It’s impossible to learn everything there is to know about the tools and resources in your academic discipline. Not only is there already a vast array of options, tools, and resources; new possibilities are introduced every day. The only way to really keep up with these new possibilities is to become a strategic, life-long learner. The good news is that with the Web and the ability to connect and communicate with others in a variety of ways, you can develop your own personal learning network, or PLN.

What exactly is a PLN?
A professional learning network is a system that you design to help structure and systemize your ongoing professional learning. The key to this definition is that it is a system you design. We’ve all experienced the widely varying applicability of conference sessions, workshops, and trainings we’ve attended. The beauty of a PLN is that you strategically identify the topics, sources, and format for what you learn, according to your particular needs and preferences.

My PLN includes keeping current with a range of blogs and articles in my field of educational technology, attending conferences to learn and network with colleagues, and utilizing online training resources. This works well for me. For others, Twitter, print-based journals, and face-to-face workshops at a teaching center are essential ingredients to their PLN’s. The key to developing a useful and enriching PLN is to determine what works best for you. The strategies noted below may be a helpful starting point for you.

Strategies to build a powerful PLN

1. Get the most out of your professional organizations. 
   Professional organizations can be an extremely helpful nexus to discover great resources as well as attend conferences. For me, the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) is critical to my professional learning. Between the Digital Library that includes full-text journal articles as well as conference proceedings, the annual conference, and the Academic Experts networking portal, AACE is an excellent resource for me.
2. Read and review for key journals in your field.
   Reading the journals in your field is probably an obvious choice to mention here. What may be less so is reviewing manuscripts for the same journals. I review between 10-15 journal manuscripts a year. I do this, in part, as a way to pay it forward. I also gain a great deal from the experience, though. I’m able to see new contributions before the lengthy publication process puts them out in the wild. I also benefit tremendously from seeing other reviewers’ feedback to gain insight into how others read the same piece, as well as to see the literature and theoretical framework suggestions they make. 
3. Design a blog reader system to stay up-to-date.
   In my field of educational technology, things change quickly so I can’t depend on the traditional academic communication challenges to stay abreast of new developments. I suspect this is true for many other fields, as well. To supplement journal articles in my PLN, I have also developed a system for subscribing to a number of blog feeds so that I’m notified, through a feed reader, each time a new post is published. For video-based tutorials, please see my posts on setting up the system and organizing and archiving useful material. I also really enjoyed reading this post from Bonni Stachowiak on how she organizes her personal knowledge management system. 
4. Identify resources to learn new skills.
   Again, perhaps it’s because of my focus on educational technology, but I find on-demand, video-based tutorials and courses extremely helpful. Lynda.com and Udemy are both excellent resources to learn a range of new skills from software applications to productivity strategies. You might also consider enrolling in or auditing courses on your campus or those available online. Finally, teaching centers can be extremely helpful for new resources, workshops and training experiences on new teaching strategies. 
5. Leverage social media to connect with and learn from others.
   It’s only recently that I’ve started to really understand the potential for connecting with others via social networks – Twitter in particular. I’ve never really been into Facebook or Instagram personally, and I think this has made it a more difficult transition to using social media as a personal learning tool. The more I engage in Twitter, the more I see its value. Whether it’s through following particular hashtags related to teaching and learning or by connecting directly with other “Tweeps,” I’ve made really valuable connections and unearthed resources that I never would have through the other components of my PLN.

Next steps
So, what next? I’d encourage you to consider some of the possible components that might contribute to your own PLN. Think about the format that works best for you. Also, consider identifying a range of different sources, rather than emphasizing a single one (e.g., professional journals). Then, try it out for a few months. You’re never really done with your PLN. You’ll continually add to and subtract from the components you develop. And while the journey is a process, you’ll learn more about teaching and learning in your field, and about yourself.

So, what is one “must have” component to your own PLN?
Please post your comments below.

I typically think of the periods between semesters as an opportunity to relax, read some books, and just generally unwind. And while this works for me for a while, I find myself thinking about the previous or upcoming semester. And while this can be helpful, it’s also good to spend some of this “down” time in building skills and learning new things. Stephen Covey famously calls this ongoing skill development as “sharpening the saw.” In this post, I’ll share three great resources that can be really helpful in learning or developing new skills.

Why is it important to sharpen the saw?
In academia, or pretty much any walk of life, it’s easy to be so focused on what’s right in front of us that we forget or don’t take time to develop our knowledge and skills. I’ve written earlier about the need for prioritizing our tasks in a more strategic way than just what is most urgent at the moment. We need to find a way to take a step back and think about those areas of our lives that are important, but not urgent. It may be that we’ve been putting off reading an important new book in our field, learning a new piece of software, or developing a new skill. Of course, our goals can also be focused on personal enrichment, but for the purposes of this piece, I’ll focus on work-related opportunities.

If we don’t take time to focus on these important, but not urgent, areas of development, we can’t maximize our potential for growth. For example, if I’m aware of a promising new research reference manager (e.g., Mendeley) that would be helpful for me personally or for the students with whom I work and don’t make the time to learn about it, it’s a wasted opportunity. In many cases, these growth opportunities take time to develop proficiency. And while it can be hard to muddle through on our own, fortunately, there are a number of resources available to assist us in this development that are both helpful and enjoyable.

Three Resources to Learn More

1. Lynda.com is an excellent repository of rich, well-designed courses to learn about software and technologies. At this time, there are more than 3,700 courses to choose from in a range of categories. One category is specifically geared to Higher Education. Each course is rated as, beginner, intermediate, advanced or appropriate for all and includes a detailed table of contents. The content is primarily video, but is often supplemented with additional resources. A monthly subscription provides you with unlimited access to all the courses and the ability to view the content on your computer, tablet or smartphone. You may find that your institution offers faculty- free access to Lynda.com. 
   
   
2. Udemy is similar to Lynda.com in that they also provide a range of video-based courses in a number of different categories. The courses have a similar feel and can be accessed across devices. There are two primary differences that I see between the two services. First, with Udemy, you don’t purchase a subscription. Rather, you create a free account on the site and then purchase courses that interest you individually. While some courses are free, paid courses range from under $10 to several hundred, depending on the topic. The content of Udemy courses is a little more far-ranging than Lynda.com. You can learn software as well, but the 30,000 courses offer additional opportunities for personal development, instructional design and a whole range of ways to explore personal interest like music, cooking, and photography. Each course has a trailer and set of user reviews to help you determine which courses would best fit your needs.
   
   
3. Podcasts have become increasingly popular over the last several years as a way to learn and grow in a variety of areas. Podcasts are essentially serialized audio programs that explore different topics ranging from music, business, and academic topics. Through podcast indexing services like iTunes, you can find multiple podcasts on just about any topic. You can listen to podcast episodes directly on the Web, but you can also subscribe to podcasts and have new episodes automatically delivered to your iPod, smartphone or tablet. I’ve listened to podcasts for several years and have learned about topics that I would never have been exposed to. Highly rated general podcasts like NPR’s This American Life and TED Radio Hour are wonderful ways to be introduced to new topics and ideas. If you’re looking for new ideas, resources, and interesting people in higher education, there are some great options as well. Bonni Stachowiak’s Teaching in Higher Ed and the Teach Better podcast Doug McKee and Edward O’Neill are my two “must listen” podcasts each week. Of course, you might also want to explore the Luminaris podcast, too. :)

Where to Start
You might be wondering where you could get started. I think the key is to identify some area of personal or professional growth that would enrich your life. Once you’ve identified what you’d like to learn more about, you could begin to explore options. The library or the Web is a great place to start. I strongly suggest finding a mode and format that resonates with you. For me, podcasts are great, because I love to listen while I’m walking or exercising. I love Udemy because of the range of courses and I really enjoy video as a medium for learning. The important thing to remember is that a range of options exist, and you’ll be more likely to follow through if you enjoy the process.

So, what are you going to learn this week?
Please post your comments below.

“To teach is to learn twice over.”
- Joseph Joubert

When we challenge our students to teach a concept or idea to their peers, they must function at the highest level within Bloom’s taxonomy – to create. To prepare to teach their peers, they must first deeply understand their topic. From there, however, they must determine how best to present their understanding to help others learn the material. They must organize their ideas in a logical and digestible way, determine how to convey the information, anticipate potential challenges to understanding, and prepare any materials and strategies to instruct their classmates. In this process they shift from a consumer of information and ideas to a creator. Peer teaching or instruction can take the form of a standard lecture or presentation, to more creative or participatory modes.

Key features of the strategy
For peer teaching to be effective, faculty should be sure to focus on two key considerations: the goals and parameters for a peer teaching experience and how the work will be assessed. In terms of goals and parameters, the instructor should clearly present the purpose, format and scope for how the students should prepare to teach their peers. If a peer teaching experience is designed as a review activity prior to a final exam, the instructor may choose to divide up the key concepts in the course and encourage students to create a focused description and explanation of the given topic in a particular format (e.g., printed handout, contribution to a course Web site or wiki, brief video). It can be helpful to provide some parameters and possibly examples from prior courses, but also to allow latitude for the students to meet the learning goals in divergent and/or creative ways.

Assessing peer teaching can be complex. The instructor can be the sole assessor of student work. Alternatively, the classmates can also assess the peer teaching and their scores can be factored into the final grade. In some cases, you might opt for student self-assessment to factor into the grade as well. The key thing to remember in any of these scenarios is that the assessment should be anchored closely to the learning goals. Some instructors have a tendency to heavily weigh aesthetic considerations, particularly when students use more creative approaches to their teaching. This may be appropriate if the aesthetics are tied to student learning goals (e.g., in a video production or creative writing course). However, these considerations should not be heavily emphasized if they do not connect clearly to the learning goals. For more on assessing peer learning, see the work of David Baud and his colleagues from the University of Technology in Sydney on strategies for assessing peer learning.

Examples and Variations

Think-Pair-Share
One of the simplest and low-risk ways to embed peer teaching or instruction into coursework is with the think-pair-share method. Carleton College offers a helpful overview and multiple examples of the think-pair-share method for faculty members. The basics of the method involve asking the class a question and providing time for the students to consider their answer on their own initially. They then work with one or two additional students to discuss their individual answers to the question. The instructor then asks different groups of students to share their answers with the whole group. The Faculty Center for Innovative Teaching at Central Michigan University offers a number of different variations on the think-pair-share basic method.

Peer Instruction
A variation on think-pair-share, peer instruction is an approach that has a long history of implementation in higher education to more effectively engage students in large lecture classes. The basic model of PI includes students individually answering questions, usually using “clickers,” then discussing the question with a small group of peers, and finally answering the questions again. In this process, students essentially engage in socially constructed understanding of the topic at hand (see the Berkeley Teaching Resource Center brief for more). Simon and colleagues provide a detailed rationale and results from a study of implementing PI in an Introductory Computing class. In this approach, lecture was largely replaced by this process of students essentially instructing each other through a carefully designed set of questions and facilitation techniques. For a detailed discussion of peer teaching, listen to Episode 53 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Peer Instruction and Audience Response Systems.

Student-Created Video Projects
Perhaps the most challenging but engaging way to encourage students to teach each other concepts from a course is through student-created videos. By using free and easy to use video production tools (e.g., iMovie, Moviemaker, WeVideo) and video sharing sites (e.g., YouTube, Vimeo), student-created video projects leverage a medium and process valued by the Millennial generation. William Genereux, an Associate Professor of Computer and Digital Media Technology at Kansas State University reports on his efforts to replace a research paper assignment with a video project. He notes that while the work is very engaging and substantive for students, they often felt out of their comfort zone in the process. He suggests that this was a positive for the students – particularly in terms of developing their disciplinary communication skills.

Connections to 21st Century Skills and Technologies

Teaching or instructing others provides students with a rich opportunity to practice skilled communication - an important dimension of 21st century learning design (21CLD). It can be quite challenging for students to synthesize what they’ve learned and then convey their understanding effectively to their peers. Whether through brief, in-class discussion opportunities like those noted in the think-pair-share and PI examples above, or through more traditional peer teaching experiences, when students teach each other, they “learn twice over.” When the communication is extended to the creation of products like Web sites, video, or publications, the student engagement and motivation may also be enhanced.

Technology tools and resources provide students a range of ways to richly communicate their understanding in order to teach each other. In addition to the possibilities of student-created video, they can create Web sites (e.g., Weebly, Smore), wikis (e.g., Wikispaces), and graphic concept maps (e.g., Spiderscribe). The products that students create to teach each other can be archived by the instructor and shared broadly via the Web.

How might you challenge students to construct an argument in your classes?
Please post your comments below.

At the Lilly Conference this Spring, I had the opportunity to attend an excellent session on integrating technology for blended or face-to-face learning. In fact, it was one of the best sessions I attended at Lilly and on integrating technology into higher ed that I’ve attended. I’m delighted to welcome the three presenters from George Washington University to delve into this topic today on the podcast.

• Paige McDonald is faculty in the Clinical Research and Leadership Department at GW. Her EdD was related to blended learning and adult learners in higher education, and she teaches mostly blended or fully online courses here at the university. 
  
• Elise Ruckert is a faculty member in the Physical Therapy program. She has been teaching both as an adjunct and full time faculty member for 7 years and enjoys experimenting with new technology and educational methods in her classroom.
  
• Linda Cotton has been a multimedia specialist for almost 10 years. For the last three, she has been advising faculty on how and when to use technology and media to improve learning. 

Show notes:
-       Blending with Purpose: The Multimodal Model – Picciano, 2009
-       Blended Learning Systems – Graham, 2006
-       Quality Matters
-       The GW Blended/Online Planning model
-       L. Dee Fink’s Designing Significant Learning Experiences
-       Online Learning Consortium (OLC)
-       OLC Blended Learning Conference
-       OLC Innovate Conference
-       University of Central Florida BlendKit Course
-       Prof Hacker blog
-       Faculty Focus blog