My Personal Learning Network

In this course so far, I have learned what a personal learning network is, how to create one, and I have taken some steps to create one. I really enjoyed Guhlin's guest blogpost. I think that most anyone can relate to his panic attack scenario. If you stop to think about where technology was even ten years ago, where it is now, and then ponder where it will be in another ten years, it can be very overwhelming. We spend so much time adjusting to and learning new ways to use technology, it seems that will never stop. We will always be learning as technology continually changes. 

I do like the plan that Guhlin lays out to create a personal learning network. I feel that he does a job of explaining why we should “jump in.” He suggests using Diigo, Twitter, Blogger, and Google Reader. Each of these tools he breaks down into how to use it and how it is helpful to educators. I really like the idea of Diigo. Just the bookmarking part of it is wonderful, and the notes just add to it. I wish I could get it to work on my laptop, but sadly I can't- so far. I admit, I have never even thought of joining Twitter. I have some teammates that have attended the Christa McAuliffe Conference and made Twitter accounts because of the presentations that they saw. However, they said that it was very hard to keep up with. I think that I can see myself using it more as a teaching tool and less in a personal learning network. I was very skeptical about using Blogger at first, but it has been pretty easy to learn. If I made one for my teaching though, I would be afraid that I could not keep up with it or that I would run out of things to blog about. I have found through Feedly though, that there are many blogs that I enjoy and like being subscribed to, when I have the time to read them. I had used an RSS feeder before, but I like Feedly better. It's so much better that all the news comes to me! I am glad that we have learned about using Feedly as a replacement for Google Reader.

However, I would not say that I have one. Of course I love to learn and know that I will always be a lifelong learner. This semester however, even though I love the tools that we have been learning about and playing with, I cannot seem to keep up with them enough to establish a personal learning network and actually use it. I am not sure if this is because taking graduate courses fulfills my need for learning right now or if I am too busy with Common Core State Standards and standards based grading or the fact that my house is turned upside down right now. Whatever the cause, I feel that this is the most stressful few months of teaching that I have had. I think it comes down to the new standards and grading program. Teachers left and right are at the end of their rope and in my building we're trying to get each other through it. Hopefully, once our grading program is fixed and the standards settled I will have more time to focus on my personal learning network. In the meantime, I am thankful that I know now why one is important and how to use it.