My Professional Learning Network and how it hurts me

For those of you who aren't familiar, a Professional Learning Network (PLN) is designed to give you an immediate source of knowledge and information that can be rooted in just about any area of life. For me, I used Twitter to get started - I revamped my already-existing account and jumped right in. Unfortunately, I didn't come back up for air soon enough. Here's why:

1.  The community is huge! I decided to focus on Education, but Education is far too vast to focus on. There are so many professionals who like to talk about Education that as soon as I find one person who has good info, I find three more who have even better info. Which leads me to my next complaint.

2.  There is too much information! Much like year-old Apple products, technology is constantly making itself obsolete. By being available to more people and finding ways to do cooler things than ever before, technology is continually becoming better and more accessible. Because of this, someone like me is bound to get lost in the virtual convention center floor of kiosks and booths that are made to get your attention, give you information, and then make it impossible for your to find the exit door.

3.  There's no cure for the addiction of knowledge. Some people don't have this problem. They are dumb, they don't mind being dumb, and so that's how they will always be. Me on the otherhand - because I'm certainly NOT dumb - I get my jollies reading up on cool ways to trick my students into listening to me, finding ridiculously cool apps that I will probably never use with my K-6 music classes, and how learning NPR has better news than just about any other news outlet.

4.  I haven't mastered my need to prioritize my Grad work, with my PLN, with my personal time, with my family, with my job, with my other interests, with anything. That's the real problem, because 1-3 on the list above are actually good things. Actually, they're great things that technology has enabled everyday people to do, everyday.

Never before has technology allowed so much dialogue and collaboration - God-willing, that phrase will always be true. But regardless of the amount of information at our fingertips, we have to know what to do with it. Whether it's turn off the push notifications until you finish your project, or turn off the device while your family is home, some plans need to be made.

Without technology, you will live; but with it, you might drown.


-Jon