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Friday, November 28, 2014

All About Choice

Intro:
In the article Shelly Terrell: Global Netweaver, Curator, PLN Builder, Howard Rheingold shares with us his own personal experience of learning to create personal learning networks, then proceeds to explain what exactly a PLN is.  It is built by connecting, interacting, and sharing information with others all over the world through technology.  A good way to begin teaching students how to do this is by teaching them how to use blogger.  Blogging allows students to connect with others in their own classroom first, building necessary networking and communication skills that they can then transfer to a larger PLN network.

All About Choice
For me, the key word in this article is choice.  In a personal learning network, you get to choose who you learn from and interact with.  you get to choose how you want to learn your info.  Exactly the kind of learning needed for differentiated instruction in the classroom.  Moreover, choice is an intrinsic motivator.  Students are more likely to want to learn if they are interested in what they are learning.  They are more likely to remember what they are learning if they are able to choose how they are learning it.  

Its also a pressure free kind of learning.  You don't have to be an expert - you are a learning community.  You learn from each other - it's a give and take relationship.  You share your ideas, you listen, and you contribute.

Making Connections:
For me, this is reminiscent of that participatory culture.  Students are more likely to contribute if they feel that what they have to say is important.  By engaging students in PLN's you show them that they do have a voice - what they have to say is important and what other's have to say is important.  I like Shelly's description of it - "Passionate Learning Networks."  They are a great way to get students passionate about learning.  See the YouTube Video I found on one teacher's use of PLN's in her classroom - its a tad long, but she talks about how they connected to students around the globe and we get to hear from the children how they feel about it:


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