Building a Professional Learning Network (PLN) on Social Media:
What Worked for Me!

By Cecilia Vila Chave
NJTESOL/NJBE Vice President
NJ Supervisor of ESL Programs

Every day, I open my personal Instagram account first thing in the morning and browse through my “for you page”. That means, I interact with the app at least 365 times per year. An app that is designed to generate content tailored to the accounts and posts I click on the most (“the algorithm”). Many of these posts lead me to shop and follow accounts that are aligned with my personal interests with such efficiency that my account runs itself. I no longer need to search content, it is being generated for me. So I asked myself, How can I make the algorithm work for me to build a professional learning network that is free and easy to maintain?

⏰Timing – What time of the day am I most active on Social Media? Generally, it is when I first wake up and drink my coffee. Therefore, that is the time I set aside to grow my PLN each day (10 mins).
👥 Accounts to Follow – What are reliable sources of information that I can trust to re-share and re-post? I curate a list of IG handles by selecting verified accounts (such as @Edutopia) and browsing through the accounts they follow (let them do the work for you!). I narrow it down to accounts that fall under my priority topics: ML Education, Social Justice, Literacy Development and Ed. Tech. Once I had a few, Instagram started suggesting other accounts to follow that fell under those topics.
📚 Managing & Organizing Content – Once my blueprint for my PLN was set up, I implemented an organizational system as to not become overwhelmed by the amount of content that I have access to. ( Below is a sample of my Instagram Collections page)

• 

  Instagram collections page

  I realized that sharing content via my IG Story vs. Post was quicker and my followers were engaging with that feature more, so I mostly share via Story now.

• I prioritize re-posting/re-sharing but use the Collections feature on my account to save content I want to spend more time on or to build my professional toolkit. While the Collections feature is private, you can share a collection with another user to get help building that resource bank. I categorized my Collections by:

• • Ed Tech
  • Developing Language: Listening, Speaking, Reading, & Writing
  • Class Discussion & Metalinguistic Awareness
  • Classroom Management
  • SEL & Mental Health
  • Culturally & Linguistically Responsive Books
  • Social Justice
  • Assessment Design & Grading Practices

Leveraging my social media account to build my PLN has allowed me to build my knowledge on the subject matter, amplify the voices of other educators, and feel empowered to advocate from the comfort of my own home. If you are going to spend time on social media, why not make it work for you? Join my PLN on Instagram: @themultilingualcollective