1. A personal learning network or PLN refers to the people, sources, and resources that contribute to a person's lifelong professional learning. It can include subject experts, websites, social media, groups, conferences, and learning communities. 2. Developing an effective PLN involves setting goals, locating relevant resources, organizing those resources, and engaging in learning activities. Key steps include determining goals and time commitment, and identifying existing resources that align with one's learning style. 3. Potential PLN resources include archived and live events, conferences, libraries, online courses, journals, magazines, peers, professional communities, social networks, and various websites and tools for curating content like RSS feeds. Maintaining a dynamic

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Personal/Professional Learning Network (PLN) Workshop
What is a PLN?
A Personal Learning Network or Professional Learning Network (PLN) means different things to different
people. In simple terms, your network includes the people or sources that contribute to your professional and
lifelong learning. A PLN may be used by teaching professionals to access resources and ideas, develop skills and
lessons, and connect with others in the profession. In your PLN, you can include subject specific experts,
websites, social media resources, online or face-to-face groups, conferences or learning communities.
Steps toward your PLN
Your PLN should be dynamic. It should be in a perpetual state of development. Think of it as a cycle from
setting goals through to refinement and beyond.
Setting Goals
• What do you want to achieve with your PLN?
• How much time can you spend with your PLN each week/month?
• Which resources suit your style? (blogs, RSS, face-to-face, coursework, social media,…)
• What existing elements do you already use for your professional development?
• What do I want my online identity to look like?
Set goals
Locate
Resources
OrganizeActivity
Refine

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Sources/Resources
Sources for your PLN can include the following and many more. See the additional links in the resources section
below for further thoughts on PLN resources.
Archived and Live Events
• Webinars http://tutela.ca/Submit+Webinar
• Virtual Seminars http://www.tesol.org/attend-and-learn/online-courses-seminars/past-virtual-seminars
• Webcasts http://www.teslontario.net/conference/webcastpresenter-handouts
Conferences
• Conventional http://www.teslontario.net/conference
• Online Virtual http://www.virtual-round-table.com
• Niche online conferences http://www.britishcouncil.org/turkey-english-teaching-stories-for-schools-
story-sharing-conference.htm
• Live and informal unconferences (i.e. Speed Geeking, Pecha Kucha, Barcamp)
Libraries
• In person https://library.cna-qatar.com/home
• Online http://ebooks.nypl.org/B0B04746-19BA-42D7-AD62-093A5015BC4A/10/257/en/Default.htm
Learning Communities
• Classroom 2.0 http://www.classroom20.com
• Edutopia http://www.edutopia.org
• TESOL Community http://community.tesol.org/welcome.htm
• Doha eLearning Developer’s Guild MeetUp https://www.meetup.com/Doha-eLearning-Developers-
Guild-DeLD-Ed-Tech
Online courses
• Commercial http://www.lynda.com
• MOOCs (massive open online courses) https://www.coursera.org
• TESOL courses http://www.tesol.org/attend-and-learn/online-courses-seminars
• Independent teacher courses http://www.freemoodle.org/course/view.php?id=189
• Learning Communities Courses http://evosessions.pbworks.com
• ITunesU http://www.apple.com/ca/education/itunes-u
• Regular chat sessions http://edchat.pbworks.com/w/page/219908/FrontPage
• Open courseware http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
Journals
• The Internet TESL Journal http://iteslj.org
• TESL Canada Journal Online http://www.teslcanadajournal.ca
• The Electronic Journal for ESL http://www.tesl-ej.org
• The Language Teacher http://jalt-publications.org/tlt/recent
• Print journals

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Online magazines/ newsletters
• English Teaching Professional http://www.etprofessional.com
• TESL Contact http://www.teslontario.net/publication/contact-magazine
• TESL Ontario News Brief http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/teslo
• ESL LINC Digital news http://learnit2teach.ca/wpnew/news
Peers
• Staffroom
• Lunch & Learns
• Librarians
• Authors (web pages) http://webpages.csus.edu/%7Ehansonsm
• Authors (blogs) http://david-crystal.blogspot.ca
• Authors (Twitter) https://twitter.com/search?q=krashen&src=typd
• Slideshares http://www.slideshare.net/search/slideshow?searchfrom=header&q=tesol
• PodCasts http://iteslj.org/links/ESL/Listening/Podcasts
Professional Communities
• Large communities TESL Ontario http://www.teslontario.net
• Affiliates TESL Toronto http://tesltoronto.org
• Interest Sections SIGs http://www.tesolarabia.co/sigs/edtech
• Standards http://www.tesol.org/advance-the-field/standards
• Resource centres http://www.tesol.org/connect/tesol-resource-center
• PD events http://tesltoronto.org/workshopsconferences
• Publications http://www.teslontario.net/publication
Social Networks
• Facebook http://www.facebook.com/tesol.assn
• Twitter https://twitter.com/TESOL_Assn
• Blogs http://blog.tesol.org/category/blog
• LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/groups/ELT-Professionals-Around-World-
3460329?home=&gid=3460329&trk=anet_ug_hm
• Yahoo Groups https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/evonline2002_webheads
Support pages
• Institutional http://www.admc.hct.ac.ae/hd1/english.htm
• Government http://www.bbcactive.com
• Commercial http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com
• Organisational http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en
Wikis
• Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
• WikiHow http://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page
• Pbwikis http://edchat.pbworks.com/w/page/219908/FrontPage
Google Suite
• Google Hangouts
• Google Scholar https://scholar.google.ca
• Google News https://news.google.com

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• Google Alerts https://www.google.com/alerts
Feeds (RSS)
• Breaking News English http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/feed.html
• 21 Edtech RSS Feeds http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/08/21-must-read-rss-
feeds.html#.VwjOwPl95hF
Organization
Your Personal Learning Network (PLN) can include numerous resources that assist communication, resource
sharing and professional growth. One of the most challenging aspects of PLNs is organizing the content for
efficient access. As PLN resources are added or removed it becomes clear that arranging them is necessary to
enable efficient access. A single starting page, or PLN home page, is a solution that may provide effective access
to your PLN.
Social Media
• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
Visual Bookmarking
• Symbaloo
• Pinterest
• Flipboard
Online Communities
• Tutela
• Classroom 2.0
Curated Content
• Paper.li
• Diigo
• Scoopit
• Google Alerts
Do It Yourself
• LiveBinders
• Dreamweaver
• Weebly
Keeping your PLN fresh
• Visit regularly
• Modify PLN elements
 Add
 Remove
 Refine tags

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• Participate in your PLN
 Post
 Tweet
 Write
 Share
 Comment
 Curate
 Rate
• Review other PLNs when possible