tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284198838335292771.post1952618144855819864..comments2023-07-03T08:47:12.307-07:00Comments on Making Shift Happen: Professional Learning Communities vs Personal Learning NetworksAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11030713811700962791noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284198838335292771.post-23884014896602737792013-02-06T14:38:49.105-08:002013-02-06T14:38:49.105-08:00Thanks Sheryl. I appreciate the book suggestion, ...Thanks Sheryl. I appreciate the book suggestion, and I will most definitely check it out!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11030713811700962791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284198838335292771.post-75539085572383558652013-02-06T14:37:42.763-08:002013-02-06T14:37:42.763-08:00Thanks; I really enjoyed reading your blog post. ...Thanks; I really enjoyed reading your blog post. I suspect that personality has a lot to do with self-directed learning, but as a classroom teacher of 11-yr olds, I would like to determine exactly which personality traits lead to that type of self-direction so that I can foster it in my students. I will have to go and read all of the links on your blog post. I think they will be helpful!<br />With regard to the PLC vs PLN, one of my colleagues pondered that perhaps it is not so much the absence of choice that makes the difference as much as it is the fact that in a PLC "teacher learning needs are predicated by student learning needs". Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11030713811700962791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284198838335292771.post-28042074159609427312013-02-06T13:51:31.849-08:002013-02-06T13:51:31.849-08:00Very interesting post. Choice and options are impo...Very interesting post. Choice and options are important in networked learning as shared in my post http://suifaijohnmak.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/change11-autonomy-in-networked-learning-and-connectivism/ There are differences between Professional Learning Communities and Personal Learning Networks. Professional Learning Communities are more aligned with the FORMAL COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE, and there may be mandates as to how it would be sponsored, organised, and coordinated, with definite role definitions for community managers (principal, head teachers, counselors etc.) and other community members. Those are rules based COP with definite outcomes, and sometimes could be running under a committee structure. The PLN are more aligned with the Social Network approach where learning is emergent and thus would allow for more personal autonomy. Previous researches (from our CCK researches) have revealed those observations by the Timothy and many other networkers, in their various manifestations of blog postings and forum discussions. These tensions always relate back to the choice, power and decisions, often associated with communities and networks. The group versus networks discussion throughout the CCKs http://wwwapps.cc.umanitoba.ca/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=956 would be relevant here.Sui Fai John Makhttp://suifaijohnmak.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284198838335292771.post-65752469733666666842013-02-02T06:45:32.196-08:002013-02-02T06:45:32.196-08:00I wrote a book where I scaffold PLNs, PLCs and CoP...I wrote a book where I scaffold PLNs, PLCs and CoPs into a 3-pronged approach. Considering where you are in your thinking about this you might enjoy it. The Connected Educator: Learning and Leading in a Digital Age.<br />Sheryl Nussbaum-Beachhttp://21stcenturycollaborative.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284198838335292771.post-25567098079432799782013-01-29T04:47:23.761-08:002013-01-29T04:47:23.761-08:00I agree with everything - and also think...
When y...I agree with everything - and also think...<br />When you get together as a support group (of your own volition) you help one another, support one another - and learning takes place. It is as if the group "takes turns" being and doing what each member needs (in turn). <br /><br />That is what I believe may be missing (the acronyms escape me) from the learning group your fellow teachers dislike... Each member of the group coming together needing/wanting something from the group, and the group having the flexibility to address what is needed.Lyndanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284198838335292771.post-45654320804651047612013-01-28T14:41:40.055-08:002013-01-28T14:41:40.055-08:00Thank you for your very honest comment. I would b...Thank you for your very honest comment. I would be lying if I said that thought had never occurred to me as well. But it is the very same people who love their PLN that dislike their PLC. That is what surprised me so much. <br />I feel so fortunate to work on Ontario where our Ministry actually supports our Professional Learning Communities. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11030713811700962791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284198838335292771.post-34554710192650242232013-01-28T12:32:35.380-08:002013-01-28T12:32:35.380-08:00I think it goes beyond choice. I am a music teache...I think it goes beyond choice. I am a music teacher and band director - and as I was reading your post I couldn't help but think about student ensembles and music communities. In music students perform with their local high school bands. There are kids who really excel music, kids that are along for the ride, and kids you secretly wish would hop off at the next stop. Teacher communities are the same. There are teachers in your district or school that lead, teachers that sort of follow, and teachers that we all wish would retire.<br /><br />The biggest difference between a PLC and a PLN is that the PLN only has <i>the leaders.</i> The teachers who go above and beyond, and look to make those connections beyond their classroom. In music in the United States our best students audition for region and all-state bands, where they get to perform with the best students from across the state. The ensembles are amazing - the kids are so talented. We also have Drum and Bugle Corps that recruit the best musicians from across the country.<br /><br />I think the same thing happens in the PLN - but it's not just that the teachers in your PLN chose to participate - it's that the one's who choose to participate are some of the best in their field.<br /><br />In my district we have no PLC's and most teachers I work with don't know anything about PLN's - probably one of the reasons why the US ranks so low in education! I think, however, that I would welcome a "forced" PLC - I think teachers should collaborate - but I agree on the choice - they should be left to decide "what's best" as far as what the PLC pursues.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03399226839132349590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284198838335292771.post-48758978465412990112013-01-27T12:08:14.319-08:002013-01-27T12:08:14.319-08:00Lorraine,
You have a great objective for applying ...Lorraine,<br />You have a great objective for applying the new insights you are gaining. You spell it out so clearly about how adult learning (and lack of learning in coercive attempts by administration) and student learning are linked. <br /><br />I would like for the adult learning in my PLCs to be better (freer from top-down directives, that is). I know we would be better able to learn if we had more choice. However, are we able to all be at a place to choose the same subject? Or do we choose our own objectives, learn at our own pace, and just rub elbows in our PLCs to inspire and help each other in our learning? I don't know. This year, we have PLCs that meet just once a month, but the members are from K-high school and we are in three different buildings, so the groups feeling somewhat contrived.<br /><br />I have gone ahead and introduced more and more learning by choice in my classroom, like genius hour. We will just carry on. I want students to grow up knowing how to learn.<br /><br />Thanks, <br />Denise Denise Krebshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00583406241247334445noreply@blogger.com