Chapter 6 in The Connected Educator focuses on Personal Learning Networks and how they can be used to leverage deeper connections which allows for room for change and growth. PLN's focus on what the individual wants to learn. They learn from the people they connect with. It is a give and take process where you find ideas and bring it to your community. To start your PLN, you need to choose the blog, social media site, etc. that works for what you need to network for. You also need to be careful of who to follow and do background checks for good reputations. Nurturing your PLN involves engaging in conversations in safe and ethical ways. PLN's involve a great deal of attention. You must see yourself as a learner first and a teacher second. The roles involved are Linking, Lurking, Learning, and Leading. Evolving your community is also essential. You must focus on the people involved rather than tools. Passion and purpose is also needed. PLN's can be described as an outboard brain.
In "10 Blogging Blunders to Avoid," Emily Hill discusses typical blogging construction errors and how to avoid them. The first error is bad spelling and grammar. Modern word processors make this almost impossible to get away with so there is no excuse. Error two is not including visual content which adds dimension and interest. Error three is poor presentation. It should be appealing to the eye which includes color, font, and text size. The fourth error is rehashing other people's articles. Fresh content will make your blog interesting and unique. The fifth error is poor use of anchor text which involves linking key terms to relevant pages on a site. Error six is not linking out. Linking other websites gives credit to other sources and enhances user experience. The seventh error is unclear categorization and tags which makes it easier for readers to access material. Error eight is not using social media. Promoting your piece on social media encourages readers to do the same. Error nine is ignoring comments. Responding to comments show that you respect and care about your readers opinions. Error ten is omitting a call to action which encourages readers to follow through with what they've read.
In "Get Twitter Followers: Building a Foundation," Stephen Hughes discusses how to increase follower growth. Twitter housekeeping involves the importance of a complete and accurate profile so your readers know about you and can search you. Being active and consistent is very important. It is recommended that you tweet at least 8-10 times a day. The next tip is to follow people that follow people so that you get more followers. You should also follow people that share your interests so that you have something to talk about. Retweeting and mentioning people you follow is essential because it builds rapport with others. When you're added to a list, take action and follow as many of those members as you can. By putting users on a list, you can keep track of which users are important to you. The last tip is to set expectations and have patience because this is a process.
"Educators New to Twitter" explains Twitter in detail to those who are unfamiliar with this popular social media site. It gives the option to be a mentor or to get a mentor. The blog offers three key tips which are to have a real photo, have a short username, and have an accurate bio. It also goes over key twitter terms such as hashtags, retweets, and mentions. Also, it goes over who to follow and how to use Twitter properly.
