Before this course, I felt I really didn't have much time for social networking. It would be nice, but too easy for me to immerse myself in it and neglect other things! It's kind of a joke in the family (and among our friends, now) that my parents are on facebook and I'm not. Of course, my brother made their pages, and I don't even know if they get on, but, they're there. I hadn't considered social networking in a professional light, but it certainly is intriguing.
As for PLNs, like most other things the course has introduced, they would certainly have value. I don't know that I would have the patience or personal security to build my own, though. I'm an introvert, and I found, while taking online classes with required participation in the class threads, it was as difficult for me to "voice" my opinions as it would be in a face to face class. Since participation is so important in building a network, I think it would be difficult for me to see this project through. If I could start with some people I already knew in real life, it might give me a boost. (And yes, I met my husband online. Go figure.)
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"Since participation is so important in building a network, I think it would be difficult for me to see this project through. If I could start with some people I already knew in real life, it might give me a boost. (And yes, I met my husband online. Go figure.)"
ReplyDeleteNow that is something I find intriguing! You met your husband online, but you feel it would be difficult to build a PLN online. I had to smile when I read that. Honestly, I felt much the same way about "speaking" to people I didn't even know online, but after a while I shed that inhibition. Particularly on Plurk or on a Ning, I'll jump right into conversations. Twitter I still don't feel comfortable jumping in over there if I see the @ symbol - which means they're speaking "to" a person directly. I guess that's why I love Plurk so much. Granted there is a lot of non-education related chat because the platform naturally encourages it, but it's so much easier to develop those online relationships there. I've met some great people online who I hope to one day meet in person at a state or national conference. I've already met 3 of them face to face and believe me it's odd to stick out your hand to introduce yourself and tell them, "Hi, my name is cobannon from Plurk." Never thought I'd introduce myself like that :)