Professional Learning
Networks
When
asked what I think a Professional Learning Network means to me. The first thing
that comes to mind is something that resembles the website LinkedIn. However, I do realize that a Professional
Learning Network is more than just networking.
Learning also has to be a part of the network. Websites like Facebook and Blackboard are
more close to the definition of a Professional Learning Network. The reason is that these websites offer the
users lots of information and at the same time network each other together with
friends list and messaging. Most people can
find organizations that they can connect with and share ideas with on these
types of websites.
One
professional organization that I like and find the most helpful for my career
goals is http://www.healthpronet.org/
this website allows Healthcare professionals to connect including
students. The website informs like-minded
people about meetings and events as well as advocacy-legislation. The website is a nationwide collaborative
group of organizations that represents leading health professions associations
as well as accrediting agencies, and educational institutions. Some of the main
benefits in participating with this organization is that like-minded professional
can share information of about different things going on the in healthcare profession. This is important because the healthcare
profession is one on the most rapidly changing professions in the world.
In the end as Professional Learning Networks begin to grow, more and more websites will be available for like mined professionals to share ideas and technologies with each other. I hope that in the future that after starting this blog that I will have more opportunities to connect with people in my profession so that I can share what I have learned in the industry.
Have you considered finding other websites because this website looks like it's covering all areas in health care. It would be much better - I think - if you could find a website that only interest in people that have the same degree or the same specialty. But since you said that this website is nationwide, so I believe that it's organized so that people would find each other based on interests or position. I do believe that getting knowledge from someone has has a long experience in his field is better - sometimes - than learning from books. Moreover, the easiest way to meat and learn from that someone is by using technology.
ReplyDeleteHello khalid,
ReplyDeleteHave you considered Twitter? Because even though it is not designed for professional networks, but I am sure it is a great way to find other people with the same interests as you. Using the hashtag tool in twitter is very helpful since you can put some key words you are interested in and follow the people you consider interesting relating to your interests like healthcare.
http://www.healthpronet.org seems like a great network for health related communications, however, you can build your PLN using this website and other websites such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. People from these websites will usually have other accounts in other websites, this will be helpful since they can also connect you with others that may be helpful.