Educators across all career phases (novice, mid-career, and veteran) can benefit from creating, expanding, and maintaining a Professional Learning Network (PLN). A professional learning network is a system of people, spaces, and tools that support ongoing learning and professional growth (Krutka, Carpenter & Trust, 2017).

In this five-week open online course, you will identify, reflect upon, and enrich your PLN through a series of interactive activities. You will explore new spaces for connecting and learning with others. You will be challenged to redefine your PLN engagement. And, you will discover ways to engage in PLN activities that can help you transform your practice and positively shape student learning.

This free course is the product of the collaborative work of Dr. Torrey Trust and graduate students from the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education. We have designed this course with the intention of extending this collaborative, community-based philosophy to our participants.

NOTE: During Summer 2019, this course will be run as part of a class assignment and research study with students at Griffith University. Students who are part of the course will be posting their responses and artifacts on 4399edn tute team. If you are not part of this course, but you’d still like to complete this PLN course to get an ISTE Certificate of Participation, please post all responses and artifacts on Twitter using the hashtag #PLN4Ed.

Course Learning Objectives

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By the end of this open online course, you will be able to:

  • Define Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) and explain their purpose.
  • Identify and evaluate the people, spaces, and tools in your PLN.
  • Evaluate your PLN for diversity, dynamism, and depth.
  • Expand your PLN to support your growth as an educator.
  • Analyze your PLN activity and determine how to enrich your PLN experiences.
  • Evaluate the impact of your PLN on your teaching practice and student learning.
  • Develop SMART goals for continuous self-directed professional development and PLN enrichment.

Getting Started

Ready to start this free open online course? Go to Week 1 Introduction page.

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