Enable Learning and Create Connections

The book The Connected Educator was a wealth of knowledge  for the following information. By utilizing technology you can enable learning and create connections to expand your Professional Learning Network (PLN). We are all overwhelmed by the amount of information we come across on the web. The following tools may be used for documenting and archiving learning:

1. Delicious

2. Diigo 

Delicious is a helpful site for bookmarking and tagging web sites. After searching articles that you may utilized or share you may copy and paste the URL onto Delicious by utilizing the "Add Book Mark" option. You may add a tag so that you can quickly find it at a later date. Diigo is like Delicious but you can make annotations on the web pages. You may highlight or add sticky notes to the article. There are three sections in Diigo:

1. My Library - Utilized for research. Book mark pages and highlight and add notes.

2. My Network -  You may create a PLN by following people of similar interests.   

3. My Groups - Share documents with your PLC or Global Community

Tool for Connecting and Building your PLN

1. Edublog - Allows educators to communicate to all stake holders--students, teachers, parents, or the community. You may provide current information to your group or bring up upcoming events or issues.  

2. RSS Reading - Brings new content to you rather than having to visit various web sites to check individually.

3. Google Reader - Is a Blog Reader that will allow you to subscribe to a RSS of a Blog you would like to follow.

Some Other Helpful Tools

1. Pod Casts - Video or audio files you may subscribe to just like a blog.

2. Podomatic - Is a free tool you may utilized to record, produce, and publish a web broadcast.

3. Twitter - Is a microblog you may utilized to follow people and create a PLN. You may send messages to your followers or people you are following by utilizing their Twitter handle.  

4. Wikis - Is a web age that allows groups to compile documents and information all in one place.

5. Wikispaces - Is a tool to utilized to create and manage a Wiki.

6. Google Documents -  Web Base document sharing tool. Unlike a Wiki which is a collaborative web page it takes the place of a software like Microsoft but it resides in the cloud.

Social Networking

Ning may be utilized to create a specialized social network for a few dollars a month. It is meant for those individuals who lack the skills and are unable to create their own web site. On Netvibes you can create and share a Dashboard with your PLC. Instantly access current information on your selected topics. It is also important to proactively build your digital footprint. Twitter and LinkedIn are a good place to start building your PLN. I've been steadily increasing my usage on both sites to grow my PLN. Your online reputation is very important. By creating a web page or blog, utilizing Twitter, Google, or LinkedIn, and sharing your insights goes a long way with managing your online reputation.