Tools for Personal Learning Network

Discuss about the Personal Development Plan for Technology in Supporting Learning.

Part 1

The tools that will be used for the personal learning network include Blog, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest.

Blog

The rationale for using a blog is to always ensure that fresh information is updated on a regular basis. A blog is useful in explaining a particular concept and also allows people to provide feedback based on the issue that is being discussed. Also, a blog can be used together with social media networks such as twitter and Facebook

Twitter

This is a social networking platform that can be used to create a personal learning network because it is structured to allow the user to follow people with same interest as well a being followed by people who are interested in the information that a particular account is publishing. Twitter enhances engagement where users can interact and get instant feedback from other users. For this reasons, it qualifies as one tool that will be used to create a personal learning network (Thompson, 2012).

Facebook

Facebook is one of the most used social media network site with over 1 billion users in a single day. Therefore, it qualifies as one of the tools because that can build a strong network of people with same interest to learn and share information on the internet. Facebook is easy to setup and it works in the same concept as twitter where people with same interest follow each other for the purpose of sharing knowledge (Grantham, 2012).

YouTube

YouTube is a platform that allows users to publish content in video format which can be very important in setting up a personal learning network that will provide visual information to enhance understanding of a particular topic.

Profile information

Welcome to Blog Forum – This is a community of passionate content marketers who are living an internet lifestyle or in the process of making their online dreams a reality.

Here is what you will find on Blog Forum:

• Proven methods to grow a blog and make a living out of the blog.
• Tips on how to become a successful social entrepreneur
• Other bloggers who share information on their growth
• Ultimate guide on how to build a successful blog
• Free e-books and video tutorial to help you get started.

Groups/people to be added

• Darren Rowse

Darren Rowse is a well-known blogger, speaker, author and founder of several online based companies. He is very influential in matters related to blogging and can assist Blog Forum community. The process of adding Darren Rowse to blog Forum is through their twitter feed

• com

WordPress is a platform that offers free and paid platforms for people to start their own PLN. The process of adding them into my own PLN is through their social media channels.

• Neil Patel

Part 1

He is a well-known social entrepreneur, investor, and influencer he is highly sought for his extensive knowledge and the process of adding him to the PLN is through his social networks.

• The Entrepreneur

This is a blog with informative content on entrepreneurship. The process of adding them to PLN is through browsing the internet twitter feed.

• Harsh Agrawal

He is a prolific blogger who publishes information on blogging and the process of adding them into the PLN is through their social network feeds.

Part 2

My personal assessment on Driver 1 indicates that I like appreciating healthy competition, getting people excited about projects, accepting and exploiting conflicts and inspiring people’s imagination the score for this Driver is 86.

Driver 2

Driver to indicate that I like to set up clear objectives am selective in choosing my options, able to concentrate on what makes a difference, mobilizing people around a specific task, investing time in meaningful actions, separating critical from trivial issues and making critical choices. The score for driver 2 is 140.

Driver 3

Driver 3 assessments indicate that I prefer to avoid procrastination, I adapt to evolving situations, quick to respond to opportunities and looking for quick wins. The score for this driver is 40.

Driver 4

Driver 4 describes me as being able to disagree with others openly and when needed and forcefully, it also suggests that I like to look for new ways to get things done, bored with repetitive actions, I like to criticize traditional ways of performing and I resent any form of conditioning. The score for this driver is 152.

The entire drivers shows the areas that am good at and driver 4 being the highest followed by 2, 1 and lastly weak in driver 3.

The self-assessment is significant in bringing up the personality of a person through identifying areas of weakness and strength. In order to improve my leadership competencies, I need to work with people who are good at those specific areas to improve my ability to relate to people in the workplace.

Part 3

My goals are categorized into two parts, the first part involves combining high productivity with an environment that is conducive to grow and the second part of my goals involves addressing the strengths and weaknesses through interacting with data in an effort to ensure that assisting each other helps everyone to accomplish their goals and achievement. High expectation from personal learning network is crucial in developing effective and productive individuals with skills to advance in various fields (Blanchard, 2014).

Part 2

Therefore, my goal is to create a personal learning network that will improve my areas of weakness as well as supporting others with my strengths for the purpose of creating a conducive learning system that anyone can access at any time. We live in the information age where information can easily be accessed by anyone. My inspiration towards accomplishing my goals is motivated by the fact that becoming successful highly depends on the set of skills and ability one has to offer. Therefore, intend to use the learning network to expand my knowledge and most of all inspire many users worldwide to publish, learn and share knowledge.

If everyone in the world was connected there would be substantial amounts of information that can be useful in empowering each and every one to advance in every way possible. It is my personal value to share information and hold various arguments for the purpose of sharing and learning and that is why I want to achieve my goals.

 To achieve my goals, am going to need to implement my plan for personal learning network by opening a blog and add social media networks the blog. I will also need to do research so as to come up with fresh content always or hire a professional to manage the social networks. I would then work closely with influential personalities in the same target market as my personal learning network. I would then start building a strong traffic that will enhance interactivity on the site. But before every step to be accomplished I am going to need about 3,000 dollars up front and an extra 2,000 dollars for marketing and miscellaneous costs.

The advanced technology has brought the age of social media networks. Today, a larger percentage of the world’s population uses social media network to interact, share and learn many aspects of life in diverse culture. Therefore, social media platforms are going to play a major role in bringing people with the same interests to come together and share information from across the world. This information can then be used as an inspiration as well as a symbol of togetherness for the sake of empowering each one of use to become better people and build a better world that is sustainable for future of the generation of mankind. Social media will help me accomplish my goals (Kraiger, 2014).

Implementing every step towards achieving my goals will require me to use personal strengths to improve my abilities through sharing and helping others to access information. In my areas of weaknesses, i will improve through interacting with users of a personal learning network. Therefore, my strength and weaknesses play a significant role in accomplishing my goals. I will depend on the information that I know and also the one that I do not know for me to accomplish my goals. My personal assessment assisted me in identifying my areas of weakness, my strengths, opportunities, and threats. With careful consideration on each drive, am able to establish a plan that I will use to improve my weaknesses (Casse, 2014).

I will set up a timeline for completion of my goals in order of priority from beginning phase, to the growth phase. In the first month, i will set up a personal learning network. The beginning of the second month I will start publishing content regularly, hire a professional to manage my social media sites and search engine optimization, in the fourth month I being adding important personalities and marketing the blog to reach a wider audience. Within a period of ten months when all processes will be running concurrently, I will begin to evaluate the performance by measuring the return on investment through the amount of traffic the site will have to make important decision on how to enhance growth so that in a period of one and a half years the goal will be accomplished.

References

Riel, M., &Fulton, K. (2001). The role of technology in supporting learning communities. Phi Delta Kappan, 82(7), 518-523. Note Retrieved from Walden Library databases.

Bager-Charleson, S. (2012). Personal development in counselling and psychotherapy. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage.

Blanchard, K. (2014). The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do. Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Kraiger, K. (2014). The Wiley Blackwell handbook of the psychology of training, development, and performance improvement. Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Grantham, N (2012, January 24). 5 education Twitter profiles you really can learn from [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.fractuslearning.com/2012/01/24/education-twitter-profiles/

Grantham, N (2012, April 17) 5 tips to building a healthy PLN with Twitter [Blog post] Retrieved from https://www.fractuslearning.com/2012/04/17/pln-twitter/

Thompson, S. (2012, May 20). Personal Learning Network (PLN) 101: Twitter [Blog post] Retrieved from https://technologyembedded.wordpress.com/2012/05/20/twitter-101/

Casse, P. (2014, February) The new drivers of leadership, Training Journal, 27-30 Note. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.