Based on Utecht’s 5 stages of PLN adoption, identify which stage you currently see yourself experiencing and how this impacts on your personal and working lives. Also identify any ‘gaps’ in your existing PLN (ie. Areas which you feel you would like to develop further/in the future). Write around 400 words.

Is it a matter of too many pies or not the right ingredients?

_{(Bucknall, 2020)}

Like any professional, the renewal, continued learning and development of skills, knowledge, understanding and attitudes are necessary in order to remain relevant, fresh and successful within one’s field. Professional learning and engagement are ways that information specialists seek to maintain this. Restrictions such as costs, lack of support and often being lone practitioners within a setting, have led many information professionals to utilise the Web 2.0 world, in particular social media, to communicate, collaborate and network with others professionally (Luo & Hostetler, 2020). Not only does this platform provide knowledge and tools but it also builds a sense of community (Sturm & Quaynor, 2020).

Through engaging in this course and with every subject I undertake, I have been exposed to many new avenues and sectors within the Web 2.0 world and find myself developing personal learning networks (PLNs), to the point where at times, I feel both overwhelmed and excited by the enormity as well as the possibilities There is a lot to know and to learn. Reflecting on Utecht’s 5 stages of PLN adoption I would say that I am currently somewhere between Stage 3 and 4. I am like a sponge trying to soak up everything, however, information overload hits and I step into stage 4. If I am being completely honest, I feel I am not very productive at all and now ponder have I missed a stage; stage 2 Evaluation of networks. It is a bit like the old saying of ‘one having a finger in too many pies’ and not really benefitting from it or developing understanding of topics. I also question have I even mastered Stage 1 of Immersion. Active involvement and collaboration look very different to a bystander reading and observing.

There are endless numbers of networks online that all seem valuable. I follow a variety of Facebook pages. I am a member of teacher librarian groups, both locally and nationally, and I rely on Yammer at a system level to upskill myself and further my knowledge. I would like to explore blogs and Twitter more in the future. What I have now come to realise is that rather than wanting to know it all and have all the pies, I need to ensure I actively engage with less content, the right ingredients, for the specific need and or circumstance required. PLNs are powerful tools but to be effective I need to go back and evaluate, refine and actively immerse myself into my PLNs in order to be able to hit Stage 5 and find that balance. This way I will be creating and developing many and varied pies of my own in no time at all.  

References

Bucknall, M. (2020). [Pies]. Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/m3yFLj5Jr6M

Luo, T., & Hostetler, K. (2020). Making professional development more social: A systematic review of librarians’ professional development through social media. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 46(5), 102193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2020.102193

Sturm, E., & Quaynor, L. (2020). A window, mirror, and wall: How educators use Twitter for professional learning. Research in Social Sciences and Technology, 5(1), 22-44.

Utecht, J. (2008, April 3). Stages of PLN adoption. The Thinking Stick. https://www.thethinkingstick.com/stages-of-pln-adoption/