Why Personal Learning Networks? A Rationale

Scope

After delving through my goals for this assignment this past week, I'm left with a more concrete vision of what I expect my future project to detail.  To reiterate, the scope of my future vision project is to create an educational infographic that is now focused on the following:

Image courtesy of TeamBonding

• What is a PLN?
• Who is a PLN for?
• When can you use a PLN?
• Where can you use a PLN?
• Why you should use a PLN
• How to develop a PLN

Rationale

Thanks to the internet, the concept of a learning network isn't new, it's simply evolved.  We now live in a world of abundance and with that abundance comes access to several degrees of information and people.  At times, the constantly changing online world can be very overwhelming and distracting.  Especially when you consider the multiple updates, downloads, severs, and applications that the internet provides.  Learning how to ethically navigate information and computer technology in order to develop proficiency has become a pillar of transformative education and 21st century literacies including the American Association of School Libraries, International Society for Technology in Education, and National Council of Teachers of English.  This is important because as schools and organizations are re-envisioning how and what students are expected to learn, teachers should be asking the same questions of themselves.  As Will Richardson (2012) quoted in his e-book Why School: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everything, "the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read or write but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn," and this includes educators (p. 365).  A developed personal learning network can act as a powerful source of professional development and support for teachers as they take ownership of their learning by turning social networks into learning networks through informed practice.

Image courtesy of GeoMarketing

Audience

The infographic I'm in the process of creating will be for other educators who are in the beginning stages of discovering what a personal learning network is and how to establish one.  The infographic will be available to my peers, colleagues, and educators around the world who may need a visual representation of the process involved in creating a personal learning network.  The infographic will walk teachers through the benefits of a PLN and how to avoid becoming overwhelmed with one by providing 'tips' separated by stages.

Work Cited

1.  Richardson, W. (2012).  Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere.  TED Conferences Publishing. [EBOOK]

2.  The NCTE Definition of 21st Century Literacies. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2015, from http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/21stcentdefinition

3.  International Society for Technology in Education. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2015, from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-S_PDF.pdf

4.  American Association of School Librarians. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2015, from http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/AASL_LearningStandards.pdf