PLN's and PLCs can help teachers around the globe get connected through technology in order to create a better learning environment in their classrooms.
What is a PLN?
Do you know what a PLN is?
PLN stands for this:
Personal
Learning
Network
It is an online way for teachers to collaborate and share resources with other educators. Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach states in her article called Just the Facts: Personal Learning Networks that PLNs are "a reciprocal learning system in which educators participate by sharing with and then learning from others." Educators can use sites, such as edutopia.com or edWeb.net, to share their lesson plans and resources with other teachers. They can also contribute their ideas or comments on methods and experience, which many do through blogs and articles. Many teachers even collaborate by forming groups on Twitter and Facebook. Through PLNs, teachers are able to share everything online in a quick and easy way.
In the video below, Marc-André Lalande shares his thoughts on PLNs and what they are. It is a great video that makes these ideas easier to make sense of. Go ahead and take a look:
So What is a PLC?
PLC stands for this:
Professional
Learning
Communities
PLCs are groups of teachers that work together to enhance the student's performance in school and also improve teaching methods/skills in the classroom. Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach also writes that "Communities are about the collective us and what we are building or improving together, systematically". PLCs create a school full of teachers that care about their students and their learning. Many students become more engaged, because the teachers are making a space where learning is possible and is successful. Teachers in PLCs are asking themselves more about whether their students learned from the lesson instead of how their teaching went. It is really more about the growth of the students and their learning than how the teacher taught the lesson (yes, they can often coincide, however). Overall, PLCs allow the students to get engaged academically because the collaborating teachers are doing everything in their power to support the students in their learning.
In the episode of Learning for the Future shown below, it talks about the importance of PLCs and how certain schools implement them in order to create a better environment for the students to learn. Please enjoy the video, and listen to the way the teachers speak positively about PLCs.
So How Can You Use Both PLNs and PLCs?
Personal Learning Networks and Professional Learning Communities can both be used to insure growth in your classrooms and schools.
Here is an example:
Say you are an elementary teacher looking for some ideas for new methods you can use in your classroom. You find a brilliant concept shared and used by another teacher on a PLN for math, which is maybe something your particular school is struggling with. So, you decide to share it will all of your colleagues in your PLC. With your school students struggling in math, your PLC has been trying to look at new techniques that with help with the students' learning growth in math. So, your PLC was thrilled at your contribution and decided to try it.
This example shows that you can incorporate the resources and ideas from a Personal Learning Network into what your Professional Learning Community is trying to develop in your specific school. With the help of your colleagues, you can implement new projects and programs in your school that will engage the students in their learning. All of these online resources and social media platforms can generate new possibilities of positive growth amongst the students in your school. Getting connected in PLNs can be just what your PLC needs to finally push the limits of what your school can do for the students in their academia.
References
Bonk, C. (2009) The world is open. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Lalande, M. (2012, October 18). What is a PLN - Marc-André Lalande's take. Retrieved January 21, 2019, from https://youtu.be/hLLpWqp-owo
Learning for the Future - Professional Learning Communities. (2015, March 03). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/ZgTpE1JH_XY
Nussbaum-Beach, S. (2012). Just the Facts: Personal Learning Networks. Educational Horizons,91(2), 26-27. doi:10.1177/0013175x1209100208
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