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The Power of a PLN

Which field experience had the most significant positive impact on my growth as a technology leader?

Hands down, it was the use of Twitter to develop a PLN! The CoSN standard that I felt aligned with this was Standard 4D - Promote standards for innovative teaching and learning that develop student proficiency in 21st century skills. By developing a PLN with Twitter, I was able to connect with experts in the field of educational technology. I learned about some fantastic tools and lesson ideas that I was able to implement in my classroom immediately.

Here's a little more to my story...

I used to think that social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, were just a way to connect with family and friends. Honestly, I can say that scrolling through Facebook had become one of those mindless things I did while waiting at the doctor's office or watching TV. I thought it was fun to see everyone's vacation pictures or to see what kinds of fancy food people were eating on their date nights. 


I was late to the the game joining Facebook, and I was even later joining Twitter. In fact, the only reason I joined Twitter was to enter a drawing at the 2018 ISTE conference. I felt like my time on Facebook was just a "time suck" and I had even considered closing my account.

My perspective on these types of social media platforms has completely changed since beginning the Instructional Technology Program at the University of Montevallo. 

Last semester I had to dust off the old Twitter account. I seriously had not even opened this account since 2018 when I made exactly 4 tweets to enter into drawings at the ISTE conference.

As part of our coursework I had to use Twitter to develop a Professional Learning Network, or PLN. "PLNs can be defined as collections of like-minded people whom one exchanges information and engages in conversation" (Sheninger, 2019, p. 145).


Why is Twitter a great tool for developing a PLN?

  • PD on Demand
    • You can access professional learning opportunities whenever and wherever.  
  • Personalized 
    • You can select the topics of interest to you (Hughes and Lupton, 2019).
  • Global Network 
    • A PLN that utilizes social networking tools allows isolated professionals to connect and have learning opportunities they would otherwise not have (Hughes and Lupton, 2019). 
  • Money 
    • Traditional professional development opportunities are costly when you consider travel expenses, registration, and paying for substitutes.

Back to those 4 original tweets...

I now see the power of using a social media platform, especially one like Twitter, to connect with technology experts from all over the country. I now follow the tech gurus who presented at the ISTE conference AND I follow who they follow too! It is an interconnected network of brilliant ideas that I would not have been exposed to without Twitter. 

On my Twitter PLN journey, I started out just lurking, and then interacting a little by "liking" tweets. Then I started to participate. At first, I would just retweet something that I connected with, but then, as part of my assignments for class, I started to share my own content. I was very uncomfortable with this at first because I was worried that other people would be judging me. I had to be brave! Knowledge should be "shared and exchanged, not simply taken" (Sheninger, 2019, p. 146).

I have to admit, it was pretty awesome when I tweeted about an activity I had done with my kids that I had gotten from Tony Vincent, one of the tech gurus I follow on Twitter. He actually replied to me and said how he liked what I had done!



I look forward to checking Twitter every morning for new inspiration and ideas I want to try in my classroom. When I do try something new, I challenge myself to tweet about my experience. By sharing, I hope to help others.

References

Gillingham, A. (2017, August 30). Using Twitter to develop your PLN [VideoFile]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSyMMvGfolA

Giphy. Ignore Golden Retriever GIF. https://giphy.com/gifs/pup-parker-parkerpup-LrMM4QuRx5BDzLzAMR

Oddone, K., Hughes, H., & Lupton, M. (2019, July). Teachers as connected professionals: A model to support professional learning through personal learning networks. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 20(3), 102–120.

Sheninger, E. (2019). Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times (2nd ed). Corwin. 

Comments

  1. Amanda MillerMay 1, 2022 at 6:37 AM

    Valerie, my experience with Twitter has been very similar to yours. When we started this class I was very skeptical about how using Twitter would help me as an educator. I understand now how it can be so useful. I am one of three gifted teachers at my school and for lots of reasons there is not much collaboration between us. So, I am sort of the lone ranger at my school - for teaching gifted and for technology coordinator issues. I have definitely seen how Twitter can bridge the gap for people like me, but also for people who have lots of colleagues and collaborators. In our text, I liked the idea about allowing teachers to have time in their day to work on their PLN. The professional growth period is an embedded time a couple of times per week for staff to work on their PLN to improve their practice(Sheninger, 2019, p.155). I think this would be a great way to encourage teachers to work on their PLN and ultimately it would increase student achievement. However, I do agree with Cathy Green’s sentiment, “Without people who have a passion for learning, a PLN would not be as valuable.” Maybe working on a PLN could be a choice as a way to show professional development. Something to remember is that we don’t expect all children to learn in the same way, so why would we expect teachers?
    References
    Green, C. L. (2020). Personal Learning Networks: Defining and Building a PLN – Learning in the Digital Age. OPEN OKSTATE. Retrieved May 1, 2022, from https://open.library.okstate.edu/learninginthedigitalage/chapter/personal-learning-networks_defining-and-building-a-pln/
    Sheninger, E. C. (2019). Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times. SAGE Publications.

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