Welcome to our professional learning series on building a PLN.

This self-paced free course guides you step-by-step through the process of setting up your own PLN.

We have an optional PDF workbook that will help to keep you on track and focused as you work through the 7 steps of this course. Scroll down and click on the ‘download’ button under the document to save it to your computer.

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The aim of this first step is to:

  1. Unpack the definition of a PLN and “connected educator”
  2. Help you understand why educators create their own PLNs and how they use them

What Is A PLN?

Back in 1998 when the internet was in its infancy, Daniel R. Tobin wrote an article about the term “Personal Learning Network” which was abbreviated to PLN. This term was used to describe a network of people and resources that support ongoing learning.

Whether or not Tobin actually coined the term PLN is up for debate. As Clint Lalonde has pointed out, others, such as Dori Digenti, also wrote about the term in the late 90s.

Digeni said,

The PLN consists of relationships between individuals where the goal is enhancement of mutual learning. The currency of the PLN is learning in the form of feedback, insights, documentation, new contacts, or new business opportunities. It is based on reciprocity and a level of trust that each party is actively seeking value-added information for the other.

The term has evolved and is now sometimes referred to as a Professional Learning Network — taking into account that fact that most “connected educators” use their PLN for professional growth and interaction.

As Tom Whitby has pointed out, there can even be a hybrid of the personal or professional learning network — the Personalized Learning Network.

…the shift in nuance maintains that participants are both personal and professional learners. A PLN is a tool that uses social media and technology to collect, communicate, collaborate and create with connected colleagues anywhere at any time. Participating educators, worldwide, make requests and share resources.

Are PLNs Exclusive To Education?

PLNs don’t just exist in the education world. They are important in all aspects of the business world, various vocations, and hobbies.

We contacted Daniel R. Tobin to ask him about how he came up with the term Personal Learning Network. We wanted to find out if he coined the term in relation to a particular industry or field.

Daniel told us,

It came from my own experience.

As I was thinking about how I had learned to do the various jobs I had over the course of my career, I realized that I had built an extensive network of people who had helped me learn. These included managers and colleagues and people I had met while doing research for my books, speaking at conferences, attending workshops, etc.

As I started writing about corporate training and development, I realized that what I had learned from my PLN was greater and more important than what I had learned from my formal education.

Interestingly, many teachers who are active online have remarked that they’ve learned a great deal more from their PLN than from any professional development session they’ve attended.

Are PLNs Something New?

All teachers know successful teaching and learning does not occur in a vacuum. Teachers have always relied on others for guidance, ideas, inspiration, support, and new perspectives. Naturally, some teachers are more active in their interactions than others.

Traditionally, all this interaction might take place in one school community. Teachers might have rarely connected with educators from other locations — apart from an occasional conference or professional development opportunity.

Technology changed all this.

Like in many other industries, educators now have access to people from all corners of the globe 24/7. This may largely be through social media but other platforms as well, such as blogs, online communities, and news sites.

So many barriers have been removed — geography, culture, language, timezones, travel, costs, logistics.

Embracing new networks and building a PLN doesn’t mean throwing out your old connections. Of course, it will always be valuable to talk to the teachers next door and down the hall. But imagine the possibilities of building on that network in diverse ways!

Video: What is A PLN?

Want to learn more about what is a PLN? This is Marc-André Lalande’s take on the matter in less than two minutes.

Being A Connected Educator

A connected educator is someone who collaborates online and uses a range of tools to build their own PLN.

Watch the following five minute video to learn more about being a connected educator. It shows interviews with educators who explain the importance of being “connected” in order to be effective teachers and leaders.

Why Create A PLN?

There are many reasons why all teachers should develop a PLN.

Here are eight benefits of having a PLN:

  1. You are in charge of your own professional development. PD is no longer something that you have to “sit and get”.
  2. You can explore your own interests, needs, and passions (or your students’). You might have a student who is struggling with reading, or you might have heard of makerspaces and decide you want to learn more about that, maybe you have a student who wants to research global warming, or perhaps you want to find a better system for running a sports day at your school. You can turn to your PLN for advice and support with all these sorts of things.
  3. 24/7 learning offers the flexibility to learn and connect at a time that suits you. You don’t have to wait for a PD or conference. And 24/7 learning certainly doesn’t mean you have to be constantly online either — you decide how much time you want to invest and when.
  4. You can learn and connect in a way that you enjoy. This might be via videos, podcasts, text, social media, Skype, blogging … the list goes on.
  5. There can be light and shade to your PLN. You can engage in a general chat about education (or anything) to debrief, laugh, or unwind. Or, you can engage in deep discussion, debate, and reflection that can really challenge and transform your thinking and teaching. The choice is yours and there will probably be a time and place for both.
  6. You can stay current on research and best practice, regardless of whether this information is being discussed in your own school, district (or even country!).
  7. A PLN allows for broad brainstorming or fine tuning. You might know very little about a certain topic and ask your PLN for any/all entry points into exploring the concept. At the other end of the spectrum, you may have already done a lot of work on a topic and use your PLN to fine tune your ideas and resources.
  8. Globally connected students need globally connected teachers. Having your own PLN is a key way to also help your students connect with others and start developing their own networks. We know this is important to enrich student learning and help students thrive in the changing labor market.

Feel free to use the following graphic on your blog or share it with your colleagues.

Why teachers should build a PLN Summary Edublogs Teacher Challenge

Four Big Ideas Around The Connected Educator

Silvia Tolisana (aka Langwitches) has written about four big ideas that surface when thinking about connected educators.

4 Big Ideas Around The Connected Educator - model, isolation, crowdsource, perspective

I think about the isolation of a teacher within their classroom walls and how connectedness to a global network of experts and peers could expose and add multiple perspectives to their world view and professional practice.

I am amazed every time by the transformative nature of teaching and learning, when harnessing the power of a network to crowdsource authentic data, resources, connections and collaborators.

Last, but not least, the idea of being able to model for our students what connected learning in an interconnected world means is a moral imperative for educators who are charged to prepare our kids for their future.

You can unpack these concepts further by reading Silvia’s post. 

Building Your Own PLN

The great thing about a PLN is that it’s personal!

You make all the choices:

  1. What tools you use!
  2. Who you connect with!
  3. How you want to learn!
  4. When you want to learn!

The idea of this series is to guide you through the process of building your own PLN and give you a taste of the opportunities that are out there.

Remember, we each have our own preference of what online tools work best for us.

Throughout the seven part series, we’ve included popular tools for building a PLN to help get you started.

7 Steps To Building A PLN | Edublogs Teacher Challenge

Conclusion

A PLN is a network of people and resources that support ongoing learning.

We believe all teachers could benefit from having a PLN.

You might be in a fantastic school but in some ways, schools can become echo chambers for the same beliefs and viewpoints. It can be easy to go with the status quo and fail to really question things or bring in new ideas. A simple conversation with someone from a very different community can be so eye opening.

One does not need to be connected to be a good educator, but if one is a good educator, being connected can make him, or her a better, and a more relevant educator. Tom Whitby

Your Task

PLNs are all about sharing, collaborating, and learning from each other. So here’s your chance to ask a question, comment, and get involved!

We’d like you to add your voice and ideas to our ongoing conversation about PLNs by undertaking one or more of these challenges:

  1. PLN Definition: Watch the video What Is A PLN? Leave a comment on this post to explain what a PLN means to you. You might like to share your thoughts on “lurking”. What are the pros and cons of this approach? Or, you might like to explain what you think PLN stands for — personal, professional, personalized … or something else?
  2. PLN Benefits: Choose one or more of the eight benefits of having a PLN that’s listed above to explore in a comment. Tell us why this is a benefit that resonates with you.
  3. Connected Educators: Watch the Connected Educators video. Leave a comment on this post to explain why it’s important to be a connected educator and how a PLN can help you. You might like to give an example of one person in the education community that you’d like to follow and learn from or with. This could be a thought leader, or just someone you find interesting.
  4. Go Deeper: Write a blog post to explain what you have learned about PLNs. Perhaps your post could be a way to educate or persuade others on the benefits of PLNs. Or you might like to summarize some of the information from this study on PLNs for teachers. Leave a comment with a link to the post so we can have a look at how you went.

Also feel free to leave a comment to ask any questions or share your tips.

How to leave a comment: Scroll down to find the comment box. Write your comment, then enter your name and email address (email addresses are not published). Enter the anti-spam word. Press submit and we will moderate your comment ASAP.


The following information on PLNs was adapted from an original Teacher Challenge post by Australian teacher, Michael Graffin. You can check out Michael’s original post — What The heck Is A PLN.

This resource was updated by Kathleen Morris in 2018. 

1,422 thoughts on “Step 1: What Is A PLN?

  1. Two benefits resonate with me the most, in charge of your own personal development and learning and connecting in a way that you enjoy. These two benefits allow us as teachers to work on professional development on our own time, pace, and within our preferred learning style. Some teachers enjoy the conference settings or whole group settings while others would prefer a video or book to read. Also by choosing what we want to put our time into the justification for having to sit and focus on the material makes it more meaningful. While there still is required PD that needs to be done, allowing a choice in how to receive the information motivates teachers to accomplish the task or if saying a certain amount of time but your choice of options accomplishes the same.

  2. A personal learning network ( PLN) to me is resources that can help me become a better educator. These resources will allow me to grow my own professional development. I am excited to learn more about personal learning networks and how they can benefit me in my career and business.

  3. I like the use of PLN to help students find their passion. Personally, I don’t enjoy engaging people online. I prefer speaking face to face or listening in a group. Students nowadays thrive on social media and PLN is definitely for the 21st-century students

  4. Hello to all,
    An individual’s personal learning network (PLN) is a group of people, tools, and resources that they use to assist their learning. A PLN can be used to enhance or replace conventional professional development opportunities by acting as a virtual extension of a person’s professional network. PLNs can be used to work with others, access knowledge and resources, find and exchange information, and keep up with trends and advancements in one’s profession. Most PLNs are made up of both online and offline contacts and resources. Coworkers, mentors, and books are common offline resources, whereas blogs, social media, and online discussion forums are examples of online resources. The idea is that each person chooses the connections and resources in a PLN to support their unique learning objectives.
    Compared to conventional professional development options, PLNs have a variety of benefits. They are first and foremost self-directed, allowing students to pick what they want to learn and when they want to learn it. They may be used to promote learning anytime, anyplace, because to their flexibility. Thirdly, they are reasonably priced, making them available to a larger group of individuals. Finally, they are adaptable, allowing users to modify their PLN to suit their own requirements. PLNs have the power to change how we approach professional development and how we learn. PLNs can make learning more relevant and efficient by allowing people to choose what they want to learn and when they want to learn it. PLNs provide a way for us to stay current with the most recent trends and advancements in our area and to continue to advance as professionals in a world where change is occurring at an ever-increasing rate.
    Thank you
    >James

  5. A PLN to me means engaging in a social media network that helps you to gain resources from people that share the same interest as you and where you are able to reciprocate additional resources to others sharing the same interest. A PLN also means benefiting from the other resources that come from the branching off of a PLN such as a PLN community that can deepen your connections in community events in the physical world. A PLN to me means combining my personal and professional interests together to find resources that I can share with others. Personally, I am a content creator and professionally I am an educator, by combing these two interests, I can share what I love to help guide students to become 21st-century learners practicing the ISTE standards of a digital citizen.

  6. A PLN to me is a wide range network of resources. This network is established to help meet your PLG. You have the ability to network with individual who can share different resources, experience, knowledge and link you to other individuals who can further assist with your learning goals. It provides a space for educators to keep up with the ever-changing world of teaching. Educators can find advice and tools to deal with some of the things we think we only deal with in our classroom. It provides a sense of relief like a support system.

  7. A personal learning network ( PLN) to me is resources that can help me become a better educator. It is resources that I can use to help grow my own professional development. I can explore different subject areas and get ideas of best practices as well as ideas on how to best keep my students engaged. I like that I can be in charge of my PLN so that I can make it relevant to me as an educator. I am also about to see different perspectives.

  8. A personal learning network is an umbrella of connections that can strengthen my learning via communication and getting resources. This includes peers, friends, family, and those who are connected both personally and professionally.

  9. My personal/professional learning network (PLN), is a web of connections where I can expand my knowledge. For me, the most significant connection is the one I have to a university library. Here I can virtually explore the research and insights produced by people all over the world. Being somewhat non-social, coupled with my deep-seated aversion to any participation within unregulated social media, I prefer to engage online only with peers I have previously met face to face. Consequently, I have relatively few online interactions outside the professional relationships I have established with other educators prior to my interactions with them online.

  10. A personal learning network to me is a collection of resources that I can use to continue to educate myself in the teaching profession. These resources can include other teachers in my school or online that I develop relationships and collaborate with on topics in my subject area or in educational practices. I also really liked the idea of PLNs being my own form of professional development. I can choose what, where, and how I want to educate myself on various topics using online resources. Lastly, I see this as a way to make sure I constantly stay current and relevant in the way that I teach.

  11. Staying current on research and best practice with a PLN is something that I find essential and not something I would’ve thought of as a benefit to a PLN. Once a teacher ends their academic career, it’s imperative that they stay up to date on their practices, but the information can be or feel less accessible outside of class. It’s essential to always be learning!

  12. I honestly didn’t know the meaning of PLN. I saw it before but didn’t pay too much attention to it.

  13. A PLN is a group of people you can network with and share ideas with to improve your teaching. People can discuss ideas on their practices, reflect on their teaching, and/or ask each other questions. This is a great tool for new and seasoned teachers because it will keep them both on the same page.

  14. For my comment I have chosen benefit seven: “A PLN allows for broad brainstorming or fine turning.” The reason this benefit resonates with me is because I see this as the reasoning for having a PLN. By having a network of people from many different backgrounds, it allows you to gain a broader perspective on thoughts and ideas. By asking for input or advice from your PLN, you are able to get ideas and perspectives that you personally couldn’t have come up with. This benefit also resonates with me because of the fine turning aspect of the benefit. When I read this I interpret this to mean having the ability to have members in your PLN peer review your ideas. This is a benefit because through this you can better see if your plans/thoughts/ideas have valid reasoning to others.

  15. The 7th benefit listed, “A PLN allows for broad brainstorming or fine tuning,” caught my attention when I was going through the list. It can be intimidating entering a new or specific topic and not knowing where or how to get started. A PLN provides you with that starting point and can grow with you continually fine tune your ideas. I can see how this can be incredibly helpful for both new and experienced teachers.

  16. A PLN is an online platform where people communicate and share their ideas and questions about different topics. On this platform you do not have to know the people to interact. Also, PLN’s are focused on helping people learn.

  17. A PLN is a Professional Learning Network. It is a term used to describe a network where professionals can learn from their peers and interact with each other. The idea is to use digital resources, like social media, to connect with others and exchange resources/ideas.

  18. A PLN is a network of tools that teachers can use to continue their learning, find new ideas, and share with other teachers. It’s a personal network of tolls because a teacher chooses the tools they want to invest in whenever they like. All the tools are connected and can be shared because they are usually all easy to access or are public. I personally like that I can choose the type of sites, books, and organizations to use to further my career and education in teaching.

  19. A PLN is a tool that makes use of social media and technology to gather, interact, collaborate, and create with linked coworkers wherever they are and whenever they want. Something that really stood out to me was the mention of how you might be in a fantastic school but in some ways, schools can become echo chambers for the same beliefs and viewpoints. A PLN is a great way for me to branch out and learn from others and share with others outside of what I’m used to on the daily.

  20. PLNs are a great way to connect to other educators and learning professionals. Moreover, this is a great way to grow as an educator and as a learner within my field. It’s a way to share my already learned knowledge and gain assistance when I find myself stumped with the tasks at hand. It’s a my “on-hand fairy godmother” group.

  21. What is a PLN to me? A professional learning network is an online community, in which teachers can share ideas, thoughts and approaches to pedagogy. It also allows educators and teaching artists a safe space to network and collaborate. The “P” in “PLN” stands for professional, in my personal opinion, because it is a network of professionals exchanging knowledge and experiences. There were a few benefits that resonated with me, but the words that stood out the most were “global” and “current.” I recognize the value of having a global outlook and how a global community of educators can gain from being able to communicate with each other and share perspectives. Furthermore, as an aspiring educator I recognize the importance and value of staying current and connected in order to teach younger generations in ways that resonate with them. It’s important to stay connected to other educators and teaching artists, because you might be able to gain from their experiences, teaching approaches or thoughts. For example, I enjoy watching educational videos on Tiktok. This morning I was watching a kindergarten teacher share how she rewards her students with “Lip-Smacker.” Her reward system was such a creative way to get students excited about learning.

  22. A PLN is where you can network with other teachers and expand each others knowledge on what are the best ways we can include them in the classroom and outside classroom practices

  23. One benefit of being in a PLN is the availability. Being able to engage with a PLN 24
    /7 through different means is essential to ensuring the success of the members. Everyone has different standards when communicating about something as important as education and through this PLN you can get access to many styles of interaction and learn a lot about a given topic.

  24. A PLN is describing a people or organizations that you can use at resources and connect from, they can share ideas, reflections, etc. Personal means that you get to choose who you get information from, learning is because you learn from the person you choose, and network is because the person you choose has other connections.

  25. Prompt 1: What is a PLN? PLN stands for personal learning network and refers to the interconnected web of educational resources (generally, people) that a teacher can become a part of over the internet. What comes to my mind when I think about a PLN is ideas I have come across on sites like TikTok and teachers that I stay in contact with through Facebook. “Lurking” refers to the way a person can use the internet to gain insights and ideas without actually interacting with others personally. I am a pretty quiet person, so this is how I tend to use the internet more generally, and is something that I will probably do when utilizing my own PLN.

  26. A PLN is relationships between people in professional setting where they can learn new forms of feedback, insights, documentation, new contacts, or business opportunities. Teachers can connect with other people in the same work industry to talk about guidance, support, inspiration, new perspectives on topics, etc.

  27. A PLN is defined as a personal learning network. In short, it involves a a network of people that interact and assimilate from each other to improve their own work (teaching). It is a space where you can communicate, share ideas and resources, create and collect information. A PLN can involve social media applications such as Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, etc. I like to think of it as a workplace of professionals outside a physical building- forming and building ideas to help one another.

  28. 3. 24/7 learning offers the flexibility to learn and connect at a time that suits you.

    I like the flexibility and control that 24/7 learning offers. Being able to take charge of my own professional development is empowering and motivating. I recently completed several tests online and it was nice to be able to take them in the comfort of my own home. I am also trying to be more conscious of balancing the time I spend online with being active in my life so having access to online learning when and how I want helps support that balance while allowing me to develop as a professional on my own terms. Having access to PD courses like this is a great way to spend the rare planning period where I have nothing to do!

  29. A PLN is a collaborative network that allows teachers to engage, share, and create plans with other teachers. To me PLN allows teachers to grow, to have access, and share ideas within the community. It is like a support system where it allows the teaching community to stay connected.

  30. Before this I had never heard of a PLN. This is a great tool to have! From this reading I found that this is such a useful tool to have. It is very important to have a network to share and receive different idea with colleagues. As a future teacher PLN’s are something I will definitely look to for advice and for ideas when I am starting out.

  31. To me, a PLN is the group of people that you collaborate with to learn from and work with each other. The concept of “Lurking” doesn’t seem like an entirely beneficial thing to engage in as a part of a PLN in my opinion, as I think the PLN functions the best and benefits the people in it the most when there’s a good level of collaboration and sharing of ideas between the people within it. One potential benefit to “Lurking” that I could think of is if a person has recently joined a PLN and wants to learn how they can contribute to it, they could observe the ideas people share and how they communicate before beginning to engage in those processes themselves.

  32. Personal Learning Network is a tool that uses technology and social media to support communication and collaborations between professionals. These networks connect people and resources that support mutual learning and growth. As a teacher in the making, the term PLN means to me is a network where I can learn from others and share my knowledge to others. Creating a PLN will be a great resource for me to use when I am in the field.

  33. A PLN is “a network of people and resources that support ongoing learning.” A PLN allows for a community of people (educational, professional or casual) to collaborate through input and feedback and work toward the same end goal to enhance the learning of all its members. It requires the input of all members to both give and receive information to create a resource that is beneficial for everyone involved.
    I really like the personalization aspect of PLN because it is useful for both teachers and students to create a resource that works best for them and facilitates their specific learning.

  34. A PLN is a tool teachers may use to collect, talk, collaborate, and create plans with other teachers and users at any time. It is a professional and personal learning space to apply known information to pretty much anything and everything.

  35. I’d never heard of a PLN, and if I had heard the term, I think I would have thought of it as something like LinkedIn. It sounds extremely useful, and I’m happy that I now know about it. I’m currently in need of places to crowdsource ideas, because I’m now writing lesson plans with a unique set of kids, one that is unfamiliar to my school experience. I must add that things are generally different than when I was in school due to assistive technology that is now widely used in schools and my district’s one-to-one computer policy. Bringing this perspective of working with others to develop units and plans is something I want to bring into my school environment, where many teachers do not collaborate. I would like to foster an atmosphere that values this kind of work, which, to me, is more important than modeling use of technology to reach out to others locally, nationally, and globally. Nowadays, kids do this regularly on social media sites.

  36. A PLN is a network of people that you interact with to learn from them in various ways. It is a curated group because you decide who is a part of the group and how you choose to interact with the group.

  37. A personal learning network is a group of people and resources who have an interest and/or expertise in a specific topic. I would argue that reddit is a much more valuable platform than twitter for discovering valuable information, as joining subreddits is a better way for organizing around topics when compared with hashtags. It’s easy to see crowd-supported solutions to questions if you lurk, and it can be rewarding to engage with the topic and get “good karma” via upvotes.

  38. PLN’s consist of an online environment of individuals that may share and obtain useful information. Those on PLN’s can glean information from all around the world that allows them to become better at their craft.

  39. From my understanding, a PLN is a personal learning network for educators to share their ideas through a network. Its a way for educators to collaborate and connect with others when you might need help or have questions. I think its a great tool for not only new teachers but seasoned teachers as well. Everyone can learn something that might not know already or may need an explanation.

  40. A PLN to me is a place where teachers can constantly be exposed to new ways of thinking and teaching. There is always more to learn and different ways to approach teaching based on who you are. A PLN opens this up to make it possible to access all of these different approaches that you may not have unlimited access to when you are just in the classroom or in the school you teach in.

  41. A PLN is a group of people you can network with and share ideas with to improve your teaching. People can discuss ideas on best practices, reflect on their teaching, or ask each other questions.

  42. “You can learn and connect in a way that you enjoy. This might be via videos, podcasts, text, social media, Skype, blogging … the list goes on.”
    I found this as one of the more useful benefits because that is the new era education is learning toward for students therefore, why shouldn’t educators be developing the same way? We are constantly discussing and researching ways to make students engaged and interested in the learning and I feel PLN can be a great way to have teachers interested in developing as educators and professionals.

  43. The first benefit that really resonated with me was how you are in charge of creating your own personal learning network. I think it is important for teachers to have the freedom in creating their own resources and be able to take in what they feel is best for them and not necessarily have to fit in a certain structure or path that is provided to them. Teachers always have the best insight into what works best for them in their classroom and for their students so it is always great for them to be able to have this ability with PLN.

  44. Hello,
    My name is Ashley, I believe PLN is great tool for educators to bring their good ideas to the table as well as their insight and knowledge about their field. It is also great for going and asking questions to others in your education field. This gives educators a feeling of belonging and in a form that most people are familiar with.
    For me having access to a group of people who have more experience in the field I am persuing is a stress reliever. I like the idea of if I get stuck during lesson planning, or if I am confused about a requirement, then I have my PLN right there at my finger tips. PLN would also help me stay current with new ideas!
    It is important to be a connected educator so you can stay current, and insure your doing the right practices for your students. Being connected also helps you get new ideas, or improve your lessons. Someone I admire at VCU is Dr. Misti Mueller. She is extremely caring for her students and always finding new opportunities for students. She is well connected in the community and finds ways to stay on top of current P.E. trends.

  45. Among the eight benefits, the third one resonates with me because I like to learn and connect with information at my own pace. The pressure of having to learn at a specific time of day always seemed a little stressful to me, but when I can decide my hours and how much I want to commit to it during that time, it becomes an easier process. Additionally, there is no need to wait much since I can always do what I need to do at any time without anyone interfering.

  46. One benefit the really resonated with me is staying current with research and best practices. Education is constantly changing, whether it is different ways to teach, engage students, or even just the curriculum. Knowing and keeping up with the changes that are happening in education is important so we can make our teaching better, which ultimately helps our students.

  47. A PLN to me is a teacher that is connected to others about ideas, questions, and reflections. It is personal as it is about what interests you and it is an online interactive part. PLN stands for Personal Learning Network.

  48. I love that the PLN allows for broad brainstorming or fine-tuning. Being a theatre teacher, I feel the best way to get ideas on how we should teach the various topics in new and improved ways is really through each other. Being able to share my ideas and learn from others is always such an important part of teaching. It’s also a great way to learn from others whether through learning new topics or simply just another fun way to teach something.

  49. I like that a PLN allows you to be in charge of your own professional development. A lot of teachers feel like they have to sit through PD sessions that have little to do with anything you teach; it’s sort of like busywork that doesn’t actually help you. However, PLNs allow you to personalize your professional development. You can connect to others teachers who teach the same type of content that you do.

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