ED 483 Blog

I would imagine my PLN is very far from what any technologically inclined person would call “impressive” or even “mediocre”, but my PLN suffices for me, and for now.

My PLN network is comprised of a few different elements.  Aside from sporadic Twitter communications and occasional attempts to use Google Docs with partners, I have been working on my  WikiSpace, Using these tools has somewhat broadened my PLN.  The WikiSpace especially has developed my PLN.  Not only have I been able to display information on WikiSpaces, but I have also been able to retrieve and gather it from my professor’s sites.  Branching the classroom out into the cyber-world through WikiSpaces has made my exchanges with professors and fellow classmates more frequent.  Additionally, I have built my PLN by blogging here, on Edublogs.  I have been able to discuss information and ideas with my fellowclassmates via Edublogs.  Edublogs has provided an outlet for additional exploration of topics discussed in class, and I have found my peers’ points-of-view to be interesting to read.

How has my PLN grown and changed?  Before taking a technology course at NMU, I had virtually no PLN.  I did not know what a WikiSpace was, I had never heard of Twitter or Google Docs… I didn’t even have a FaceBook account.

In my first few years of college, I had both a FaceBook and MySpace account.  I thought the programs had some interesting features, but ultimately decided they took too much time and energy away from other things I both needed and wanted to do.  Therefore, I closed my FaceBook account.  I still have a “private” MySpace account, but only check it every few months or so.

Now, I am a part of several PLN’s as previously described.  Undoubtedly, my PLN has grown.

The factors that have most significantly impacted this change are undoubtedly my participation in the education program at NMU, and my enrollment in the technology course it requires.  If it hadn’t been for the requirements of this course, I probably would have never explored any of the sites I am not part of.  I probably would have remained oblivious to their existence, and would have continued only to utilize the technologies with which I am already familiar.

The size and importance of my PLN are now ideas I need to consider.  How large do I really want my PLN to get?  How much energy would it be most efficient to put into the development and maintenance of my PLN?

Now that I have some knowledge of what is out there on the web in reference to PLNs, I have more knowledge and experience to go from as I answer these questions.