PLN

media type="custom" key="12225438" width="330" height="330" align="right"You may ask why a digital PLN?  The truth is that a digital PLN such as this wikispace, could very easily help the general education teacher to meet teaching standards as laid out by the state and federal government. The wikispace is a great way to keep information accessible to students and parents. It is also a great tool to engage the students. Once modeled, students can then too, access ideas that are presented online AND they have the ability to share any thoughts, ideas or ingenious creations with their parents, teachers, classmates and even the world!  Incorporating the constant influx of instant updates by twitter or the informative world of blogs, welcomes continual collaboration. The ability to share with fellow key players in the educational landscape keeps things fresh, new and inventive.

While developing my PLN I have learned:
 * The basics of twitter- how it can actually be used as an instrument of focused information. I have the right and ability to follow feeds that will be beneficial to my teaching area.
 * URL's are made to be shortened! This is such a cool thing, and it makes me wonder //why in the world are they so long to begin with if we can shorten them?// just wondering.
 * It requires patience... and time... and trial and error. It can be a lot of fun to see things take shape that I have only heard of on the radio. To actually see that I have "created" something online still kinda blows my mind!

Technology skills I have learned:
 * Imbedding widgets- I still haven't wrapped my head around them, but I think I may believe them to be cool.
 * Creating a wikispace- I still haven't mastered it, but I'm getting more comfortable.
 * Creating a reader- I never knew it existed before, or how to find miscellaneous blogs. Very cool.
 * Clicking for the shear pleasure of clicking, not knowing what I will find, but knowing it may be the beginning of a new adventure/journey!



