Teachers' PLNs

Welcome . The purpose of this site is to support pre-service teachers' (PSTs') development of their professional learning networks (PLNs). The site is informed by research projects led by Prof Matthew Kearney from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia. See References below. There are 4 sections:

What networks matter? This section uses an interactive diagram of teachers' PLNs from Kearney, Pressick-Kilborn & Hunter (2016). There are 4 interactive buttons embedded in the picture, leading to separate collaborative documents designed to crowd-source contemporary ideas for PSTs wanting to start a PLN. Please feel free to add your own links into the relevant sections of these 4 editable documents.
What approaches matter? This section presents a wider perspective of PSTs' professional learning networks, presenting a taxonomy of face-to-face and technology-mediated approaches to networking. It also presents a video-case featuring UTS pre-service teachers discussing their use of online PLNs. Their activities are examined through the lens of the iPAC Framework, the focus of our more recent projects (e.g. Kearney, Maher , Pham & Kuang, 2020).
References
Researchers' contact details

1. What networks matter?

The interactive diagram below represents the range of possible local and global interactions available to teachers through their PLNs (Kearney et al., 2016). These interactions may be with individuals or organisations from within or beyond school education.

There are 4 interactive buttons embedded in the picture below. These buttons lead users to separate collaborative documents designed to crowd-source contemporary ideas for linking to key teachers and other experts, as well as ideas for linking to key teacher professional organisations and other organisations.

Please feel free to click on one of the 4 buttons in the picture below to access an editable document. Then please share and add your own links into the relevant section of your chosen document. [Source of image: Kearney, Pressick-Kilborn & Hunter (2016). p31]

Update. Since our original 2016 paper, we have further investigated pre-service teachers' self-initiated online PLNs (Kearney et al., 2019). Informed by this research, we have developed a model of pre-service teachers' informally developed, self-initiated online PLNs, as shown below. The diagram is adapted from the 2016 model. NB. unlike the diagram above, this one below is not interactive. [Source of image: Kearney, Maher & Pham, 2019, p32]

2. What approaches matter?

Our research has mainly focused on self-initiated, technology-supported PLNs ie. the top RHS of the table below. However, we encourage a holistic approach to pre-service teachers' PLN development, including face-to-face approaches (see LHS of Table below), as discussed in our 2016 paper.

In the video-case below, UTS pre-service teachers discuss their use of self-initiated online PLNs (top RHS of Table above) to support their development as teachers. Given these activities are mostly mediated by use of their mobile devices, the activities are then examined through the lens of the iPAC Framework.

3. References

Kearney, M., Maher, D., & Pham, L. (2019). Investigating pre-service teachers’ informally-developed online professional learning networks. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 36(1), 21-35. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.4766

Kearney, M. & Maher, D. (2019). Mobile learning in pre-service teacher education: Examining the use of professional learning networks. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 35(1), 135-148. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.4073

Kearney, M., Maher, D., Pham, L. & Kuang, S. (2020). Pre-service teachers’ self-initiated use of mobile devices to support their online professional learning networking. In K. Burden & A. Naylor (eds.). Transforming Teacher Education with Mobile Technologies (pp. 51-72). London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Kearney, M., Pressick-Kilborn, K., & Hunter, J. (2016). What's in a PLN? Making it count for pre-service and early career teachers. Education Review, 5, 30-31. View paper.

4. Researcher contacts

Prof Matthew Kearney. em: matthew.kearney@uts.edu.au Twitter: https://twitter.com/mkearneypost

Dr Kimberley Pressick-Kilborn. https://twitter.com/PressickK

A/Prof Jane Hunter. https://twitter.com/janehunter01

Dr Damian Maher. https://twitter.com/damian_j_maher

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