Welcome to second step in our free professional learning series on building your PLN.

In the first step, we unpacked the definition of a PLN and looked at the benefits of being a connected educator.

You may now be wondering how to begin building your own PLN.

The aim of this step is to:

  1. Offer an overview of how to build a PLN
  2. Provide a snapshot of some tools educators use to connect with their PLN
  3. Share tips for connecting with educators from around the globe
  4. Discuss barriers to building a PLN

The Networked Teacher

Around a decade ago, Alec Couros created two diagrams that have been shared thousands of times.

This first diagram demonstrates how a teacher would traditionally connect and learn.

Image by Alec Couros, CC CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

This diagram of “The Networked Teacher” demonstrates just some of the ways that educators can connect now that technology is at their fingertips. Note, the “old” ways of connecting are still there.

The Networked Teacher diagram by Alec Couros showing the different media that educators can connect with -- blogs, social bookmarking, chat etc.
Image by Alec Couros (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Alec’s brother George reminds us that the arrows go back and forth and it’s not only about what you consume but what you create. You can give as well as receive.

What Tools Are Used?

Teachers from all over the globe are online and learning together, but where exactly do you find these teachers and develop working relationships with them?

In a 2016 study called “Together we are better: Professional Learning Networks For Teachers”, K-12 teachers were asked how they use PLNs.

The most popular tool in the sample was Twitter with 53% of participants indicating that they used this tool to connect with others.

Other popular tools listed in the survey included blogs, Edmodo, Facebook, Discovery Education Network, and Pinterest.

84% of survey participants indicated that they use more than one medium or site.

How Are Teachers Connecting On Online Platforms?

Teachers use social media and other online spaces in a variety of ways to connect with their PLN.

Here are ten examples:

  1. Twitter — Educators follow people they’re interested in, ranging from “thought leaders” to everyday teachers in a similar subject area or age group. Teachers also use hashtags to follow topics of interest, and join Twitter chats to discuss ideas in real time. Be sure to follow Edublogs and CampusPress on Twitter. The next step in this series will explain how to start using Twitter.
  2. Facebook — Educators follow pages and profiles of people and businesses involved in education. They also join Facebook groups to post questions, ask for feedback, and respond to others. Visit our Edublogs Facebook page and Facebook for Education to start learning something new.
  3. Instagram — You can follow educators to get new ideas for lessons, activities, learning spaces and more. Hashtags make it easy to search for topics you’re interested in. Check out Tony Vincent’s Guide to Instagram For Teachers.
  4. Pinterest — Pinterest is ultimately a ‘discovery engine’ and is becoming a go-to for many educators looking for fresh ideas, resources, and connections. Be sure to follow Edublogs on Pinterest!
  5. Blogs — Blogs play an important role in most educators’ PLNs. This might include reading blogs from a variety of different people or writing your own blog. Visit Step Five of this series for more information.
  6. Email newsletters — There might be an educator, thought leader, or blogger who you really enjoy following. Chances are, they have an email newsletter that you can subscribe to for free to have curated news and contented delivered straight to inbox!
  7. Voxer — This walkie-talkie like tool can be used as an app on your mobile device or on your computer. Educators can engage in both synchronous and asynchronous conversations about their professional practice. Learn more in this article on Voxer by Amy Heavin.
  8. YouTube — Video is a powerful medium. Many teachers enjoy following a selection of YouTube channels to keep up to date with a variety of topics. Check out Kasey Bell’s 20 YouTube Channels for Educators to find some channels that might interest you.
  9. LinkedIn — Considered a “professional” social networking platform, educators can connect with a large community of professionals on LinkedIn. Explore this collection of 25 LinkedIn groups for networking teachers via Fractus Learning.

Feel free to share this graphic on your blog or with your colleagues.

Popular ways educators are learning with their PLN Edublogs Teacher Challenge

Tips For Developing Relationships

PLNs are all about relationships! Here are a few tips to consider as you begin to build your PLN.

  1. Invest some time in building your PLN. Set aside even 15 or 20 minutes a day and you’ll build momentum in no time.
  2. PLNs work both ways. Remember, the more you share, the more you’ll find you receive in return.
  3. Try different tools. There are so many different forms of social media, online tools, and ways to connect. Dip your toes in and see how educators are using various tools.
  4. Find tools that work best for you. While it’s definitely worth giving things a try, not every platform is for everyone. Choose to dedicate time to the tools you enjoy and find the most rewarding.
  5. Follow up with people. If someone connects with you whether it’s through a tweet, blog comment, Facebook group, or any platform, thank them, ask a question, and get to know them. These are the building blocks of forming a relationship.
  6. Ask for help. If you find someone who already has a number of connections (on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or wherever) ask them to introduce you to others. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you’re figuring out how various platforms work either.
  7. Curate wisely. If you want to share interesting resources with people in your PLN, make sure you read beyond a headline and share things you think will be truly useful.
  8. Diversify. Try to connect with people with diverse opinions and points of view. It’s easy for “birds of a feather to flock together”, however, sometimes there is more to gain from communicating with a range of people from different backgrounds.
  9. Involve your students. Once you get to know a few educators, you might start to think about ways you can connect your students. Check out our Edublogger’s Guide To Global Collaboration for lots of ideas.
  10. Spread the word. As you begin to explore PLNs and online communities, share this information with others in your school or district. Maybe they don’t realize this wonderful virtual opportunity exists!

Barriers To Creating A PLN

In our first step, we looked at many of the advantages of building a PLN. If the benefits of being a connected educator are clear, what holds so many teachers back from building their own PLN?

Perhaps the first obstacle is that many teachers simply don’t know about PLNs. They don’t know there are thousands of educators from around the world who are online connecting, collaborating, and learning together.

Furthermore, Tom Whitby has outlined three deterrents to educators using PLNs as a tool for ongoing learning.

The PLN is a mindset, not the outcome of a workshop or the PD offered annually by many school districts. It is not a one-shot fix.

Teachers have learned through the “sit and get” model for generations. This mindset shift where you need to realize that you are responsible for your own learning and you can take control can be difficult to adapt to.

Additionally, prioritizing the investment in time that building a PLN requires would certainly be an obstacle for some. Step seven in this series offers some tips on finding time to invest in your PLN.

Successful users of PLNs overwhelm the uninitiated with techno-babble.

Hopefully, the future steps in this course can break down any overwhelming “techno-babble”.

You will probably find that many teachers who are regular uses of online technologies proclaim that they are “not very tech savvy”. Even George Couros who has a Twitter following of 224,000+ has said, “I’m not that good with technology and you probably aren’t either“.

It requires, at least at first, digital literacy beyond a Google search.

It is certainly essential that educators develop their digital literacy. As Silvia Tolisano has pointed out, our notion of what it means to be literate or illustrate calls for an update. 

... merely reading and writing in text form and on analog platforms is simply not enough to call yourself literate. The skills and abilities MUST include reading and writing in various media forms and on multiple platforms INCLUDING digital spaces. We can’t continue to differentiate between our analog and digital world. We live in ONE world after all.

If you feel like you need to improve your own digital literacy skills, don’t despair! You don’t need to learn everything before you embark on building your PLN. We will provide you with the essential tips and skills throughout this course and you can learn as you go.

If you feel like your skills need updating in other areas, such as blogging and online tools, we have other free courses you can work through at your own pace too.

Conclusion

Becoming a connected educator is something that takes work but has enormous advantages for both you and your students. In fact, many educators would say that it’s an essential responsibility of teachers to connect and commit to lifelong learning.

As George Couros has said, “Isolation is now a choice educators make“.

There are so many ways to free yourself from isolation. The following steps in this series breaks down three powerful avenues to becoming a connected educator — Twitter, blogs, and content curation.

Your Task

We’d like you to add your voice and ideas to our ongoing conversation on building your own PLN by undertaking one or more of the following challenges:

  1. Preferences: We all enjoy connecting in different ways. Write a post or comment on this post about how you plan to connect with other educators. What sites or tools do you think you’d prefer to use to make connections. Why?
  2. Relationship tips: Revise our list of tips for developing working relationships with other educators. What resonates most with you? Do you have any ideas to add? Tell us in a comment.
  3. Barriers: We have identified some common barriers to building a PLN. Leave a comment and tell us what the biggest barrier has been for you (or others you know). Share your thoughts on how this obstacle can be overcome.

Also feel free to leave a comment to ask any questions or share your tips.

How to leave a comment: Scroll down to find the comment box. Write your comment, then enter your name and email address (email addresses are not published). Enter the anti-spam word. Press submit and we will moderate your comment ASAP.

768 thoughts on “Step 2: Making Connections

  1. I already use Facebook groups to connect with other teachers. I really enjoy this and have found it to be very beneficial for my classroom. Most PLN’s encourage you to use Twitter. Twitter is something that I am not very familiar with. I go on there once and awhile but I know I’m not using it to it’s full potential. I’m hoping to learn more about Twitter and how I can use it to further my knowledge on PLN’s.

  2. For my PLN I would like to Use Twitter, Twitter is already something that I am very familiar with and like to use. I had some former teachers who used twitter as their PLN and it worked great for them. Twitter is something that is very accessible for everyone and something that is used by almost everyone around the world and I think it would provide a good platform to not only hear and talk to teachers that around me but from others across the globe as well to learn new teaching methods that may not be as common in my area.

  3. I would use Pinterest and YouTube as my main platforms to learn from other teachers. I am a very visual person so these platforms appeal to my learning style. Being able to see pictures of projects, writing assignments, etc., makes Pinterest very helpful for finding new ideas. YouTube has many pages run by teachers who can share helpful (and relatable) things they’ve learned since they’ve been teaching.

  4. As someone who is very comfortable with social media usage, I think that I would be most comfortable with building my own PLN through various social media platforms. As of now, I could see myself using Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and possibly even TikTok. In the future, I could also see myself using Pinterest, or any other new social media platforms that arise. All of these platforms are easily accessible. By that, I mean that all of these social media platforms have information that are easily accessible through simple searches, hashtags, etc. This makes finding people to add to my PLN easy, especially starting out.

  5. The social media platforms I would like to use to connect with other educators are Instagram and Facebook . I have personally used these two platforms for many years and they are a great way to connect with educators from all around the world.

  6. For professional learning and connecting to other educators, I would like to use Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. I am familiar with these platforms and have used them previously to follow educators and look at ideas. With Instagram, you can follow educators and their classroom pages where they post pictures. This can spark ideas or be a good place to share techniques or needs. Facebook has the option of making groups where people with similar ideas or interests can have discussion, share ideas, or ask questions. This can be for elementary teachers, fine arts teacher, or people in administration. Lastly, YouTube is a great way to share ideas, moments, and opinions. Teachers can share their creative lessons, tips and tricks, and techniques for classroom management or challenging behavior. I would like to have a classroom Instagram or join Facebook education groups.

  7. The sites I would like to use to connect to other educators are social media platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram, and even Facebook. I am mostly familiar with these social media platforms because I’ve been using them personally for years. But I never really thought too much about using them to connect with other teachers and grow professionally before. I think it would be really great to use Twitter and Instagram to follow pages and see posts about teaching, and I really like the idea of using Facebook groups to learn more and grow professionally. I definitely plan on looking more into using these social media platforms for professional development now

  8. My top 4 most used social media websites are Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook. I will incorporate building my own PLN on these websites since I already frequently use them. Connecting with other educators on these platforms will be most convenient for me because I will not have to create a new account I may never use, I also know that many other people use these four platforms, so When reading the list on building relationships through PLNs, the one that resonated with me the most was PLNs work both ways. When joining a group I tend to read and learn more than ask questions and share. I need to be better about sharing the helpful information I have and asking specific questions that I have.

  9. The platforms that I would most like to utilize in order to establish my own PLN are facebook, instagram, and pinterest. I like how these apps connect you to others with common interest. On instagram, for example, the algorithm is formed to do just that. So, the more I interact with educational posts, the more they will pop up on my feed. I also find the visual aspect of these platforms very appealing. Pictures and videos are displayed that make things easy to understand. In addition, instagram allows you to save posts. This makes it easy to refer back to sources at a later date. Similarly, pinterest is a great place to find creative activities for students. It also allows you to save things you like and sort them into albums. This allows me to save behavior strategies in one album, reading activities in another, and math strategies in yet another album. Finally, facebook is unique due to its grouping feature. There are endless amounts of group that you can join about a wide variety of topics. I could join a fourth grade reading group and instantly be connected with fourth grade reading teachers. All of these platforms would be a great way to connect with all kinds of teachers and learn from their experiences, as well as share my own.

  10. As someone who is already a member of several teacher/new teacher groups on Facebook, I have found it to already be helpful in educating myself, staying up-to-date on things in education, and finding new ideas to bring to the classroom. I like that with Facebook, you can find groups tailored specifically to your needs. The latest group I joined was a group for new teachers where other new teachers from around the nation encouraged each other and gave advice on classroom procedures when needed. Along with Facebook, I use YouTube and various other social media platforms to continue to educate myself and build my PLN!

  11. The platforms that I use most are Instagram and Facebook. So I feel like those would be the platforms I would use most to connect with other educators because I am more comfortable with them. I already see reels on Instagram about how to teach classroom management and about certain topics. However, I did not realize that I could use these platforms to connect with other teachers. I do think think that as I further my career as a teacher, that I will use YouTube because there are great videos about how to teach young minds about certain content areas. I also find the ideas of blogs intriguing, because I can read other educators blogs, but I can also start my own to help connect with other teachers.

  12. A PLN group that would benefit me most is the Facebook group. This type of connection seems easy and accessible. You can make a group page to post questions, comments, or concerns. This is most appealing to me because you know most of everyone had Facebook and everyone already knows how to use this form of social media.

  13. I’m surprised that Reddit isn’t on here. It is my go-to platform any time I want to talk to someone that I don’t know that has the same interest as me. It can be a great place to find insights on a number of things, and it has teacher forums. You have to know where to look, but it can be very useful.
    I also think that Youtube is a great resource for information for teachers. There are countless video examples of lessons and strategies for any subject or grade level. It can be easier to have someone explain something to you in their own words than having to read professional wording all the time.

  14. The platforms that I would like to use are social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. I want to use these platforms because I am pretty familiar with them because I have been using them personally for years. I never really thought about the fact that I could use these platforms to connect with other teachers though. I like that on Twitter and Instagram I can see posts that other educators post, and I can also look at hashtags about a specific topic that I am interested in. I like that on Facebook I can join different groups that might be about one topic, like a certain curriculum or grade level, and reach out to other educators that have that in common with me. I would also like to use platforms like Pinterest and YouTube. I have been using these platforms for years as well, so I am comfortable with them. I think that Pinterest and YouTube are great ways to see things that other educators have done in their classrooms and get new ideas for my classroom.

  15. I really enjoy Facebook pages as a way for me to engage with the larger education community. Both my CT and my supervisor promote all kinds of pages for me to follow and even a podcast that talks about the latest news in my field, which has its own Facebook page to follow. Personally, I love listening to the radio and calmly reading responses to requests for help or to news about my respective field. If you are an on-the-go kind of teacher then having a podcast just going in an earbud will make a world of difference. Plus, many Facebook posts include a link or two to relevant articles or tools that one can browse through with leisure, especially in the comment section while people discuss issues.

  16. The sites I would like to use to connect to other educators are social media platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram, and even Facebook. I am mostly familiar with these social media platforms because I’ve been using them personally for years. But I never really thought too much about using them to connect with other teachers and grow professionally before. I think it would be really great to use Twitter and Instagram to follow pages and see posts about teaching, and I really like the idea of using Facebook groups to learn more and grow professionally. I definitely plan on looking more into using these social media platforms for professional development now.

    1. Abby,

      I agree ! I am more familiar with Facebook over twitter ! I already follow several pages on Instagram and Facebook and get some great ideas from the pages that pop on just on Facebook. I look forward to finding some pages that could help me become a better teacher . We use social media for everything and my teacher has her own insta for her classroom which I think is a great way for parents to see there children through the day without being able to physically be there .

  17. As someone who has family living all across the country, social media has always been a huge part of my life. I feel that having a classroom platform or even a website could be beneficial for instruction and communication with parents. In today’s society I have also seen educators use social media to communicate with other teachers. This could be sharing teaching strategies, classwork assignment ideas, behavior management, and so much more. Ultimately, I feel that if used properly, social media is a great way to make connections with other educators.

  18. My Music Ed professor has emphasized for the various benefits of Music Education Facebook groups for the entirety of my undergraduate education! I really have come to see the appeal in having a large space full of colleagues where I can ask for quick tips anytime I need it without having to wait so long for responses. I think this would be a platform I prefer.

  19. I never had a twitter account until I was tasked with this for school, One of the constraints that I can see with the PLN is time constrain having to find time to complete another task

  20. I am not a huge social media user. This in itself is a barrier for me. I have a hard time committing to scrolling the internet when I know there is so much other stuff to be done. I think if I am able to create a PLN I am interested in, this barrier can be overcome because I will no longer simply be scrolling, but actually utilizing the time I am spending online to help better my lessons.

  21. Barriers: The biggest barrier for me would be to get out of my comfort zone and communicate with others. Sometimes it is hard to get out of my shell and speak with others. Sometimes it is intimidating because you may not feel good enough.

  22. Technology is vast, and many educators utilize social media platforms as PLNs. I can definitely see myself connecting with other educators on Instagram and Twitter as they seem to be easily accessible when communicating/collaborating with others and sharing ideas/thoughts.

  23. I have not had the privilege of working in a library/school setting, so my current level of experience utilizing the PLN is limited. I plan to connect through the various suggestions provided, such as Instagram, Facebook, etc. However, personally, I was hoping to be given some links to more professional websites and not sites for social connecting. That being said, I think I will attempt to find more professional looking websites. I do fully plan to connect with fellow educators and professional development resources.

  24. Barriers:

    Time constraints of the modern educator are a concern. I have had success participating with my PLN and have grown as a result of being a member. However, the tweets can easily run you down the proverbial rabbit hole. I have found myself following hashtags and losing track of time. Knowledge is power, but this is one downfall I have experienced.

  25. I feel that the best tool to use to connect with others would be to use zoom. The reason for using zoom is based on the fact that zoom is one of the most used tools used for connecting with each other right now. With zoom you can be anywhere and be able to talk to them at any time.

  26. 1. Preferences
    I would prefer to connect with other educators through Pinterest and Blogs. I use Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as a personal social media platform and I I feel like those platforms get the most negative attention. I think social media platforms like Pinterest and Blog posts are less hateful platforms and are full of more ideas instead of just opinions.

  27. When it comes to connecting with other educators there are a couple different ways that come to mind. One being conferences in the field (for me it would be physical education), and two being resources online. Utilizing online resources is becoming more and more popular and on each website properly using hashtags while help you find others in the same field.

  28. Barriers: A potential obstacle for starting a PLN might be the aversion to social media because of how consuming it can be. I deleted Facebook from my phone to stop wasting time, but it could be used as a highly beneficial tool by finding and learning from educators. To overcome this obstacle, one might set a time limit on their social media usage or create an account solely for a PLN.

  29. 1. Preferences. I plan on using Twitter and Pinterest a lot to connect with teachers and share lots of ideas. I already have connected with a couple teachers on twitter before, and I plan to continue to do so.

  30. A barrier that I see for some educators is more for the older ones. Older people may not be as tech-savvy so they might find this approach more difficult. A possible solution is that it won’t hurt to ask a colleague to teach you how to use these platforms. The PLN community is also there in support in case this might not be for you.

  31. My preferences for connecting and learning from other educators varies depending on the situation, the information, and my schedule itself. Lately, I have gotten a lot of help and ideas from teacher TikTok where educators of all subjects and grade levels are sharing things that have worked and things that haven’t worked in their classrooms, as well as their ideas and beliefs on different teaching topics. They also share tips and tricks that have made life easier for them. I also love the various PDs that different teachers create themselves, such as Lucky Little Learners and other summits and conferences that are recorded and sent out to those who sign up. These also often have various freebies and discounts for various items and products to use in the classroom. I also love getting tips and ideas from different blogs and websites created by teachers for teachers in order to share testimonials as well as different lessons and things that they do in their classrooms. Different forms of social media in general have been a huge help and I plan to continue to use it as much as possible!

  32. I plan to connect with educators through Instagram and TikTok. I love getting to see videos of a lesson especially if they include their students work or reactions. You are able to comment and ask questions and sometimes even visit their blog where they have all the materials for that lesson connected. If I have enough time as a teacher, I think Instagram reels is where I would post all of my lessons and experiences.

  33. Preferences– I would plan to connect to other teachers by talking with co-workers, finding resources online, YouTube, and conferences. I would first start with co-workers because they would relate most to my community. I already have a few podcasts that I listen to and I could reach out to other educators on the forum there. I have multiple different avenues that I could use to reach out to other educators to make connections.

  34. I am not big on communicating through the internet. But if I decided to incorporate it into my personalized learning network, I think I would utilize sites like Facebook, Pinterest, and blog pages the most. I would use facebook to conection with peers in my area; professionals I could meet face to face with. I would enjoy using Pinterest from creative outlooks and ideas when planning a fun lesson. Blog posts would be beneficial when learning from others that are not in my area. 

  35. Barriers- I think that my biggest barrier is my ability to use technology. I haven’t been very active or involved in social media ever in my life and don’t hold any social media accounts anymore so that is something that I’d need to improve on to improve my PLN. Also, because I don’t have any social media, I’m very out of practice of checking up on my social media or being involved in social media. I’d need to get into a routine that checking in on my PLN became daily.

  36. I generally do not use social media, but there are still ways for me to find ways to connect to others. YouTube is a great way, as I can get audio and visual explanations rather than just text. Discord is another potential way, since voice chat is available if people want to be able to talk.

    1. Hey Ethan and Happy New Year!

      Preferences: Like you , I am not a social media maven; I prefer face2face/Zoom/Google Chat /Voxer
      ( mentioned in these modules) as a means of verbal and visual communication. I know some people dread the “snail mail”/Post Office, but I do like a good post card/handwritten note every now and then. It breaks up the monotony of sorting thru the junk mail and the bills :0. Thanks for your input.

  37. One way I would like to connect with educators is through a Facebook group. This could be a space for educators to ask questions, tips, and updates! I think that would be a very resourceful way for educators to connect and help each other.

  38. 1. Preferences: I think I’d prefer to use YouTube, or even Pinterest for making connections for my PLN. Mostly because I don’t really enjoy using most social media platforms. I prefer to observe, rather than actively engage. At least, at first, that is. Maybe I don’t quite feel comfortable in this environment yet. Maybe I’m relying on old schemas. Who knows? I think though, that connections are based on the individuals. Old fashioned face-to-face interactions are what I enjoy. Others will prefer to use social media platforms to reach out to the teaching community. That’s totally cool.

  39. Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, in my opinion, are the best ways for educators to connect with one another. Pinterest is particularly useful for classroom ideas, assignments, and activities. Pinterest also provides me with a lot of great ideas. I also believe that Facebook is a better way for teachers to communicate because it is more popular among older generations. One of the disadvantages of using PLN, in my opinion, is the constant need to keep up with technological changes.

  40. Social media is one of the best ways to make connections with people, it all comes down to which ones you like and who is your audience.

  41. I plan to connect to educators and professional development resources primarily through social media, as the ability to quickly send ideas, get feedback, and connect to others is unmatched by other methods. LinkedIn, which I think is the best “professional” social media platform, will be my avenue of choice, as it is purpose built for professionals, and I frankly just don’t like Twitter, even if it’s more popular overall. Additionally, the format LinkedIn uses is far more conducive to conversation, as Twitter requires long threads that take ages to read due to the character limit.

  42. I would use Facebook to connect with other educators. Facebook groups is such an easy way to connect with others now. Facebook is also a great tool to find nearby educators in your area. Communication and connecting with other educators is important .

  43. 1. Preferences

    Although there are so many digital platforms for educators to connect, having conversations in person provide so many benefits to learning and growing that digital platforms do not. Hearing, seeing, disagreeing, discussing; these things happen more organically when you can pick up on things like body language, facial expressions, and intonations. With that being said, there are many digital platforms that provide benefits that in-person growth doesn’t. The first that come to mind, and one that I use and see myself using to connect long into the future, is Twitter. Although solely a part of my social life for most of my youth, it has recently become a way for me to connect and learn from fellow educators. There are myriad mediums to use on Twitter (images, videos, gifs, and text) and the amount you wish to learn and contribute to learning with like minded people is near limitless.

  44. A way to address the barriers of connecting through PLN’s is becoming more educated on them throughout our education before we become an educator. I think that if we were introduced to PLN’s and the ability to connect with other educators we would feel a lot of stress relief because we know that we have a community of people we can come to if we have questions or need inspiration.

  45. 1.Preferences: We all enjoy connecting in different ways. Write a post or comment on this post about how you plan to connect with other educators. What sites or tools do you think you’d prefer to use to make connections. Why?

    I plan to connect with other educators on my team and all around the world. I think that using online platforms opens doors for collaboration like never before. Two platforms I would like to use are pinterest and twitter. I used pinterest on a regular basis when I taught pre-k. There are numerous ideas and all you have to do is type in a few key words to get several ideas. As for twitter, it can be used as a place to post ideas, ask questions, get inspiration, and overall develop as a professional through groups.

  46. Preferences: We all enjoy connecting in different ways. Write a post or comment on this post about how you plan to connect with other educators. What sites or tools do you think you’d prefer to use to make connections? Why?

    I plan on connecting with other educators through Instagram. I like how you can connect with other teachers on Instagram, share stories, share current events, post activities, and interact with others. Instagram is a great way to connect with people who have similar interests as you. I 100% see myself collaborating through IG.

  47. Sites or tools I prefer to make connections: The one great thing about technology is how diverse and international the platform ranges in. Going from apps to to blogs to specific websites to give you the exact information you need is incredible. When I am an educator, the sites that I would prefer to make connections would be Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. The one thing these tools all have in common is the post and share concept. As all kinds of new ideas and advices are posted throughout the site, creators are able to get inspired and share it with their audience. Having specific pages that I am able to join makes my search load a lot simpler and faster. By also having the search bar to look up what I am looking for will bring up a tremendous amount of ideas posted by other creators similar to you which will help a lot as well.

  48. Sites or tools I prefer to make connections: The one great thing about technology is how diverse and international the platform ranges in. Going from apps to to blogs to specific websites to give you the exact information you need is incredible. When I am an educator, the sites that I would prefer to make connections would be Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. The one thing these tools all have in common is the post and share concept. As all kinds of new ideas and advices are posted throughout the site, creators are able to get inspired and share it with their audience. Having specific pages that I am able to join makes my search load a lot simpler and faster. By also having the search bar to look up what I am looking for will bring up a tremendous amount of ideas posted by other creators similar to you.

  49. I really like the graphic of “The Networked Teacher,” as it shows just some of the extensive opportunities for connecting with other educators. As someone who is fairly technologically savvy, I have experience on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, all of which I have found valuable resources for me as a teacher. I would like to look more into using YouTube, as I have not utilized that platform as much for professional development up to this point. Another resource that I really like that I did not see mentioned in the article is podcasts. These are easy to utilize while doing something else such as driving or cooking, and the podcast industry has definitely been growing exponentially over the past few years. As a new teacher, I have spent much of my time consuming information, but as I get my feet under me, I’d like to try and utilize these platforms for sharing information as well.

  50. 1. Connect? I was so surprised to not see Spotify in the list of ways to connect with educators! I personally love podcasts, and think they are an amazing way to stay connected to the current world. I am hopefully that podcasts will become even more relevant as the world of educating evolves. Of course Twitter is infallible when it comes to asking your favorite podcaster a question.
    2. Resonates? ASK FOR HELP! The world is waiting to help you, all you have to do is ask.
    3. Barriers? For me personally the biggest barrier is fear of the unknown. I have never made a LinkedIn, or posted my own YouTube video. so I have apprehensions around activities such as those.

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