The concept of a PLN is very, very similar to the more tradition PLC, professional learning community, in the sense that you're creating connections with another person or people with the very specific intent on learning from each other. Unlike PLC's, that tend to take place in professional environments, PLN's take place in more personal, interactive domains such as Twitter, Pinterest, and a few Moodle sites scattered throughout the education realm. Twitter is the dominant of the three because of ease of communication and instant sharing with feedback.
Do teachers really need PLN's? This is an astounding yes! As educators, we should always be looking for more resources to better our craft, more professionals to connect with to gain more knowledge, and more connections with those about the age of 18 (only some teachers will get that joke). While we can network with local PLCs and national leaders in education, we can now connect with teachers in other states, other countries, and our continents that are passionate about education and ready to share the information that they have.
Twitter is one of the best ways to use PLN's. It serves a dual purpose. You are keeping up with the latest social media tools that your students are using and you're able to use a communication software that is able to get you quick resources, respond to other educators, and allow you to connect like never before. Yes, Twitter is commonly used for "the younger generation," but it's open to anyone worldwide - so just imagine the resources that you can get a hold of.
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From my #EdChat experience so far, I've been able to connect with THE Arne Duncan (you probably should know who that is - if not, there's always Wikipedia) and a few founders of #EdChat like Tom Whitby and Biddy Martin -- you're forgiven if you don't know them, but definitely follow them on Twitter -- and they have already provided so much information about what's going on in the world of education. It's great! From the information that they provided and from what happened during my #EdChat, I've been able to be information-overloaded, so now I feel very well informed. So much is going on in education that isn't in the media, so it's great they I could connect with these guys.
I think that there is a pretty good chance, that Twitter will be used in my classroom (and outside of class for my own PLN). I want to be able grab my student's attention and I think a quick "break" from the norm will be good to keep them on task. It would be hard in a technology-communication driven classroom environment.
The era of the #TwitterLessTeacher is officially over... I hope!
Here's some food for thought - technology is beginning to cover our classrooms, it's becoming used in our everyday lessons and instruction, and it's becoming a central focus in our curriculum. Let's think, who are the ones that using the technology more? Who are the ones that are more capable of adapting and being able to use the technology we are "introducing" to them? That's right - the students! However, digital natives doesn't quite describe what is being described...
Digital Native - a person who was born during or after the general introduction of digital technologies and through interacting with digital technology from an early age, has a greater comfort level using it. (Source: Wikipedia, "Digital Native", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_native)
The Digital Native Debate:
During the digital natives debate, I took the side of against the concept of digital natives. Originally, I have always agreed with the concept of the digital native, but since that side was full, I had to go with the against side. I learned about that the concept of digital natives isn't true. We may be accustomed to digital technologies, but we've all have had to assimilate into the technology world and have to use it on a daily basis. The concept of digital natives insinuates that we are exceptional good with technology and know the ins-and-outs. We are only technologically-aware and able to learn new technologies quickly. We are more digital immigrants, becoming used to new technologies daily.
