Personal Learning Network (PLN)

With so many different technologies and networking in the world today, it is hard to come up with an excuse as to why a person could not get helpful resources in any activity they do. I have come up with three ways to develop my personal network. This ways are podcasting, RSS and class blogs. A person does not have to physically talk to a person face to face to get the same outcome from that simple action.

Podcasting is a great resource to find creative ideas and other resources to communicate and make the classroom better. Being a special education major, I found a videocasts called ‘Special Education with Thomas Cervantes.’ Mr. Cervantes videos give special education teachers a resource to use their educational techniques without allowing other students know that they have a disability. These videos also allow teachers to put in comments and suggestions to other teachers that need more help in areas. Mr., Cervantes gives ideas for assignments and projects to accommodate the Students Individual Education Plan (IEP). Besides special education podcasts, I follow another videocast called 'Educational Technology Resources’. This podcast gives sessions that end with helpful electronic devises and tips for technology in the classroom for grades k-12.

The second networking I follow is using RSS for my EDM 310 class blog site. By adding the class blog to RSS Reader, I’m able to look and see if the class blog as had any new post since my last visit. This is helpful so a person doesn’t have to scroll down the page and possible mess a post that could be useful in the future. For example, an extra assignment given by a professor that could be do the same week.

The last network that is helpful to me is a class blog. There are two blogs that I follow on a regular base. One is the EDM 310 class blog. The second one is a elementary school blog called ‘2BC’, This blog is a great resource because it allows students, teachers, parents and anyone else the ability to see the students through video and podcasting as well as hear the students personal experiences in class. This blog gives parents the chance to witness what their child is learning while at school. An example of a video that they posted is an assignment to work in groups and solve a problem together. This is a fun educational resource and I would recommend to any teacher for ideas and inspiration.