PLN Challenge #2 - How a PLN Works

Image on Flickr by Jef Safi

In the PLN Challenge #2 we were asked two questions:

1. What do you hope to learn more about with respect to your PLN in the coming weeks?

I have to be honest with you. I have joined the challenge because I want to meet new people and add them to my PLN. I am looking forward to new projects, new ways to collaborate. And I am hoping to join a couple of new online spaces.

As for my existing PLN, I would like to learn how to communicate more effectively within the time I am already spending online, since I know it is unrealistic for me to plan on spending more time online than I already do. I have great people in my PLN and they are very supportive, but sometimes I am not there when I should be. Or at least I feel so. The internet is a messy thing and, no matter how much you spend online reading what other people have posted, you will still miss a lot. Right now I am missing a bunch of great posts and tweets posted by members of my PLN. I suppose that can't be helped. Still, it is a pity.

Photo on Flickr by Samyra Serin

2. What have you learned with creating your PLN that you wish that someone had told you before and what tips do you have to share?

I know this is going to sound contradictory to what I have just said, but I wish someone had told me to relax and take it easy, to do only as much as I can. As I have said, the internet is messy, the information overload threatens to crush you and the key is not to do more, but to focus and prioritize. I wish someone had told me to choose my battles carefully and not to click the"join" button every time I see it. It is very important to treat online learning as a hobby (which it is) and never to treat it as an obligation. Not only will it kill the fun, but you are in danger of burning out and that might put you off online learning for a long time.

Technorati Tags: #ebshare,