People and Colleagues

 

One of the elements in your Personal Learning Space (PLS) can (and should) be people in your work environment who can assist you. You can ask for immediate assistance from these people and they would mostly be face-to-face or sometimes even online in real-time. These people may be your knowledgeable colleague, the librarian, instructional designer and the technology support people from your school or university.

 

Colleague

More often than not the teachers you talk to or sometimes collaborate with might have knowledge and experience in using and implementing various technologies and technology tools. As you saw in some of the scenarios in the first three weeks, a fellow teacher might have had similar issues or might have used the technology tool that you are interested in.

 

Librarian

You may be surprised how popular librarians are when it comes to asking for recommendations about resources and other support. As an asset to an educational system, librarians can help to find resources and tutorials for learning and using a technology and also technology tools.

 

Instructional Designer

Instructional designers are always a great support for teachers. They can help you with finding technology tools and also provide ideas if the a chosen technology tool would be appropriate for an instructional issue you are having. Their expertise in both theoretical research and practical implementation of technology in instruction can be invaluable. It’s good to know if an instructional designer is part of your school and to keep in contact with this person.

 

Personal Circle and Community

These people maybe your friends, people you know in your religious community, or people from your neighborhood who might have knowledge about online technologies and technology tools. A networked teacher tries to create a plan where she can look for people who can give ideas and support.