up on stuff, grabbing ideas, going to conferences? Why did I need to name it or put it all out there?  Then I watched a video by Skip Via and he pointed out that I had a responsibility to SHARE what I had learned with others. You might think this is an obvious idea - after all, we're educators and our main job is to help others learn. Right?  

Then again, I'm not talking about developing a lesson plan or training. I'm talking about the unofficial stuff - like how do you use Twitter or networked blogs? The kind of informal learning that happens almost by accident.  Personal Learning Networks formalize that learning. PLNs grab all the random bits of websites and postings and tutorials and chats and conversations, and videos that you comb through and give OTHERS a chance to travel through your mind map. If you think about it, this is an incredible result!  My colleague, Dr. Repman, sent me a link to an article today (I linked it at the bottom of this post for you too). It ends with this quote: "the best teachers in (students') lives are going to be the ones they find, not the ones given to them." Woa.

So for a while, on this blog, I'm going to take you all on the PLN journey with me. How others do it, what they use, what they've learned. If you have thoughts and ideas to share, please comment and let me know.

Article of the Day (courtesy of Dr. Judi Repman): Students cast wide net for mentoring with PLNs
Awesome Blog for techie questions you don't want to ask your co-workers: AskAdria