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In my network confession . . .On being PLNtrenched
(With apologies to the Grass Roots.)
I want all my colleagues to have them. I speak about them with awe and admiration at conferences. And I probably browbeat those who are without them into being with them.
But lately, when I wake up in the middle of the night, I find that I am thinking about my PLN (that is, my professional–or personal–learning network).
I confess. I am hyperconnected. And being hyperconnected is both a blessing and a curse.
Though I have accounts EVERYWHERE, I spend most of my PLN time on Twitter, or scanning my blog aggregator, or checking a variety of Nings, or visiting the online meetings on EdTechTalk (Women of the Web, for instance) or popping in on any other amazing Elluminate session my PLN is currently talking about, or visiting links my Diigo groups suggest.
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What is it exactly that keeps me up?
Largely, what keeps me up is not keeping up.
My PLN is largely composed of people like me. Although I don’t like to admit it, I am kinda type-A.
Sometimes I feel like I am back in school and everyone in my class is working with the very same level of intensity and passion. They are all type-As. They are all achievers and I cannot keep up with the things they discover and create.
Because my class is global, my classmates raise their hands 24/7.
While most days I am PLNthused and often PLNraptured, I admit to a degree of PLNvy.
I am a little bit jealous of those who can accomplish more than I can, more creatively. I worry that I’ve missed the best conference–even that I’ve missed backchanneling a conference. (How is it that some of my buddies seem to be EVERYWHERE?)
Because of my position as a librarian, I worry that I need to introduce all the best new stuff and all the best new practices to the people in my neighborhood learning community–my school.
Because I am a librarian, I cannot choose a specialty. When an achieving math teacher on my PLN shares, I must learn about that strategy to share with our own math teachers. The same is true about English, and German, and Guidance, and Art, and, and PE, and US History, and the principal stuff. . . (You get the idea.) And then I must share the library stuff in my blog.
I feel guilty when I lurk. I feel an obligation to those who choose to follow me to be worthy of their votes of confidence.
I feel guilty about not migrating to the next greatest new tool as quickly as everyone else.
I feel guilty about not better managing and better growing the Nings and wikis I create.
I don’t keep a Delicious account because I choose to organize my life and links in wikis. Nevertheless, my network expects Delicious of me.
I live in fear that I will be embarrassed once again, sitting in a conference audience when a presenter buddy suggests, Let’s take a look at Joyce’s Delicious links.
Okay, I’ve confessed.
The pace of growth and change can be stimulating, and stunning, and staggering.
That doesn’t mean I don’t believe. That doesn’t mean I will change my approach to networking.
I cannot remember a two-year period of my professional life in which I have learned or shared more. Opting out of this chaos is not an option.
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About Joyce Valenza
Joyce is an Assistant Professor of Teaching at Rutgers University School of Information and Communication, a technology writer, speaker, blogger and learner. Follow her on Twitter: @joycevalenza
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