In 21st-century learning, one cannot escape mention of computer and mobile apps, social networking, or web 2.0. The challenge for the TESOL professional is how to manage, learn, and best use technology for language learning and how to gain access to the available tools. One proposed mechanism for organizing digital information for instruction as well as tools and materials for sharing with EAP students is through building a personal learning network or environment (PLN/PLE). Creating a PLN/PLE and then curating digital content is something that every ESL educator can benefit from for professional development and in turn for classroom instruction. In this article, the notion of a PLN/PLE is discussed and tools for creating a digital curation site to share what is learned through the PLN/PLE are described.

WHAT IS A PLN/PLE?

As is often the case in emerging technologies, PLN/PLE does not have one definitive meaning; rather, it is a description of how an individual goes about searching, organizing, storing, and sharing information about a particular topic in an online, often collaborative environment. Steve Wheeler has developed an infographic (Figure 1) that helps to explain how the PLN/PLE is related to the individual and the resources available.

Figure 1. Personal Learning Network/Personal Learning Environment

The PLE is the broader conception of organizing digital materials, be they professional development webinars, links to grammar practice activities, videos on particular topics, or strands of interest on blogs. The PLN is usually the set of connections an individual establishes by following others on the Internet. In many cases PLNs/PLEs are used interchangeably in the vernacular.

THE BASICS OF BUILDING A PLN/PLE

One needs to choose a platform from which to begin to build a PLN/PLE. For many, a Facebook account could be the beginning of a PLN/PLE by liking appropriate organizations such as TESOL, language-learning organizations, or educational groups that have an online social media presence. This will provide status updates from the various organizations that may lead to professional development opportunities or other relevant professional information. Many individuals who have started a PLN/PLE have done so by setting up a Twitter account and, through a few basic principles of searching for relevant topics using a hashtag prior to a keyword have developed a regular flow of information on topics of personal interest for professional reasons (i.e., #tesl, #ELT). Once several relevant individual tweeters or organizations have been located, a Twitter user can “follow” an individual tweeter and receive all tweets from that person or organization automatically. While the novice PLN/PLE user may not access these networks regularly at first, with time and dedication, the user will find that many tools, teaching resources, and materials and much content are a click away if checked on a somewhat regular basis.

After having one or both of these two social tools in their repertoire, users may wish to use a social bookmarking site such as Diigo or Delicious that allow them to bookmark a Web site, a video, a newspaper article, or other online material in the cloud (i.e., on a server rather than the user’s own computer). What makes these services different from Web 1.0 bookmarking is that the bookmark is saved in an account a user can access from any Internet-connected device, whether it is a computer in a classroom, a tablet, or a phone. Using a social bookmarking site thus provides maximum flexibility. Moreover, many social networking sites now have web bookmarking widgets or bookmarklets available that allow an individual quickly and easily to organize web material for one’s own use or to share simply by dragging the widget to the web browser and clicking it when content is to be bookmarked. The educator can access all of these bookmarks by going to the Web site or mobile application of the social bookmarking service (e.g., www.diigo.com or www.delicious.com). TESOL educators may in turn use these bookmarking activities with students, helping them to develop their own PLN/PLE or use theirs as a research tool in the classroom.

USING THE PLN/PLE TO SHARE WHAT IS LEARNED

As the PLN/PLE user develops links to Web sites, blogs, Twitter feeds, Facebook connections, and the like, many find that sharing what they are learning is equally important as is capturing and storing information from the tools they choose to use. There are many resources to help an educator develop a digital curation tool for sharing, further expanding the PLN/PLE to reach others who may be searching for relevant web material themselves. Digital bookmarking sites easily allow users to share links with specific individuals or with subscribed groups. Several digital curation services such as Scoop.it, Pearltrees, and LiveBinders offer different means of aggregating and sharing information gleaned from the Internet.

Scoopit.com allows a digital curator to bookmark information found online, as well as to “rescoop” information found from following another’s Scoop.it topic, to share with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and two blog sites, WordPress and Tumblr. It presents the link saved by using the Scoop.it bookmarklet in the web browser in a visually appealing, engaging manner and allows the topic owner to make comments. This digital curation tool has the look and feel of a personalized digital newspaper. Figure 2 represents the masthead of a Scoop.it topic.

Figure 2. Scoop.it PLN/PLE Digital Curation Site

Pearltrees (Figure 3) is a highly visual semantic map of information shared by a member similar to the Scoop.it digital curation tool. It allows for connections to be visually made on a virtual poster board. An instructor may find it to be a useful tool for working with EAP students learning to conduct research.

Figure 3. Pearltrees Digital Curation Tool

LiveBinders (Figure 4) is a digital curation tool to help an individual organize Web sites around a theme, looking much like a three-ring binder used in classrooms. The LiveBinder can be a collection of Web site tabs around a central theme and can be shared with others easily through Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, or Plurk. Again, though these PLN/PLE digital curation tools can be used for an educator’s own purposes to learn about what is new in ESL or technology, ESL students can learn and benefit from this 21st-century skill by creating their own PLN/PLE.

Figure 4. LiveBinders Digital Curation Tool

WHY HAVE ONE?

There are two major reasons for a TESOL professional to maintain a PLN/PLE. First, keeping current on professional development tools and opportunities is a difficult task. Often the costs of attending conferences or workshops can be prohibitive, so designing a thoughtful PLN/PLE can provide for more immediate and cost-effective access to new trends in the field. The careful following, liking, or bookmarking of material can provide the educator with access to not only professional development materials but also to support and materials for classroom instruction. Second, modeling the creation of an organized, thoughtful PLN/PLE for oneself can be used as a powerful learning tool for students to create their own, based on their own learning needs. If one subscribes to the notion that language learning is indeed an act of social constructivism, participating in a PLN/PLE may aid the language learner as some of the collaborative tools available will provide an audience, be it a reader or an interlocutor. One of the major reasons to help both educators and students create and maintain a PLN/PLE is that due to the overwhelming nature of available Web sites, tools, and other resources, the PLN/PLE helps a learner tailor his or her needs, interests, weaknesses and strengths to be a better teacher or a better learner. Centralizing material in one or two aggregate cloud sites can help the individual come back to something when necessary without the frustrating experience of trying to search to retrieve something online and being unable to recover the site. Though here the focus has been on the use of the PLN/PLE to uncover tools to aid in language learning, any topic of professional or personal interest can become the focus of a PLN/PLE.

HOW MUCH TIME TO INVEST?

Curating content in a PLN/PLE can take time. At first, curating or storing information can seem to be a very time-consuming task, but as the individual becomes accustomed to the PLN/PLE forma and with the aid of many widgets that allow for one-touch saving of information, the user may need only a few minutes a day to scan Twitter feeds, social bookmarking updates, and the like to determine if new information should be added to the network. If an individual creating a network s/he is interested in, s/he is more likely to go there on a regular basis. For example, if the user is incorporating Twitter into a PLN/PLE, the user will find that the 140-character limit in an individual tweet does help to quickly identify if a link provided is worth viewing or not;efficiency is key when creating a PLN/PLE.

WHAT BENEFITS CAN BE DERIVED?

A PLN/PLE can be a more targeted means of professional development and learning. Mining the Internet for information, applications, news stories, and authentic materials to meet specific purposes is capturing the power of information. There are no excuses for not being able to provide authentic listening, speaking, reading, and writing opportunities for learners and for providing creative tools for language and content learning. Moreover, by encouraging IEP students to build their own PLN/PLEs, we are preparing them for an increasingly more technology-based undergraduate and graduate course of study that many of them may pursue after their time in an English program.

SOME RESOURCES TO GET STARTED
The Educator’s PLN: http://edupln.ning.com/
Blueprint for PLN: http://sites.google.com/site/edtechpln/
Classroom 2.0: www.classroom20.com/
EFL Classroom 2.0: http://community.eflclassroom.com/
Teaching English: www.facebook.com/TeachingEnglish.BritishCouncil?sk=wall
TEFL World Wiki: http://teflworldwiki.com/index.php/Main_Page

SUGGESTED PLE/PLN WEB 2.0 TOOLS
diigo.com
delicious.com
livebinders.com
scoopit.com
pearltrees.com
tumblr.com
twitter.com
facebook.com

Stephanie A. Dhonau is an assistant professor of second languages at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where she teaches ESL teacher preparation courses and is a faculty member in the Master of Arts in Second Languages program. She is transitioning from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0.