Building and Maintaining a Personal Learning Network (PLN)Can a modern educator operate effectively without a PLN? It might be possible. However, with advances in multimedia technology and the social networking revolution looming as a disruptive technology, a wise educator will take every opportunity to learn how to integrate the benefits of social networking with new teaching paradigms. Accordingly, in this research, a review of historical developments is provided as a basis for understanding the implications of PLNs. Next, an example of a personal professional profile is shown to indicate the typical personal data that can be made available to members of a social network. Once you've established a public presence, you need to add resources to your network. Therefore, examples of resource groups have been provided in the concluding sections, including advice on how to search for the specified resource. Finally, a summary of the key points is provided in the concluding remarks. An evolutionary vision of PLNs The transition from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 ushered in important paradigm shifts in the software industry. Software has evolved from being a licensed product to being a subscription web service. Development efforts have moved from the strict control of specialists, such as systems analysts and programmers, to a collaborative project between end users and technology experts. Students are now required to teach themselves and teachers are there to facilitate the learning process. The spread of knowledge and wisdom would gravitate away from the puritanical filters of rigorous school control towards a mixed crowd-sourced assembly like Wikipedia. Personal websites would now include a social network… print media… PLN membership. Furthermore, members provide a platform to filter communication threads and develop congruent positions. Finally, a PLN could be very useful, but it is still too early to determine whether it is necessary for every educator. References Beach, S. (2012). The connected educator: Learning and leading in the digital age. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.Cooke, N.A. (2012). Professional development 2.0 for librarians: Developing an online personal learning network (PLN). Hi Tech News Library, 29(3), 1-9. doi. 10.1108/07419051211241840 Drachsler, H., Pecceu, D., Arts, T., Hutten, E., Rutledge, L., Van Rosmalen, P., Hummel, H., & Koper, R. (2009). ReMashed: Tips for blended personal learning environments. In Learning in the synergy of multiple disciplines (pp. 788-793). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. doi. 10.1007/978-3-642-04636-0_85