How+Can+We+Keep+Up?

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It's difficult to keep up with everything that's going on in education. Research, helpful hints, and tools that impact our field are continually being updated. Explore ways to stay current without becoming overwhelmed and find ways to network with others. Keep in mind that we all have valuable information to share with our professional community!

//** Personal - **** particular to a given individual **// //** Learning - the acquisition and development of memories and behaviors, including skills, knowledge, understanding, values, and wisdom **// //** Network - **** an interconnected system of things or people **//
 * Personal Learning Networks** defined:

//Putting those together =// //** The acquisition and development of memories and behaviors, including skills, knowledge, understanding, values, and wisdom **, ** particular to an individual **, ** through **// //**an interconnected system of people.**//

=Getting Started= Ask yourself - What do I want to learn? How do I want to learn it? What do I want to do with what I've learned? []

[|iGoogle] ([|my example])
Google offers the ability to create a personalized iGoogle page that gives you at-a-glance access to key information from Google and across the web. On this self-designed page, you can choose and organize content such as:
 * Your latest Gmail messages
 * Headlines from Google News and other top news sources
 * Weather forecasts, stock quotes, and movie showtimes
 * Bookmarks for quick access to your favorite sites from any computer
 * Your own section with content you find from across the web

Symbaloo
Your personal Internet desktop. Edu version media type="custom" key="9990293"
 * Create page for yourself.
 * Create start page for students.
 * My Example.

RSS
(Rich Site Summary) is **a format for delivering regularly changing web content**. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an **RSS Feed** to whoever wants it.
 * RSS is **THE** key tool in building a learning network.
 * The ability to have relevant, personal information come to you, rather than you seeking it out is efficient and effective.
 * Using RSS effectively may be the only thing you have to master to have a personal learning network.

http://www.onlineschools.org/2009/10/20/100-blogs-every-new-teacher-should-read/

An aggregator can be likened to a web mailbox, but not for email. Your RSS feeds pull in magazine like content when you subscribe online and delivers it to the aggregator of your choice. Some aggregators are simply a list of those feeds, while others are more customizable. The two types of aggregators described here are readers and personalized start pages.

[|Google Reader] ([|my example]) Google Reader is a Web-based aggregator, capable of reading Atom and RSS feeds online or offline. Check out the [|Google Reader in Plain English] video.

//__Online PD__//
[|K12 Online Conference] Open PD Wikispace Webinars - [|DEN], [|PDE]

Classroom 2.0 Live

__//Free Professional Development//__
Click Picture To Learn More

[[image:Screen_shot_2011-07-14_at_8.55.29_AM.png link="@edcamp:edcamp Harrisburg"]]
= = =Keeping it Going= Once you've developed your readers or personalized start pages, you might be ready for more! It's time to connect with others to talk about what you're learning and put it in perspective. Your reader or personal start page most likely contains blogs, so you're familiar with those. Now, add in another layer to your network. Pick up a social tool and find a few people you know (and some you don't) and get going!

Microblogging & Communication
[|Twitter] Share what you are doing in 140 characters...and much more! Check out Twitter for Teachers to get started.
 * Twitter Lingo
 * RT= ReTweet (Compared to Forwarding an email, but with Twitter)


 * @//TwitterName//= Replying To A Tweet




 * @//Twitter Name=// a Mention (Read below to see how it is different than a Reply)

http://support.twitter.com/articles/14023-what-are-replies-and-mentions


 * #//Term// (Hashtag) Identifies key words in a person's Tweet




 * //Tweeter, Twitterer =// You when you read and post Tweets!

Who Should I follow?
 * //Twitter Handle=// Your User Name
 * Tech.It.U blog post with suggestions
 * Educational Hashtags

[|Skype] Make calls from your computer — free to other people on Skype and cheap to landlines and cell phones around the world.

Social Bookmarking & More
[|Diigo] ([|example]) Diigo is two services in one -- it is a research and collaborative research tool on the one hand, and a knowledge-sharing community and social content site on the other. media type="custom" key="10000967" align="center"
 * Click here to see an overview about Diigo.
 * Suggested Groups: Diigo in Education, Discovery Educator Network, Educators,

Michelle's Link

Social Networks
[|Facebook] Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Millions of people use Facebook everyday to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.

Ning - [|Pearson gives free educational nings].

Google +
 * What is Google +? Watch this video to learn more!

[|Classroom 2.0] - the Ning social network for those interested in Web 2.0 and collaborative or transformative technologies in education.

[|DEN] - The Discovery Educator Network (DEN) is a global community of educators passionate about teaching with digital media, sharing resources, collaborating, and networking. With over 25,000 members providing professional development to over 250,000 educators worldwide, the DEN connects teachers both on-line and in-person.



Social eEtiquette 101
=Next Steps=

Your Role
Once you've moved past the aggregator step and into the socializing step, you'll find yourself lurking around. You'll read what others have to say and reap the benefits of resources they share. Slowly, but surely, you'll begin to reply/respond/share with resources of your own. You may feel anxious - as if what you have to say/share isn't important - that is just not true! Take a risk, say something, even if you only do it once in awhile. Climb the ladder and take your network to the next level! The more you put in, the more you get out.

The Ladder

Don't feel bad if you have to take a [|break]. It happens to everyone, even [|me]!

Build your PLN
Google Reader allows users to create lists (blogrolls) from feeds they follow. Here are the blogs in my ed-tech folder in my Google Reader. If you're not ready to go it on your own, feel free to use mine. Google Reader also allows users to share posts they think other might find useful. Here is my [|shared page], which I can also embed other places, like on my [|blog]. media type="custom" key="1979488" = =