Defining 'Personal Learning Networks'

Image credit: mkhmarketing

I was inspired by a blog post written by Eric Sheninger (who tweets as 
@NMHS_Principal) where he defines what a personal learning network means to him:

"A PLN provides leaders with resources, knowledge, feedback, advice, support, friendships, and is a catalyst for self-directed learning.  The ability and ease to now engage in conversations with like-minded practitioners and world-renowned experts provides a meaningful and differentiated model for growth to improve professional practice.  For me, I love being able to ask a question on Twitter and then return hours later with an array of responses from all over the world. I also love being able to filter content based on my interests from a variety of information sources to one convenient location." 

I too have developed a wonderfully rich personal learning network; connecting with educators from all over the world. For me Twitter is the place to go to learn, providing links to a huge array of interesting topics as well as a space to engage in interesting conversations. Very often these lead to opportunities to collaborate and communicate face to face or via Skype or Google Hangouts. I also get great value from reading the blog posts of other educators. Discussions follow by using the comments section, providing the chance to question or indeed challenge viewpoints. Below are just a few I would recommend you take a look at:

• Technology Enhanced Learning - @hopkinsdavid
• Learning with 'e's - @timbuckteeth
• TeachThought - @TeachThought
• Edudemic - @Edudemic
• Getting Smart - @Getting_Smart
• Free Technology for Teachers - @rmbyrne
• Educational Technology and Mobile Learning - @medkh9

The next most useful tool I would say is LinkedIn. I often hear people say that whilst they have a profile they don't bother updating this or look at the updates of others as they are not looking for a new job. LinkedIn is far more than a 'job site'. At the very least it is your very own 'rolodex' of professional connections.

Image source: Wikipedia

LinkedIn allows you to connect with individuals, join groups and follow companies. It is an excellent way to find and engage with topics that interest you. Equally it is another forum you can share with other your own work and research. Each time I present at a conference I upload my slides to Slideshare and then add the link to my LinkedIn profile. I also have a blog about Getting Started with Social Media and add a link to my latest post as an update on LinkedIn. For each of these, readers may and do leave comments, providing me with feedback.

Facebook also provides me with opportunities to learn. Whilst my personal space is somewhere I interact with family and close friends; the use of groups and pages has opened up many new channels I am constantly learning from. 

The social media tools (of which there are many) are wonderful spaces we can connect with others and share information and conversations. The very fact that this can be done both synchronously (real time) and asynchronously has broken down previous barriers of time and distance. The openness allows us to listen and learn from each other. The sophisticated search facilities each provide, enable you to discover so many interesting things you may never have had the opportunity to happen upon otherwise.

What are you favourite tools that connect you with your personal learning network?      

Edublog Awards 2013

I was thrilled to be nominated this year as a Finalist in the annual Edublogs Awards for the Best Individual Tweeter category. Forty educators were selected and then voted upon by the community. I'm pleased to say I made it to 2nd place! Huge thanks to all those who took the time to vote for me.   

The Edublog Awards is a community based incentive started in 2004 in response to community concerns relating to how schools, districts and educational institutions were blocking access of learner and teacher blog sites for educational purposes. Going forward the use of other social media has also been constrained.

The purpose of the Edublog awards is to promote and demonstrate the educational values of these social media. A key feature is that it provides a rich resource for educators providing ideas on how social media can be used in different contexts, with a wide range of different learners. For me personally, I have been introduced to many new educators and sites who I may not have come across otherwise. If you've not yet had a chance to take a look, I recommend you do.

Here are all the categories:

• Best individual blog
• Best group blog
• Best new blog
• Best class blog
• Best student blog
• Best ed tech / resource sharing blog
• Best teacher blog
• Best library / librarian blog
• Best administrator blog
• Most influential blog post of the year
• Best individual tweeter
• Best twitter hashtag
• Best free web tool
• Best podcasts or google hangouts
• Best Use of Videos and Media in Education
• Best educational wiki
• Best open PD / unconference / webinar series
• Best educational use of a social network
• Best mobile app
• Lifetime achievement

Searching for an alternative to 'personal brand'

For some time now I have been struggling with the term 'personal brand'. In presentations I give on building a professional online presence, the concept of 'brand' filters in, within the context of making a mark and standing out from the crowd. It is important to consider connectedness between professional profiles on the social networks and websites we create to share our writing, portfolios, work, achievements etc. Having a username and photo that is recognised is important as is a consistent bio. To some degree a consistent style can be helpful to others to visually link one profile to another. Is this distinctiveness branding? 

define: Brand
Noun: A type of product manufactured by a company under a particular name. Verb: Mark with a branding iron.

 

Here's my definition: A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another. If the consumer (whether it’s a business, a buyer, a voter or a donor) doesn’t pay a premium, make a selection or spread the word, then no brand value exists for that consumer. 

A brand's value is merely the sum total of how much extra people will pay, or how often they choose, the expectations, memories, stories and relationships of one brand over the alternatives.

An excerpt from Seth Godin's blog post on the definition of brand  


Godin associates brand with a product or service. It could be argued that as professionals we may provide a service of some description or indeed a product, but as an Educator it doesn't sit comfortably with me. I reached out to my connections on Twitter to get some thoughts.

@suebecks How about Personal Marques?
— David Eddy (@sonofedd) September 28, 2013

I did immediately warm to the idea of personal marque and yet when I looked at the definition for this it still has close links with brand...

define: Marque

A brand of a manufactured product, especially a model of motor car 

Kirsty offered professional identity and this was echoed by Brianne when I asked the question of my LinkedIn connections. Chrissi suggested profile and Barbara value proposition. 

@suebecks @timbuckteeth professional identity better? Brand has connotations, fake
— KirstieC (@kirstie_C) September 28, 2013

What are your thoughts? The importance of developing our professional online identities are clear. How we refer to this, at least for myself is cloudy. I welcome your suggestions!

Embedding ALL of your Slideshare presentations in your Blog

For some time now, I have been uploading presentations I have given at conferences to Slideshare. In the last couple of years these have also included invited keynotes and bespoke workshops.

From your personal page on Slideshare you can now embed ALL of your presentations in the format below by grabbing the embed code (see top right corner) This is an excellent way to share your work as readers can look though whatever you have uploaded directly from your blog. Alongside PowerPoint slides you can also upload PDF documents, infographics and videos.

You simply copy the code and then within your blog, select the HTLM editr screen and paste. Save your work and go back to the Compose editor screen and there you will see the interactive Slideshare collection. 

 

Changing the Learning Landscape

I was recently invited to give a talk for an interdisciplinary webinar on the use of social media in HE. The webinar was in 3 parts with around 30min for each speaker. I was delighted to be speaking alongside AnneMarie Cunningham who has used social media in medical education extensively. 

My own talked focussed on the use of social to develop our own online professional presence as educators. 

Abstract

We are living in an age where many of us are now ‘always switched on’. The rise of the ubiquitous use of mobile technology and open access to Wi-Fi-free zones has changed the way we communicate - forever. We use mobile technology for work, to organise our home life, our social life, to shop, enjoy music, films and photographs. All of these activities have the potential to make our life easier and more enjoyable. However there is a concern that we risk information overload in our quest to manage the growing amount of information, in particular through social media. How can we juggle all of this and possibly leverage social media in a professional context?

My talk will look at how through social media you can develop a professional network that will not only help to separate the signal from the noise for yourselves, it will also provide the mechanism for others to find you and your work as a professional in your field. By developing a professional online presence and network of connections, you will have the potential to open many new channels of communication, opportunities for collaboration and creativity BUT you will also find the means to filter only what is important to you.  

• Medical Education and Social Media - Anne-Marie Cunningham, Cardiff University (04.10 mins)
• Professional Online Presence: Separating the Signal from the Noise - Sue Beckingham, Sheffield Hallam University (43.20 mins)
• Grief or Glory? Using and implementing an e-portfolio in work place practice - Gareth Frith, University of Leeds (1hr 19.09 mins)

The recording of the webinar is available here via Blackborad Collaborate.

Below is the presentation slides which are also available on Slideshare

Professional Online Presence: Separating the Signal from the Noise from Sue Beckingham

Spreading the word: The ripple effect of Slideshare

Last week I led a Twitter Mini Masterclass at Sheffield Hallam University with my colleague Joe Field and posted my presentation slides on to Slideshare. I was thrilled to receive an email from Slideshare to say it had been selected to be featured on their home page.

   

Slideshare Tweets

Slideshare also tweeted a link to my presentation via @SlideShareToday and @SlideShare. At this point in time my slideshare had 196 views. 

'Twitter Mini Masterclass' by @suebecks is featured on our homepage. slidesha.re/101jRwE
— SlideShare Today (@SlideShareToday) May 15, 2013

Best practices for using Twitter hashtags, search, lists, analytics and dashboards: slidesha.re/10zGZRL via @suebecks
— SlideShare (@SlideShare) May 16, 2013

IMPACT

In the space of five days my slideshare has had over 3.5k views and 29 downloads, 14 shares on Facebook, 36 via Twitter and 15 via LinkedIn. 

You can track this data on Slideshare each time you upload a presentation. (More in depth analytics are available via the Pro version). There is also space for viewers to leave comments; a very useful opportunity to receive feedback on your presentations. 

Once you have uploaded your presentation slides you can choose to share your work through your own social channels and grab the embed code to display the slide deck within your blog or website.

Steve Wheeler, Associate Professor at the University of Plymouth uses SlideShare to share his keynote presentations that he gives all over the world.  One of his most popular slideshares to date was an invited speech given at the Learning Technologies event in 2012, which has currently had over 54k views. (I would recommend following Steve on Twitter as @timbuckteeth). 


I've often thought it is a shame that conference presentations are not shared beyond the event and conference website. Using SlideShare enables access to a far wider audience and good use of tags will help viewers to find your presentations via the search facility within Slideshare. Accompanying or subsequent papers and documents can also be added as PDFs. 

I give all of my work a Creative Commons licence which means viewers can download and share with accreditation but cannot use commercially. 

I think it is suffice to say that sharing your work in this way is undoubtedly an additional and very effective way of disseminating your work. Whilst I can't expect every presentation to be featured the possibility that it might is a bonus!

The best blogs on MOOCs, cloud computing, mobile learning, social media, digital pedagogy and more.

The EdTech online magazine has recently released a list of 50 must-read higher education and IT focussed blogs covering the likes of MOOCs, cloud computing, mobile learning, social media, digital pedagogy and more. The list was chosen not by the magazine but by the readers who were asked to submit thier favourite blogs and then vote on the submissions. I recommend you take a look!

I was pleased to see a number of bloggers I follow, but especially so when I saw David Hopkins who blogs from Technology Enhanced Learning Blog and tweets as @hopkinsdavid. 

Congratulations David!

This is someone I have had both the privilege to learn from and with. His blog is both informative and inspiring, but it was through Twitter that we first developed conversations on topics of shared interest. He encouraged me to write my own blog on social media, one I had initially set up just to demo blogging to my students. 

Our paths have continued to cross and through Twitter and blogging I continue to learn from David and many other educators who are freely sharing resources and thoughts (often provoking and inviting to be challenged). Through our mutual interest of digital identity and the use of social media by students, David and I went on to plan and prepare a presentation on Digital Footprints for the annual PELeCON elearning conference in Plymouth in 2011 (an event I would recommend you keep an eye open for - Led by Steve Wheeler @timbuckteeth). 

What has become clear is that it is through social channels such as Twitter, that have enabled our learning communities to grow. Because of the sheer volume of information passing through on a daily basis, I often come upon gems that interest me via those I consider as essential members of my personal learning network. It is these signposts that help to bring posts and tweets to my attention, alongside the serendipity of simply dipping in and out of the social channels. The use of re-tweeting and sharing tools to post links of interesting and valuable information, is one of the amazing positives of social media; creating a ripple effect that reaches far beyond your immediate connections. The use of comments within blogs enable rich discussions to both learn from and debate. Very often these have introduced me to new educators, increasing my network of connections. This in turn has highlighted opportunities to join webinars and MOOCs such as #ocTEL the Open Course in Technology Enhanced Learning led by ALT the Association for Learning Technology.

Within the comments of the EdTech blog post sharing the top 50 list of higher education IT bloggers, recipients of the award paid their thanks. David Hopkins went one step further adding this in his comment:

I was thrilled to be included as one of the people David values as part of his personal learning network. I can also agree 100% with the other names he mentions, as they too are valued by myself. I have also over time had the pleasure of meeting each of these people face to face. Prior to I have followed their posts having been introduced to them virtually through my own connections. Developing conversations online meant that we had already gone though the intro stages of meeting new people, so on meeting face to face for the first time, our conversations simply continued. 

The moral of this post? Value your learning community and share their contributions with others.

Had the likes of David and many others not shared information about their own networks, mine may still have been a very much smaller community to learn with than it is now.