Have You Developed a Personal Learning Network (PLN)?

Are you feeling complacent in your job? Do you feel like you are stuck in a rut? Believe me when I tell you that I have felt the same way (more like stuck in a canyon though). Maybe you're not stuck, but you feel like you just need to find additional resources to help you in your chosen profession.

I recommend that you develop your own personal learning network (PLN) for the reasons listed above or for many other reasons that I haven't listed. Web 2.0 has allowed me to develop a PLN of experts from around the world that I can interact with and derive professional development and knowledge from. There are a lot of talented, intelligent people out there who are willing to help and to share their knowledge at no cost to you.

The resources that Web 2.0 offers makes each day exciting as I look forward to learning. Seems like a simple concept for happiness, but learning is truly the key.

So how do you get started developing your own PLN? Obviously you could start by joining this blog or following me on Twitter (shameless self-promotions), but I will provide you with a few more resources.

Start by blogging and subscribing to blogs (by email or RSS feeds), join Twitter, start using social bookmarks (i.e. Delicious, Digg, Stumbleupon, Technorati, etc.), and join a community (Ning was terrific until it became fee based). Look at some of the people that I follow on Twitter and look at who they follow. Many of them have blogs and websites and you can look there as well. Just keep digging from there and before long, you will have your own basis for a PLN.

Sue Waters does a great job at explaining how to establish a PLN here.

Also take a look at Richard Byrne 's ideas on developing a PLN at Free Technology for Teachers.

Here are also a few resources to get you started:
The Top 20 Teacher Blogs
The Top 25 e-Learning Blogs
Top 100 Technology Blogs for Teachers
Seven Ways to Find Teachers On Twitter

If you feel SHY about starting a PLN try reading Sacha Chua's "The Shy Connector." I highly recommend it!

I challenge to push those professional boundaries and to learn new things EVERY DAY!