Project #2 - Progress report #1

          I am really starting to like this whole PLN thing. What is a PLN you ask? A PLN is a personalized learning network. Basically a network with endless possibilities and connections to any information and any person around the globe! We will start by breaking it down. Personal, the first word in this acronym. Personal means anything that belongs to you, or something relating to yourself; another word of personal is yours. The "Personal" part of the PLN is how you decide customize it. The fact that it is personal means you are the rule maker. You decide where items are placed, which items are displayed, what your favorite site will be...it all depends on YOU.

          The L obviously stands for learning. The internet is home to millions of sites that can be found at a click of a button, not to mention how much information is contained in those sites. The possibilities are literally endless. If you searched the anatomy of a frog in Google, thousands of diverse web pages would pop up. Within these web searches you can find videos, activities, information, research, and informed opinions; anything you are searching for can be found painlessly right at your fingertips.

          And now, last but not least, the N. The N stands for Network. A network can be describes as a group or system of interconnected people or things. So in this case, the network mean anyone that you can obtain or share information to anyone you decide is part of your learning network. Exchange information with an Educator half way around the world. Or connect with your classmates just a few blocks down the road. If you find something interesting that you would like to share, can be easily viewed through blogs or other sites developed for the sharing of ideas.

          8/27/2013: Because I am a new blogger, just recently I was introduced to a new website called Symbaloo. Symbaloo is a website that organizes all your favorite websites and displays them all on the home screen so that each tile/website can be opened with a simple click. Symbaloo lets you organize and customize your tiles heading, picture, and color. Basically any site you desire can be put onto your Symbaloo home screen. Here's a screen shot of my own Symbaloo (be minded that I just started my Symbaloo, so it isn't very lively yet...it's just a little bare).

            Along the top row I have all my necessities from my EDM 310 class including my blog, EDM 310 class blog, YouTube, Twitter, Google Drive, and the instruction manual to EDM 310. I haven't added all of them just yet. Once I grow and discover more materials to share with others is when my other tiles will begin to fill up; but I have decided that around the edges I am just going to put all the educational stuff, and all the non-educational and miscellaneous tiles go around the center.

           Feel like changing the arrangement? No problem, the tiles can easily be dragged from one place to another for quick and easy navigation. Also the sites comes with tiles after you sign up free of charge! Oh and not to mention the whole thing is free! So next time you get flustered with opening a home page then typing in the address...and then find what your looking for, consider Symbaloo and organize all your favorite sites and have them just a click away.

          9/30/2013: 

          As you can see from this picture, I have done some house cleaning and added some new tiles onto my Symbaloo. Notice I still only use the top rows but this time I added a second row that also had to do with lessons and blog assignments from my EDM 310 class. I have added the checklist for my EDM class, Sakai, iCurio, ALEX, "Learn that Book", and some other tiles that I click on from a day to day basis and need a quick and easy reference to while I am working. 

          I have gone from using Sybmaloo to once or twice a day to it becoming my homepage as I open Google Chrome. I am so glad I have made the switch to use Symbaloo; it has all your important tabs right there and there's no way I'm going back to the way I used to do things! As time goes on in EDM 310 I am sure that my PLN will grow even more.