Me when my professor introduced today’s class topic as PLN’s and Twitter Chats
What is a PLN?
I don’t know about you, but I have never heard of the term PLN before today when we learned about them in my ECI 201 class. Apparently what I thought was a short abbreviation for the word plan actually stands for a Professional Learning Network hence the PLN. One interesting thing I learned about PLN’s is anyone can use these networks to share their ideas and learn new ones with their fellow peers. Although specifically for our class, we discussed teachers using PLNs to be more connected as educators. This concept of connected educators was redressed in this article below: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/245025207_Professional_Learning_Networks_Designed_for_Teacher_Learning
According to Torrey Trust, author of the article above, “teachers need PLNs to collaborate online through social media and build their own personal learning network to interact with other educators”. Some may call a PLN now a “Personal” Learning Network, because now educators can create their own network to fit their own standards and interests. I believe that this is important because allowing teachers to share their knowledge and experiences in the classroom can help prepare them for future challenges they will face. In the future, I plan to use these Personal Learning Networks to see how other teachers think and apply it to my own classroom.
In addition to PLN’s we got to explore what using twitter in a classroom setting may look like through twitter chats. Prior to this class, I used Twitter to ‘tweet’ my thoughts or retweet funny pictures and videos for my viewers. I always just assumed that twitter was for entertainment and engagement between friends. It was not until taking this class, that I realized twitter could be used in a professional setting or to further learning within classrooms. I was especially skeptical on how using social media with children in the classroom was really going to be beneficial, but engaging in the twitter chat in ECI 201 changed my mind. During the twitter chat that took place in class I discovered that it can be a very useful tool to allow students to create their own tweets and also collaborate with each other. By encouraging kids to tweet about things around them can enhance their learning experience and make sure they are getting the most out of what they are being taught. Just through simply allowing children to express their creativity through #hashtags, pictures and videos, it already gives them a new tool for a fun learning experience.
❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️For more information on twitter chats, watch the video below: ❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️
MY OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH PLN AND TWITTER CHAT USE:
The Twitter chat I chose to participate in on my own time was located under #edchat. At first I had no clue what this chat was going to encompass besides the fact it was centered around education. As I continued to read, the discussion went on and on. It started by covering topics like women in higher positions in Education. Some questioned if women were just too comfortable where they were while others questioned what if every child doesn’t have access to resources in education. There were so many minor discussion topics within this chat that really peaked my interest. It sparked my interest so much, I responded to with my own two cents and even questioned some peoples thoughts. Suddenly it hit me, that engaging in this chat was the whole point of our lesson. Just the amount of information I received within a minute encouraged me to question others. I now see how this first hand advice from experienced educators can be so beneficial for new teachers because as they are receiving and exchanging knowledge with teachers who have more experience can help create some reassurance.
IF YOU WANT TO VIEW MY TWITTER CHAT:
link to twitter: https://twitter.com
my personal twitter handle: @KateWehrheim
After learning so much about using Twitter as an effective resource for teachers, I can say that I would definitely try to use Twitter in my future classroom. Kids are interested in social media and using Twitter would definitely keep them engaged and excited to participate in class. Despite the possibility of distraction, Twitter seems to provide various new ways kids can learn. According to Teach Hub, students can benefit from using Twitter in class through learning how to share, communicate with others, use proper manners online, and be a part of a community. Learn more about how students can benefit in the article here.
WANT TO ENAGE IN A TWITTER CHAT OF YOUR OWN?
For some examples of professional development websites and PLN networks for teachers click here! This website provides a neat list with the purpose of each website. Using this resource is a great start for getting involved in a PLN!
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