Personal Blogs

What I like about PLNs is that they leave the building of the network to the learners. Even some of the MOOCs we have looked at have quite a strong structure which is determined by someone else (tutor, course designer etc) but the only constraint on learners when constructing a network is that they have to use tools which other learners are using.

Definition: If a person uses the internet to contact other people engaged in similar learning or professional activity with a view to learning more or increasing their skill level, they can be said to have created a PLN.

Some other points occur to me:

• networked learning does not rely on specific software

• in its most flexible form, the learners can be left to agree on what tools they want to use

• ...but, in practice, it may be helpful, especially for learners new to the PLN approach, to suggest some tools.

• I agree with Rajagopal (2012) that a learner needs to develop the skill of networking, including cultivating a positive attitude towards learning in this way.

• sometimes a PLN may need to function within an overarching structure to avoid the learners sinking in what may seem a chaotic, confusing and disorienting experience.

• Shirky (2003) makes the interesting point that the group is equally as important as the individual in a PLN. Humans are fundamentally individual and also fundamentally social.