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Enhancing and extending student learning in distance education through the use of Personal Learning Networks (PLNs)


PLNs are described as a network of people that a learner chooses to interact with and acquire knowledge from within a learning environment (Tolisano, 2009). The goal of this lesson is to train distance education instructors how to leverage the Internet to enhance and extend learning in distance education course through the use of personal learning networks (PLN)
 * Lesson Goal:**

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 * Learning Objectives:**
 * Define Personal Learning Network (PLN).
 * Describe two potential benefits of using PLNs in distance education.
 * Identify 2 different Web 2.0 tools that could be used as part of a PLN.



The audience for this lesson will be any online educator or student. However, the skills and applications used within this lesson, being free, web 2.0 applications, can be accessed and used by anyone the world over whether they are enrolled in a formal online degree program or passionate about learning more about a topic of interest.
 * Intended Audience:**

Using the links on the left...
 * Getting Started:**
 * **View Part I -** Enhancing and extending student learning in distance education through the use of Personal Learning Networks (PLNs)
 * **View Part 2-** Building a PLN
 * **Take the PLN Assessment Activity to assess your knowledge**
 * **Evaluate the lesson**