Setting up your PLN

[Vicki Davis]

Today my students are setting up their PLN (personal learning network) in Netvibes. The advantage of doing this is that you have ONE page to start with that includes EVERYTHING you need to stay on top of the activities in Horizon.

Setting up your Netvibes

• Include the RSS feed for your main page's wiki edits --
  You can find the location of the RSS button, by going to the Teams page and clicking on your main wiki and then clicking the Notify page. Just right click on the Edits button and click "Copy Link Location" (in Firefox). Then, go into netvibes and click "Add Feed" - paste the link in there. Remember to edit the names of each feed so you have a discernible title.
• Include the RSS feed for your main page's wiki discussions
• Include the RSS feed for your subgroup's wiki edits (if you're PM or Asst PM, you should sub to every subgroup page to stay abreast of activity.)
• Include the RSS feed for your subgroup's wiki discussions.
• RSS the discussion for your ning group's discussion.
  Note: If you have no discussions, you will have NO RSS feed
• RSS your delicious feed - You can find this by clicking on your group in the Tagging Standards page and look for the RSS Button at the bottom of the delicious page.
• Use Google News search to subscribe to some keyword searches for your topic. (RSS is on the left.)
• The Class Announcements Edits on the Horizon Wiki. (So you can see the current news on the wiki.)
• Anything else you see fit. (For example, my students following ARts and Entertainment trends are subscribing to New York Times arts and Entertainment, Science & Health are following the Science and Health column in the Wall Street Journal.

Your Daily Activities

1. Read - Go into your netvibes page -- see what is new.
2. Write - Reading is not enough -- this project requires your ACTIVE participation. If you do not comment on the blogs of your partners -- if you do not edit the wiki. If you do not discuss things that are happening on the wiki discussion tabs -- YOU DON"T EXIST! Your partners don't know that you're there. Every day, you should communicate with your partners what you're doing, your questions and what you think needs to happen next!

Remember that you should be researching and bookmarking items, discussing these with your group on the Ning, and you may begin preliminary editing of the template -- just keep the instructions for now... some of the students are on spring break.