Social+Networks

What's So Social About the Internet?
By now, we've seen how online tools can be used to facilitate collaboration and communication across geographic distance. We can share our bookmarks with our department colleagues, co-author an article with someone halfway across the country, and our students can have their work read by people from around the world. This is all fantastic stuff, but up to this point we have not made any **new** personal connections through our Web travels. Online social networks allow us to connect with other individuals with similar personal and professional interests fairly easily.

Facebook
//See the separate section on Facebook here.//

LinkedIn
Dubbed "MySpace for grownups" by some, [|LinkedIn] is more professional networking than social. LinkedIn allows you to post a complete work history, contact information, and resume online, but the real power comes in the form of "Contacts". When you become connected to another person on LinkedIn as a "Contact", you can then access that person's list of Contacts. With the click of a button, you can now extend your professional network to include not only all the people you know, but all the people your friends & colleagues know.

Ning
[|Ning] is a service that allows users to create their //own// social networking groups, similar to Facebook Groups, but with more depth of features. The social networks on Ning revolve around [|professions], [|hobbies], [|sports], [|dating], [|musical acts], and (of course), [|education].

[|Classroom 2.0] is a popular Ning network for teachers looking to converse and share ideas and experiences, with an emphasis on integrating technology into their curricula.

Your Task
Explore the online communities outlined above. If you have a Facebook or LinkedIn account (or would like to create one), seek out professional networking opportunities in the form of Groups on each site. If you'd rather not create any more new accounts right now, explore Classroom 2.0 - much of the content is accessible to non-members.

In order to meet one of this course's stated goals (developing and expanding your PLN), I highly recommend you create an account at one of these services today in order to allow you to connect with other educators.