Technology & Learning - May 2008 - (Page 52)

What Technology & Learning insiders are writing online. For their full scoop, go to www.techlearning.com. LIFE LESSON How to Create a Personal Learning Network Jeff Utecht David Warlick wrote a post about being able to zip up or turn off your Personal Learning Network. I too have been thinking about how one goes about starting a PLN, how do you monitor it, and how do you learn to shut it off. We all continue to push teachers to start PLNs if they haven’t already. There’s an emerging trend of what one goes through when adopting a PLN. I continue to look at the stages I am going through in adopting this new way of learning, interacting, and teaching in a collaborative, connected world. As I have helped others start their PLNs, I have found many of them go through these same stages. Stage 1 Immerse yourself into networks. Create networks you can find where there are people and ideas to connect to. Collaboration and connections take off. Stage 2 Evaluate your networks and start to focus in on which networks you really want to focus your time. You begin feeling a sense of urgency “You begin feeling a sense of urgency and try to figure out a way to know it all” give up sleep and contact with others around you. and try to figure out a way to know it all. Stage 3 Know it all: Find that you are spending many hours trying to learn everything you can. Realize there is much you do not know and feel like you can’t disconnect. This usually comes with spending every minutes trying to be connected to the point that you Stage 4 Start to put your life into perspective. Usually comes when you are forced to leave the network for a while and spend time with family and friends who are not connected (a vacation to a hotel that does not offer a wireless connection, or a visit with friends or family who do not have an Internet connection). Stage 5 Try and find that balance between learning and living. Understanding that you can not know it all, and begin to understand that “While many of these youthful indisyou can cretions are not new, the public and global spotlight on them has evolved” MYSPACE GENERATION Learning in Public Bob Sprankle Like it or not, much of our lives are open to review and examination on the Internet. On the positive end, many of us are now learning in public in ways that were never before possible, through tools such as blogs, wikis, and podcasts. Though this approach of putting your learning out there for all to see can be daunting and challenging, I firmly believe the rewards are enormous. On the “not so positive” end of the spectrum, a photo posted on Facebook of some youthful indiscretion might not go away, could potentially even become viral, and may have a compromising outcome on future opportunities (such as college admission or employment). While many of these youthful indiscretions are not new, the public and global spotlight on them has evolved 52 | www.techlearning.com http://www.techlearning.com http://www.techlearning.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Technology & Learning - May 2008

Technology & Learning - May 2008 Contents New@techlearning.com Editor’s Desk News and Trends E-Learning Gets Real Cover Story: Make Students Info Literate School CIO Product Guide Reviews Best of the Blogs What’s New LOY Profile Series

Technology & Learning - May 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.