Yet another week has just flown by and once
again my PLE and knowledge of the digital world is growing. This week I added Twitter to my PLE, and
I finally can see why other people love it so much. I never really jumped on
the Twitter bandwagon when it first came around and now I wish I had! When the
session began I could not understand how Twitter could be an educational tool
but as I began to explore the site as well as read more about how others use it
I can see that it can be very beneficial. The online article “The Social Media Guide to Growing Your PLN” does a great job outlining how Twitter,
and other sites we have explored in past sessions such as Pinterest and Diigo can
enhance learning.
I am excited to add Twitter to my
PLE diagram under the socializing and collaborating heading. I love how I can
read short little tweets for educators, peers or my favourite celebrities in
real time, and then click on the links provided if I want to learn more. I like
that Twitter also offers a personal messaging option which is great for sharing
ideas or links with others. I haven’t had a chance to use the messaging feature
yet as I am still new to Twitter but can see how it will make sharing
information even quicker! It is great because I can access it from my phone so
I can always keep up to date with what is going on. Tweet deck
also looks like it could be a helpful feature, I didn’t have time to check it
out this week but I am hoping to when I get some time.
I am
glad to see my PLE growing although it can seem a little overwhelming at times
trying to keep up with all these new resources. I am trying to keep track of
everything, saving what I want to read later and deleting things I am not
interested. However sometimes I do forget and let them slide for a few days and
things start to pile up. I think I am starting to get better now though as I am
getting more used to these resources and am starting to decide which are worth
keeping and which might not be right for me. One of my definite ‘keeps’ so far
is Diigo, I love how
organized it keeps my resources and I obsessed with the highlighting tool, I
think Twitter is definitely a keeper as well.
Now we
have been talking a lot about personal learning environments but this week a
new term was introduced, a personal/professional learning network or PLN. When
the session started I wasn’t too clear on the difference of the two but the
article “How to Create a Robust and Meaningful Personal Learning
Network [PLN]” explained the distinction between the two terms quite well.
Throughout this session I have realized that one of the biggest parts of making
a PLN successful is joining the conversation. The video provided in this week’s
resources explained that you must learn and contribute to your PLN, that you learn from
others but others are also there to learn from you. I didn’t realize that I
already have a bit of a PLN through Facebook, blogging, Sakai and now Twitter.
However I may have been more on the receiving end in the past than contributing.
As the weeks go on I am becoming more comfortable sharing online and think this
will really help my PLN.
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| http://pleeportofolio.wordpress.com/ple-vs-pln/ |
I was
focused this week more on setting up my PLN than engaging in it. I can see
though how participating in and using my PLN will be effective in future
learning activities. One of my favourite things that Twitter, blogging and
Sakai bring to my PLN is that unlike sites like Facebook I am engaging with
individuals who are knowledgeable and share the same areas of interest as myself
but are outside my group of friends. I am excited to collaborate with people who
have had different experiences than I have, and be able to get different takes
and opinions on topics of interest.
I wanted to leave you all this week with a Youth TED Talk from my Feedly Reader, being in the middle of midterms I know I have fallen victim to procrastinating.
Vik Nithy. (2012, March 13) TEDx Youth: Why we Procrastinate.
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD440CY2Vs0
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Olivia
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