We’ve all heard it before… “the answers are in the room”.  When we get together as educators, we all come to the “room” with a breadth and depth of experiences, and when we purposefully structure our learning to tap into our individual and unique experiences, we all truly benefit.

I’ve been fortunate in my career, to be a part of many professional learning opportunities that have taken “the answers are in the room” approach.  These sessions/events were all filled with aha moments, shifts in my mindset, new connections, new ideas, and a motivation to continue my learning journey.

But what happens when we all leave the “room”?

Unfortunately, in many cases the answer is “not very much”.  We may take new ideas and new ways of thinking and start to test them out back at our schools/classrooms, but all that incredible learning that was happening back in the “room” often slows to a halt and next thing we know, we’re back on our own individual learning journeys.

So how do we keep the “room” going?  How do we continue to connect and leverage each other’s knowledge and experiences once we all head our separate directions?

Well… one answer is to bring the “room” with you!  Go digital!

We can leverage technology communication tools (Twitter, Skype, Google Hangouts, Blogs…) to continue the rich conversations and continue to leverage and tap into the experiences and wisdom of our colleagues.   We can also do this from anywhere and at anytime.

PLNs aren’t new by any means, and I’ve been fortunate to be involved in a handful of professional learning opportunities that have fostered continued connections once the day is done… but purposefully creating ongoing opportunities for members in the “room” to connect once we all leave the room is something I wish we did more of.