Course Outline: Build Your PLN with Pilgrims
Beyza Yılmaz and Işıl Boy, Turkey
Menu
What is a PLN?
How to form a PLN in three steps?
What are the benefits of having a PLN?
Why Follow us on Facebook and Twitter?
References
We live in a world full of information increasing in quantity, quality and modality. When compared to the past, teachers face the challenge of keeping up with changes and the increasing amounts of information. Having a Personal Learning Network (PLN) is a popular and a relatively new survival technique which can have a positive impact on both professional development and classroom teaching.
PLN stands for Personal Learning Networks and it stems from the theory of connectivism developed by Stephen Downes, who suggests that people can learn by creating connections with people with the same interests. Connectivism also helps learners to gain new learning skills necessary in the high-tech era we are living now. A PLN can be considered as an informal learning network consisting of people you communicate with and learn together in a personal learning environment (PLE). It is believed that if you make connections with other people while having a specific aim in mind, an informal type of learning will happen as a consequence of that connection. In fact, the people you connect with do not necessarily have to be the ones you know personally. You may even learn from them without ever meeting them in person.
- Use Twitter and Facebook.
- Find people, pages and topics to follow.
- Connect, collaborate, contribute.
Having a PLN can ease your life in a number of ways. We are all busy as educators and considering the increasing amount of information and its lifespan, it may not be easy to catch up with the new competencies of the twenty first century. Moreover, having different perspectives can broaden our horizons and provide us with motivation and inspiration. There is always somebody willing to help you in your PLN. You can also use your PLN to collect data easily in a short time. It can even be used in classroom to make your students connected and more motivated. If you are covering a certain topic, you might like to work with your students and promote the work you have done by using Twitter or Facebook. In this way, your students can also have an opportunity to contact people from different parts of the world which can also boost their motivation and provide them with a purpose to use English outside the class.
All in all, it can be regarded as a must for all the twenty first century educators. If you do not have a PLN, you will notice its impact in a very short time when you form it.
We share course information, educational websites, useful resources on our Pilgrims Facebook and Twitter page. We also post the dates of major ELT conferences along with some interesting blog posts on different aspects of ELT. In addition to all these, all course announcements are distributed on a regular basis and are posted. We are also keen to hear your contributions so please post interesting links, too.
How to join Facebook and Twitter: http://tinyurl.com/blo5rg9
You can follow us by clicking on the following links:
Pilgrims Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/PilgrimsTeacherTraining
Pilgrims Twitter Page: twitter.com/pilgrimstt
Siemens, G., Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age, International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning 2 (10), 2005.
|
