An overview of how my PLN has changed during the Fall 2013 semester. #EDU210 #UAlberta

1. My Growing PLN
Kristen Kokura
EDU 210

2. In the Beginning
At the beginning of this term, I already had
a Twitter account so I decided to make
another one to serve the purpose of
becoming my PLN.
I initially followed about 35 different people
and organizations
I did not initially use my PLN because I
was still in the process of beginning to
think of myself as a preservice teacher.

3. Mid Semester
After having my PLN for a few weeks, I
began to think of myself as a preservice
teacher and realized that I was missing out
on a lot of information and learning
opportunities by not checking out my PLN.
I started logging in every few days, looking
at some of the articles and “favouriting” the
Tweets that I found useful.

4. End of the Semester
I am currently checking in with my PLN every other day (at
minimum).
There is a wealth of knowledge that is being sent out into
the Twitterverse and I am fortunate enough to have
(FREE) access to it.
I am still not sending out a lot of tweets on my PLN, in part
because I do not feel as if I have a lot to contribute.
My number of followers hit double digits this week – 10
people are now following me! (November 30, 2013)
I now follow 46 accounts, an increase of 31% over the
course of the semester
I continue to favourite many different tweets that I believe
could be helpful to me both now and in the future.

5. Who I follow: Public Schools Alberta
Although I am not a person who
believes that public education is the
best choice for all students, I enjoy
that this account keeps track of many
different articles, issues and debates
happening in the various public
school districts worldwide, with a
distinct Alberta focus.
This helps keep me informed as to
the different issues that are
happening in classrooms so when I
get to the point where I am working in
a school, I will already be aware of
many key issues.

6. Who I follow: edutopia
Although this is an American based
organization, they post things such as
how to best use a flipped classroom,
how to engage students, BYOD
classrooms, free resources and other
great tips for being a teacher.
Although I am not in a classroom yet, I
am starting to think about whether I
would flip a classroom or participate in
BYOD. These articles are all helpful for
me to read and think about as I
become an educator.

7. Who I follow: Calgary Teachers
As I one day hope to be a
member of ATA Local 38
(Calgary Board of
Education Teachers), I
believe it is a good idea to
stay informed as to what
these teachers think and
are doing in their city.
They post
pictures, links, ideas and
other important
information for teachers in
the Calgary area.

8. My contributions to my PLN
As I said earlier, I have not spent a lot of time tweeting
as I do not believe that I have a lot to say about
Education yet, but here are a couple screenshots of
some of the things that I have „favourited‟ on Twitter. As
you can see, there are a lot of things I believe to be
valuable.