No teacher is an island: technology-assisted personal learning network (PLN) among English language teachers in Turkey

Abstract

In this era of technology, teachers need to adapt to changes in their profession, and learn faster than before. They don't want to be restricted to their isolated classrooms and schools but continue learning anywhere, anytime. When a teacher attends conferences, joins teaching communities and discusses new techniques and innovations with colleagues, that means s/he is building a personal learning network (PLN). Face-to-face PLN has been extended to technology-assisted networks lately, as technology has led to new ways of learning and socializing. Teaching is not a solitary act, and teachers need other teachers to be complete. In this respect, social media such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs, are suitable virtual platforms for personal learning. In the literature, very limited research has been conducted regarding PLNs as a whole concept rather than individual digital platforms among English language teachers in Turkey directly. Responding to gap in the literature, this study was conducted through a questionnaire with 302 participants. For open questions, a thematic analysis was done while for closed questions, frequencies and percentages were taken. The findings show that English language teachers in Turkey utilize technology-assisted PLNs as a sharing and learning platform and expand the boundaries of their immediate contacts.