Since starting my work in the MAET program at MSU my PLN (personal learning network) has grown considerably.
Buffa Blogger’s Old Professional Learning Network
If someone looked at my information diet from a few months ago to now, they would see that there has been significant improvement. Before joining several of the tools and media that are a part of my PLN now, one of the only tools I would seek information from was Facebook. I used Facebook in my down time to stay connected with friends and family, schedule events, and read articles related to fashion, relationships, health, puppies, etc. Rarely, did I use any social media to connect with others on topics of education, news, weather, etc. Well the time has come to broaden my profession learning network!
First, while taking CEP 810, I was encouraged to join the Twitter community to expand my learning networks for information. So, I added everyone in my class to be able to read and compare assignments with them but that’s as far as I went at the time. Now, though, I can honestly say that I recognize the usefulness of Twitter (gathering information and staying informed on important topics) as I have started to use it more in CEP 811 and CEP 812.
This week in CEP 812 we read the end of James Paul Gee’s book The Anti-Education Era: Creating Smart Students through Digital Learning. He stated that in order to get smart one thing we need to do is to recruit multiple sources of information when we are researching and trying to solve our complex problems (Gee, 2013, p. 159-166). I later came to the realization that I have been living in a filtered bubble of information after watching Pariser’s Ted Talk. My PLN has been too small for too long; I have been barely tapping the surface of valuable information out there that could push my thinking in new ways. I have been lazy and too comfortable in my filtered bubble! So, in an effort to become smarter and more informed about the world and knowledge all around me, I have added four new sources of information to follow via Twitter.
- CNN
- ABC News
- USA Today
- Education Week
The first three sources are for me to broaden my knowledge of what is going on in the world. I rarely follow the news. I usually find out about major stories via conversations with friends when they usually reply to me “How did you not know about such and such…. it’s been all over the news”. Well, one would have to watch and follow the news on a regular basis to know about a particular topic. So, I added CNN, ABC News, and USA Today to my Twitter feed. I choose all three because, like Gee said, we should have multiple sources of information. And like Pariser said, we do not want all of our sources of information to be filtered toward one way of thinking like the Internet slyly does for us today.
Secondly, my fourth source of information is Education Week. There is a lot of talk about educational reform today, and my Wicked Problem Project in CEP 812 is on Rethinking Teaching. In order to inspire my thinking for this project I have chosen to add this source to my Twitter feed as well. It’s also time for me to stay informed on these topics, broaden my knowledge and information intake, and break down the walls of my current filtered bubbles! This addition of new sources of information may be overwhelming at first, but setting a goal to view Twitter at least once a day will help integrate these sources into my network.
Buffa Blogger’s New Professional Learning Network
References:
Gee, J. P. (2013). The Anti-Education Era: Creating smarter students through digital learning. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Pariser, E. (2014, July 15). Beware online “filter bubbles”. [Video file]. Ted Talks. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles
Sapling Plant Growing Seedling Growth Potted Plant. [Online image]. Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/sapling-plant-growing-seedling-154734/
Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) at Michigan State University