Going into this week - I have never heard the term PLN. For all I knew it could have been anything. What I quickly discovered is that I have many PLN's for various things in my life but my virtual PLN (specifically my science PLN) was very small to nonexistent. Last week introduced me to blogs and wikis and I'm excited about their use in the classroom. In fact, I've signed up for an edublog account and have begun working on a blog for my high school Biology class. Hopefully throughout the summer I'll be able to create and save enough posts to have a good foundation going into the school year. My biggest concern with a blog is that I'll start it and then after a month or so fail to maintain it. So if I have some posts already ready to go, then I think I'll have a better chance of keeping it up throughout the year.
This week I worked on developing a PLN and finding ways to ensure that I keep up with it. I'm interested in websites like Classroom 2.0 and The Synapse (Biology Network) but fear that I will not keep up with them. I need to become familiar with what the sites have to offer to make sure that I use them effectively. Then when I need information throughout the year, I'll know where to look without a lot of fuss. I hate fuss!!
Google Reader and iGoogle has been very helpful in managing everything for me. It allows me to have a one stop shop for the information I need. However, having it all there makes me want to look at everything. Before at least if I checked my e-mail - I didn't have blog and Twitter updates staring me in the face begging to be checked as well. That being said, I really love having it all there I just need to put in personal time limits on the time I'm willing to spend looking through things. I have been away from my computer for a couple days because I was travelling to a wedding in Maine and I opened up iGoogle and had 360 news items in my Google Reader and that gave me a little anxiety. While I know that don't have to read everything, it's a little overwhelming!
Twitter -- hmmmm? Not sure about it yet. What I really like about it is that I feel very connected to people with similar interests. I thought it would be very similar to Facebook (which I use for social networking). I like that Twitter gives me a place for personal networking that I have have separate from the social. Like other posters have said I think it provides a great forum for articles and information and I also like the person that said - you are in control and if you want to stop following someone then do it! I also need to accept that I can't nor do I need to read everything. Katie, walk away from the computer!!! What I need to examine is what I hope to get out of it. That will help focus my efforts and give it more meaning.
Alright - off to wedding stuff. Have a good weekend to all my new virtual world friends.
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I learned to limit my online "networking." I really like Twitter, so that is what I use primarily for professional networking. I use Facebook for personal networking. I am a member of a variety of things (like Classroom 2.0), but I am not very active -- it keeps me engaged, yet sane!
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