Professional Learning Networks - Team Work Makes the Dream Work

"Professional Learning Network Map" by Kyra DeLoach on Coggle.it is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.

Student Affairs is a small community of educators all over the US, usually grouped together by region. Many professionals are connected or networked to each other whether it be because they have worked at various institutions, have gone through similar experiences, or they are a part of a regional conference specifically for our profession. For example, I am a Residence Hall Manager (RHM) in Michigan and my regional association is the Great Lakes Association of College and University Housing Officers (GLACUHO).

An article by James Gee discusses how “affinity spaces, old and new, organize teaching and learning in quite deeper ways than do schools.” This resonated with me as I realized that it is in our nature as professionals in our field to collaborate, brainstorm, and network with each other and other resources that are helpful to developing ourselves and our students– affinity spaces are celebrated and promoted in my field inside and outside of our conferences! We even have an ‘Affinity Social’ at each yearly conference to socialize with other professionals for this specific purpose.

This being said, when learning what a Professional Learning Network (PLN) was, it felt familiar and was fairly easy for me to map out using Coggle (Coggle.it). It was insightful to map this out to see that I really benefit from the resources at my institution and in my association, and I also saw that although I do use social media to expand my PLN, I only use a very small portion of the online resources in comparison to colleague connections. Through this experience, I could see I need to explore more of those online resources. Mapping out my PLN was something that showed my need for growth visually and is something I would encourage others to do.

Kyras_Professional_Learning_Network_IMG_4272_ (1).pdf

Download PDF • 32KB

Let's keep the conversation going! I encourage reflection and comments by email or follow me on Twitter @kdeloachMSU.

References:

Common Sense Education. (2017, July 21). What's a PLN? And 3 ways teachers can get connected [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju54C5A3RCw&feature=emb_logo

Gee, J. P. (2017). Affinity Spaces and 21st Century Learning. Educational Technology, 57(2), 27–31. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44430520

Great Lakes Association of College and University Housing Officers. (n.d.). glacuho.org. https://www.glacuho.org/page/AboutUs

National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. (n.d.). About student affairs. https://naspa.org/about/about-student-affairs/about-student-affairs