Why Networked? The Professional Networked Learning Collaborative

When I explain the concept behind the Professional Networked Learning Collaborative one of the biggest misconceptions I have to overcome is educators’ understanding of how a network is different than just searching the Internet. Some educators ask, “Isn’t this just a PLC using a search engine?” Or, “You mean using the Internet during a PLC meeting.”

So I thought I would try to explain why the Network is different than just using a search engine, and why, for those of us working in Professional Learning Communities, the network is so powerful.

Search Engine	The Network
The Lesson Plan	The Lesson Designer
Book	Author
Photo	Photographer
Data	Researcher
Idea	Innovator
Music	Musician
Invention	Inventor
Program	Programmer
Historical Event	Participant who experienced it
What to do	Voice of experience that tells you how to do it and why
Public information	Behind the scenes
We have to know what we are looking for	Anticipates what we need and directs or provides it for us
Created	Co-create new knowledge
Find it	Attract it
Algorithm	Thinking
Static information that is locked on-line	Dynamic knowledge that can cross over into touch space (face-to-face)
Explicit Knowledge and Information	Tacit Knowledge and Know-how

It is the Network and the power of learning, sharing tacit knowledge, and co-creating new knowledge, the “network effect”, that makes a difference for the educators and the students they serve. It is the network that transforms a PLC into a PNLC.