Professional Learning Networks
Like most teachers, I am a passionate learner. Unfortunately, I am not alone in my often-underwhelming experiences of traditional forms of professional development (Visser et al., 2014). Professional learning networks (PLN’s) offer an exciting alternative by allowing teachers to explore, discover, share, collaborate and contribute in a manner which is relevant to their specific needs and interests (Trust et al., 2016). Jones and Dexter (2014) note that they are essentially constructivist in nature, comprising of individually tailored systems of interaction in which active participants leverage digital technologies to harness the social nature of learning. By enabling access to a collective intelligence, PLN’s enhance professional practice through serendipitous and planned interactions, opening pathways to new perspectives and resources (Krutka et al., 2016). PLN's offer an exciting opportunity for accessible, personalised and responsive professional learning.
I believe deeply the value of history as a learning area, especially in fostering information literacy and critical thinking in young people. Despite the wealth of fascinating facts this subject offers, I view the content of history mainly as a vehicle for the essential skills it can cultivate. As such I am constantly seeking effective and innovative ways to teach historical inquiry within the Australian National Curriculum. I therefore decided to take the opportunity to consciously evaluate and expand my PLN for historical inquiry education.
Initial PLN
The map above outlines the most relevant aspects of my initial PLN, with highly valuable nodes indicated in red, somewhat valuable nodes indicated in yellow, and my own interactions indicated in green. My initial PLN was typical in that it occurs largely on a ‘just-in-time’ basis (Lock, 2006). It was also highly dependent on a learning community focussed around the Queensland History Teacher’s Association (QHTA). Although interactions occured across multiple spheres (a public and private Facebook group, in-person/ virtual annual conferences and TeachMeets) and not all those involved know each other personally, the community shares a largely “intentional architecture”, and therefore resembles a community of practice (Dron & Anderson, 2014, p. 136). In line with the findings of Levin and Cross (2004) my professional learning is reliant on weak ties with competent people I trust on the basis of their professional affiliations or the quality of the resources they share.
The process of mapping my PLN demonstrated that my initial PLN was quite liner and passive. I source resource and information on a just-in-time basis and filter it into my practice and peers. My digital professional identity -- characterised by low interaction high coherence participation -- was emerging and aligned with Lupton, Oddone & Dreamson's (2018) description of "compartmentalised facets" (p. 35). In the spirit of networked learning I therefore undertook to investigate new nodes for my PLN and to increase the strength of existing ties through active participation. My goal is to mitigate the limitation of potential through isolation (Nussbaum-Beach and Ritter Hall, 2010) by beginning the ongoing process of diversifying and enriching my own PLN using digital technologies.
Potential PLN
The virtual learning community for history teachers is widespread but diffuse, offering significant potential for a PLN. As well as an array of professional and commercial public Facebook groups and pages, there are a plethora of highly specific private groups. These are often limited to geographic region (and therefore educational system), and meet the needs of educators without compromising privacy. Engagement varies widely across these spaces, but the more active I have experienced involve communities of around 1000-4000 members, with a core group of regular participants and frequent once-off contributors. They average 100-200 posts/ month and are generally quite responsive in terms of commenting on and liking content. Within the confines of private groups, it is easy to find information relevant to historical inquiry skills. By its very nature, Twitter has a significantly more open community of users. Sharing relevant news, resources, and PD opportunities, asking professional questions and holding twitter chats. Pinterest also a vast array of users curating information on historical skills, and Wakelet is likewise used to curate resources a well as to host forums.
Developing a PLN
In line with Richardson and Mancabelli’s (2011) assertion that networked learning’s effectiveness is determined by the quality rather than the quantity of the connections, I focused my interactions of a discrete number of platforms, looking to deepen my connections on Facebook and expand them to Twitter. I did this by asking questions, commenting on resources and questions, sharing resources, and adding new nodes to my network. This process was framed around the following critical incidents:
#1
I ventured out of the shadows of the internet and began posting questions related to the teaching of historical inquiry on both QHTA Connect and Share and History Resources Australia Facebook pages. The responses on the former were more useful, and receiving tailored advice from experts whose books I have read and seminars I have attended was highly rewarding. The swift and informative answers increased my connections with other members and supported my professional learning in this area. Furthermore, it reinforced the power of active ownership of my professional growth (Trust, Krutka & Carpenter, 2016). Unexpectedly, my engagement in this activity resulted in the receipt of 'conversation starter' status within the QHTA group, further bolstering my confidence. As a result of these interactions, my professional knowledge increased in a manner more immediate and targeted than could have been achieved by traditional models (Duncan-Howell, 2010; Macia and Garcia, 2016). Furthermore, I was acting in both the linking and stretching arenas of Oddone’s (2019) learning experiences, establishing connections to meet immediate needs while expanding the potential for learning in this space.
#2
Having benefited from the collective wisdom of others I decided it was time to feed back into the network. Initially waiting for opportunities to answer questions or share requested resources, I eventually took a more active role and began building upon individual and shared knowledge to create and share targeted resources (Nussbaum-Beach & Hall, 2012). II chose to develop resources for mapping of achievement standards to assist teachers with vertical alignment, as well as some ready to use PowerPoints with resources to support the teaching of historical inquiry, historical interpretations, and visual literacy. While doing this I leveraged my newly invigorated Facebook relationships to reach out the the creator of HistorySkills.com, to share my ideas and ask permission to adapt the resources. A series of very positive and helpful emails ensued as I re-mixed his resources to suit my professional context. As a result, I moved up the ‘participation ladder’ from spectator to creator and am beginning to move forward, learn, explore and connect as part of an active online community (Richardson & Mancabelli, 2011). I was now involved in Oddone's (2019) amplifying stage by engaging in “active contribution, creativity and knowledge formation, as well as collaborative co-construction, and remixing or redistribution of information and resources” (p. 254).
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Although I shared these on my blog, engagement with them was through the Facebook groups I linked to. The resources were received with dozens of positive comments and likes. As Hegarty (2015) notes, this feedback from supportive peers also helped to develop my autonomy and self-efficacy within the PLN. More importantly, several members suggested corrections and additions which added value to the resources and made them an ever more collaborative project. This clearly demonstrated the value of the multidirectional process of distributing knowledge, skills and resources (Krutka, Carpenter & Trust, 2016). The act of sharing pushed me into Baker-Doyle’s (2017) participatory phase of engagement.
#3
By this stage I felt myself to be part of a “welcoming environment of collaboration and participation” (Visser et al., 2014), surely a good sign when in pursuit of digitally enhanced constructivist learning. I thus continued the process of ‘stretching’ my PLN by translating existing connections into the Twittersphere and harvesting them for new connections (Oddone, Hughes, & Lupton, 2019). Despite arguments that Twitter is a “low-cost, easy to access platform” which “provides a modern platform for teachers to share, network, gain emotional support, build professional learning communities and make a contribution to their profession”, I have remained very much on the periphery of Twitter. Having already established a professional identity on Facebook using my mother’s maiden name (a step I took at the outset of my teaching career as a way of avoiding student interactions in this sphere) I decided to maintain this digital identity on Twitter.
I began the process of active participation by liking, commenting on and re-tweeting valuable content. I also shared my first resource in this sphere – a Wakelet curating useful history sites – along with a request for further site suggestions. The inchoate nature of my network meant this was received with predictably deafening silence. Despite dabbling in sharing knowledge and resources I still largely confine my Twitter use to monitoring educational news sources. I have yet to meaningfully engage with the other four of Ferriter, Ramsden, & Sheninger’s (2011) six patterns of participation for Twitter users. In order to engage in reflective conversations, gain instant feedback or create mentoring links I will need to keep developing my Twitter presence over an extended time. In this area, I have just begun the process of transitioning from the technical phase of Baker-Doyle’s (2017) transformative teacher development framework to the emerging phase.
Learning experiences
In terms of subject knowledge, developing my PLN has taught me that although there are certain commonalities in the teaching of historical skills there is a lack of overall consensus on the most appropriate approaches. I have also gained a much more nuanced understanding of the different approaches to teaching key historical skills such as ‘interpretation’ and ‘perspective’. The process also offered insight into myself. I am not an active social media sharer in personal spheres, and was initially resistant to expand my digital engagement in a professional sphere. The idea of becoming a Connected Educator seemed frankly exhausting. Dr Deborah M. Netolicky’s 2018 blog post also reflected my concern that the expectation to share and contribute amounts to ‘unpaid labour’ and contributes to the workload intensification already experienced by teachers. Despite this, I know that valuable insights often come from leaning into discomfort and I agree that “learning happens best when we share the experience with others – when we debate, discuss, explain and defend our ideas and the new concepts we are trying to understand” Oddone (2021, para. 4). I was surprised to discover that I am an effective connected learner and, so long as the connections remain purposeful, enjoy interacting in this space. I gained interesting insights into other people as well, discovering that they were both more appreciative of my input, and more willing to share their own time, resources and expertise, than I had anticipated. I also learned more about digital media, refining existing skills and discovering new tools. Tweet Deck was essential in mitigating what Wenger et al. (2011) noted can be an overwhelming amount of information. I also learned that although it is important to be aware of and interact with new technology, the sheer range of options necessitates careful consideration their functionality and value. Wakelet, for example, is a fantastic curation tool but as Education Queensland students cannot access the site, is limited to personal or peer-education.
Digital Identity
I have always been something of a bystander on the internet. Becoming a high school teacher encouraged me to separate my private and professional digital identities, using my mother’s quite unique maiden name for the latter and I decided to continue this within my PLN, as the name was already associated with Facebook (an active network node). Associating this name with a Google, Twitter, Pinterest and Wakelet account has hardly made me an internet presence yet, but the image of a history educator with a passing interest in art and feminism has started to emerge. Within the Baker-Doyle (2017) framework, my digital identity has moved to participatory. Increased professional interactions, content creation and sharing and interactions, as well as more structured integration of the various aspects of my network through my blog or website would be necessary to move into Lupton, Oddone & Dreamson's (2018) high interaction/ high coherence 'leader' phase. At this stage I most closely resemble a blend of Oddone's (2019) 'evolved connector' and 'linear linker'. Having experienced all of Krutka et al.’s (2016) ways of interacting in a PLN -- engagement, discovering, experimenting, reflecting, and sharing – I am a more competent and valuable member of my network. Overall, my experience reflected Jenkin’s (2009) representation of participatory cultures as having low barriers, strong support for expression and valuing the contributions of both novice and expert members. Due to this I feel more confident as a digital entity and am excited to purposefully and consciously continue to construct my digital identity.
Current PLN
My PLN has shifted considerably, not only in terms of the quality and range of connections, but also in terms of my conceptualisation of it. Although still judging the value of nodes and relations in terms of resource and response quality, I am much more aware of the flow of information and the exponential value I can gain by feeding back into the network. A comparison of my initial and current PLN shows that what was previously a very linear flow of information and resources is now becoming a much more interconnected and active network. This is represented in the map below, which describes the type and location of interaction and indicates my output in blue, input from the network in orange, and reciprocal interactions in green:
Moving Forward
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As a learner, I can clearly see how responding to and creating content generates real benefits. Regardless, I am only operating as a conversationalist in a limited setting and have yet to substantially engage as a critic on the participation ladder (Richardson & Mancabelli, 2011). As Baker-Doyle (2017) notes, active interaction and contribution is necessary to grow connections, so my focus will be on seeking opportunities to do this across my spheres of participation. My nascent Twitter presence will require particularly sustained attention, and my experience confirmed that a lack of established digital identity can make it more difficult to engage in online collaboration. I plan to reshape my website over time to form the basis of my online identity, and use it as a springboard to knit together my Twitter, Facebook and in-person connections by hosting and sharing resources from this central platform. Although I remain on the foundational level for much of Bridgstock’s (2017) Connectedness Learning Model, I can see a clear path to improvement.
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As a teacher, acknowledging the value of connected learning and professional learning networks has clear implications for my practice. Teaching significantly disadvantaged students who experience the digital divide it is essential that every possible tool is made available to them. Unfortunately, many platforms are unavailable to them, wither due to a lack of hardware or the incredibly zealous blocking of sites by Education Queensland. As per Ito (2013) I therefore intend to focus on my role as a facilitator, both in structured learning experiences and responsive interventions. For the former I will use appropriate and accessible tools ranging from OneNote collaborate for closed network practice, to Padlet for peer questioning and evaluation opportunities. Targeted instruction on appropriate sharing, commenting, and building a digital identity will be necessary to help them successfully navigate such spaces and develop the skills of connected learners. I will also be a more informed advocate as I lobby the administration to increase the accessibility of technology.
References
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Duncan-Howell, J. (2010). Teachers making connections: Online communities as a source of professional learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(2), 324–340.
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Jenkins, H. (2009). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: media education for the 21st century. Cambridge, Mass: The MIT Press.
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Levin, D. Z., & Cross, R. (2004). The Strength of Weak Ties You Can Trust: The Mediating Role of Trust in Effective Knowledge Transfer. Management Science, 50(11), 1477–1490. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1030.0136.
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Lupton, M., Oddone, K. & Dreamson, N. (2018). Students’ professional digital identities. In R. Bridgstock & N. Tippett (Eds.), Higher Education and the Future of Graduate Employability: A Connectedness Learning Approach. London: Edward Elgar.
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Macià, M., & García, I. (2016). Informal online communities and networks as a source of teacher professional development: A review. Teaching and Teacher Education, 55, 291–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.01.021.
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Nussbaum-Beach, S. & Hall, L. (2012). The connected educator: Learning and leading in a digital age. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
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Oddone, K. (2019). Teachers’ experience of professional learning through personal learning networks. [Doctoral dissertation, Queensland University of Technology]. QUT ePrints https://qut.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/61QUT_INST/1g7tbfa/alma991009679876504001
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Wenger, E., & Wenger-Trayner, B. (2011). Communities of practice: A brief introduction. Retrieved from http://wenger-trayner.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/04/07-Brief-introduction-to-communities-ofpractice.pdf