Blog Post #6

From what I understand, a Personal Learning Network (PLN) is meant to be a think tank for what you are interested in. You gather people, websites, articles and groups together so when you need a question answered or help finding something you can easily get access to it. According to Building Your PLN-A Primer For Anyone, it is simply just getting connections around the world with people so you can ask them questions. I completely agree with the idea of having a network of people to communicate ideas to and get feed back, and I am excited to know that there are ways to manage and organize them.

It was originally recommended for me to use iGoogle, but apparently it has since been shut down. Instead, we have been told to either use Symbaloo or Netvibes to help set up our PLN. I have not taken a full look at these two websites yet, so I have not decided on what I want to use.

I have chosen the interest and topic I want to concentrate on. Gamification is taking game mechanics and applying it to a non-game environment. What does this mean? Well, to be honest we are not so sure at the moment. Most people call it instant gratification, adding badges and prizes to even the smallest step, but adding the competition of gaming to everyday life to get people motivated. It is a relatively new concept, and one that seems to have more success out side of school then in school. I, however, have a feeling that it could be used along side project based learning to help engage the classroom more.