Part of the Goals 2010 Challenge Series, Goal 5

Think of the horror! I completed my Masters degree in September, but many of my online profiles I checked today listed this as incomplete! Not such a nightmare, but we probably do not realize how many of our online profiles are outdated. Therefore, I am challenging you today to update at least one of your profiles, with the long-term goal of maintaining a positive digital footprint. You never know who you will run into or the opportunities that await you. Often, as part of my position at Parentella I search for possible conference speakers. Also, I am trying to organize tweet-ups at places I will be traveling to. I browsed through ning profiles to find educators in specific locations since I have yet to find an application that will help me find locations of educators I interact with on Twitter. Several of the profiles I sifted through lacked profile pictures, bios, activity, or links to blogs or other achievements. Just by having updated profiles that I feel positively reflect my attributes and mission, I have been invited to participate in conferences, offered various positions, and established relationships with new colleagues!

Updating Your Profile

To complete this task, update at least one of your profiles on any site, such as on a Ning, Google profile, Blogger (Commenting with your Google profile), Technorati, LinkedIn, or Twitter! If you do not have any online profiles, then I suggest creating one. You can start small by creating a ning or Twitter profile. These take less than 30 minutes to create a really fantastic profile. Here are a few guidelines for maintaining your online profile:

• Remember nearly every social website you sign-up for requires a profile!
  • The obvious ones are LinkedIn and Facebook. Keep track of the other social sites you signed up for such as Youtube, Vimeo, Twitter, Google Reader/Profile, Blogger, Delicious, Flickr, SlideShare, and so forth. On most of these accounts you may have no profile listed. My long-term goal is to get suitable profiles on most of social networking sites or get rid of them.
  • Note: Try clicking on your avatar when you make a comment on different blogs to see what comes up.
• Include an image, bio, and link to at least one portfolio item!
  • If possible the portfolio item should be a video, slide presentation with audio, wiki, or blog. If you really want to draw attention, then offer a lesson, hand-out, presentation, or other product you created for free. I often include the PowerPoint templates I created on the MicroSoft network for educators.
  • If you can add a reference letter to the website or a recommendation, then ask your friends if they will write one for you.
• It’s okay to use the same items for each profile!
  • If you visit the several nings I participate in, then you will see the same information, look, and image. I developed one profile I liked. Each time I join a new ning, I copy and paste the same information. I usually copy and paste what I can from my ning networks for other networks as well. This  saves me a lot of time! Here’s my profile in the Educator’s PLN ning.
  • You may notice that I include a recent picture, a short bio, my rss feeds, and places to contact me.

More Resources

If you haven’t already created an online portfolio, resume, or CV then this should definitely be one of your long-term goals. The links below will help you accomplish this:

• My Visual CV- This free website is incredible for creating a professional and impressive portfolio.
• My Google Profile- Another free website that is frequented so you should definitely have a profile with Google.
• Creating Your Digital Self, 4 Parts by Ozge Karaoglu
• Alternative Ideas For Designing A Web Portfolio
• Electronic Portfolios with Google Apps
• What Makes A Digital Portfolio Effective? #Edchat Summary
• 7 Tips for Student Engagement with E-portfolios by Ray Tolley
• EFL Teachers LinkedIn – tech tip #9 by Kalinago English

If you are new to the 30 day Goal challenge then you may want to read this post with more details!

Challenge:

Update one of your online profiles!

You may want to subscribe for FREE to receive regular updates!

This is goal 5 of this series! If you’d like to join the challenge, please read this post!

Don’t forget to leave a comment that you accomplished this goal using the hashtag #30Goals!

What is your tip for updating a profile on LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.?

Recently, in our morning #Edchat discussion, we discussed how to prevent social media burn-out. Those who participated in the discussion offered several tips on time management and skills to teach students involving social media. Click on the mindmapping link to view some of my favorite tweets from the discussion. You can make this mindmap smaller or larger and move it around.

Which Social Media Tools Should we Use?

During the discussion we also discussed which social media tools to use with students and to recommend to teachers for developing their Personal Learning Network (PLN). Click on the mindmapping link to add to your favorite tools to the list and include a helpful link that describes best practices with that social media tool.

Special thanks to the educators who participated in the discussion and were featured in this post! Add them to your PLN by using Russel Tarr‘s mass Twitter tool. Just copy and paste this list!

bonnycastle, pcaggia, esolcourses, tearoof, tipsbytony, digin4ed, eduinnovation, tipsbytony, distance_edu, jgvanides, birdfish, onteaching, nancydevine, tomwhitby, shellterrell

Click on the link to find out how you can be part of the #Edchat movement, a collaboration between Tom Whitby, Steven Anderson, and me (ShellTerrell).

Challenge:

Make additions to the Mindmap! You may need to send me your e-mail address.

Has a social media tool improved your students’ lives in some way? Please contact me to do a guest piece!

If you enjoy this post, you may want to subscribe to receive regular updates!

Dear Reader,

You may be sick of hearing me talk about the merits of a Personal Learning Network (PLN)! However, if this is the one piece of advice I can leave you with this summer, then I feel I have significantly contributed to your professional development. Recently, one of my connections led to being a guest blogger for Burcu Akyol‘s Spread Your Knowledge Series! Burcu has entered the realm of friendship even though she lives in Turkey and I live in Germany. How is this possible? The answer is not 42 in this case, but social networking and collaboration on several projects.

Although, Burcu and I have only known each other for three months we have accomplished quite a bit in the education arena. I would venture to say that many would agree that we have added significantly to their projects. The reason is due to our dedication to put our intelligence and energy together to incite change. Burcu has jumped in wholeheartedly in ventures I support or have initiated and I believe I have done the same with projects she has supported and initiated.

How did I meet Burcu? Several of my closest connections started on Twitter and this is what my guest post on her blog this week is about! Please click here to read and comment on the blog post. I met Burcu through Twitter but our relationship stems from participation in Karenne Sylvester‘s BELTFree Ning, the One Comment a Day Ning, and the SLife is Life Ning. Burcu has also joined me in several Second Life field trips like in our picture below! Second Life has really given us the opportunity to get to know each other. You know a person by their willingness to travel to interesting places or what they decide to do at these places. I have observed that Burcu is adventurous and courageous. She is willing to explore new ideas and has a great sense of humor. Many might think that her continuous dedication to her teaching, blogging, moderating student blogs, presenting, and interviewing for magazines would have her stressed. However, I have yet to see her less than enthused and happy. This is the kind of  relationship you want to establish with members of your PLN. Are you ready to take the next step and collaborate for change?

Aniya, Me, & Burcu in Second Life at the upside down house

If you are ready to establish relationships, then you may consider joining the SLife is Life Ning. We continuously educate teachers on the use of Second Life for educational purposes. Every week, Aniya (the English Teacher) and I host a free Newbie Teacher Second Life Field Trip for those who want a guide into the strange virtual world! Join our Ning to keep updated with events!

Visit Second Life’s Life

Challenge:

Involve yourself in one of the projects on a Ning group you belong to or come to one of our weekly Second Life teacher orientations.

Would you like to share your collaboration anecdote? Please contact me to be a guest blogger on Teacher Reboot Camp or if you are interested in having a Second Life mentor!

Every week on Twitter I mark a series of tweets as favorites. These are tweets that have either interesting links, encourage thought-provoking conversations, spark some sentiment within me, or need to be read more thoroughly. My Personal Learning Network (PLN) on Twitter is full of educators who consistently engage me in conversation. These individuals ignite within me a need to continually strive to be a better educator and reflect upon my instructional practices. Due to various time zones or highly active Twitter streams we may miss the chance to participate in conversations or miss important links. Therefore, I will post five of my favorite tweets each week. Hopefully, you will be introduced to some new people you were not following before who would benefit your PLN. These are in order of occurrence with the first tweet being the earliest tweet in the week.

Goodbye Geocities

I really enjoyed this tweet by the Kenny Christian, EnglishProfi, because I was able to reminisce with others  about our first website beginnings. David Truss and I had a similar conversation later in the week. I think many will be slightly saddened by this event. Geocities was the first hosting site I used to create a website when I first began college. Back then animated gifs were the hot items and I had plenty on my website. Needless to say I have come a long way from that time. Click here for to find out what to do with your Geocities account.

Language Learning in Second Life

SecondLife is the latest technology I have been learning for educational purposes. Nik Peachey’s tweet provides a link highlights the amazing possibilities SecondLife provides for learning languages. The program offers the student a language learning experience akin to traveling abroad. The student gets a roommate from China, creates an Ecological part in China, and is immersed in Chinese culture all from the comfort of a computer screen. Click here to try this learning experience for free in the month of August!

Parent Edtech Workshops

Thomas Whitby is well known for his thought-provoking tweets. I liked this idea so much I went to my school administrators and asked them if I could hold an educational technology workshop for my young English language learner’s parents. Click here for the link!

Collaborative Mindmapping Tool

I discovered this really cool mindmapping tool through Aniya, TheEngTeacher! Aniya is well known for feeding teachers on Twitter. The link she provides is to Richard Byrne’s blog post about Slate Box, a collaborative mindmapping tool. This tool has several uses for class projects, distance learning, e-learning, and so forth. Can’t wait to use this tool for my online classes. Click here for the link!

One Comment A Day Project

The last of this series of tweets comes from Steven Anderson, web20classroom. Steven provides information about the One Comment a Day project in which each person commits to posting at least one comment to encourage a new blogger. Then the person tweets the link to the blog post with the hashtag #OCP. I added my name to the list and encourage you to do the same. For more information on this project visit Steven Anderson’s post by clicking here!

If you enjoyed this post, you may also want to check out these posts with more favorite tweets:

• Gr8 Edu-tweets by Karenne Sylvester, Kalinagoenglish.
• June’s Best Tweets by Larry Ferlazzo.

Your challenge:

Explore these links and follow these Twitterers. Don’t know what to say to them? Just tell them you thought their links were extremely helpful and you heard about them from ShellTerrell!

Would you like to recommend a favorite tweet for next week? Please contact me to share this tweet and I will give you credit for the recommendation! Please mark the tweet as a favorite so that I can find the tweet!

Did you know that educational technologies will soon be the norm? Advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) and internet technologies means several educators are connecting to thousands at a time. Consider the crumbling economy and the amount of teachers being laid off. More than ever teachers need to be connected in order to make a difference in their fields and be relevant in their fields. As states continue to pass legislation, which increase the use of educational technologies in the classroom, teachers will have to prove they know how to use these technologies to help their students problem solve, evaluate, analyze, debate, critically think, and so forth. However, several educators feel intimidated by the various technologies. Don’t worry your Personal Learning Network (PLN) is here. Your PLN consists of the people you choose to provide you with knowledge and advice in becoming the best educator that you can be. You may be surprised to learn that you can establish relationships with these people and will begin to wonder how you ever survived without them!

Building Your PLN

Here are my top 5 ideas for connecting with other educators. These suggestions are ranked in the order I believe to be easiest to learn and do. However, I recommend trying all these platforms:

1. Ning- These are social communities on the web that have members with similar interests. Joining a Ning is very easy and just requires that you fill in a simple registration form. I suggest you start with joining Classroom Web 2.0. You will have the option of attending several free webinars (online seminars) and participating in discussions with other educators.
2. LinkedIn- Creating a LinkedIn profile requires a lot more time than joining a Ning. However, the time is worth it, because this is the way several educators connect. LinkedIn has become so vital to careers that several use their LinkedIn profiles as their resume, portfolio, and electronic business card. Thomas Whitby has created several teacher groups worth joining, because many of the educators are active in the discussions. For more information, please visit Thomas Whitby’s LinkedIn profile by clicking here or you may contact him on his Twitter profile. This blog post by Karenne Sylvester will also provide you with a LinkedIn tutorial and tips on creating a LinkedIn account.
3. Webinars- These are online seminars which usually require you to only sign-up and join the online platform. You get to meet several educational professionals who will share with you PowerPoints and hold voice and video chats with you. For more information, please check out my previous posts on webinars by clicking here!
4. Twitter- One of the best ways to quickly connect with other educators and gain so much knowledge. However, there is an art to building your PLN on Twitter. I suggest the following links for further information.
   • Start by getting a free Twitter mentor. You will quickly meet a person knowledgeable on Twitter and be able to add some of their recommendations. Moreover, this person will let others educators know to welcome you to Twitter.
   • Review my Youtube Channel with several Twitter tutorials.
   • Add me to your Twitter list. My Twitter account is @shellterrell. I would be happy to help! Just leave me a message introducing yourself.
   • If you want to know how I currently use Twitter in the classroom, then visit my previous Twitter posts by clicking here.
5. SecondLife- By far this is the most complicated way to connect with other educators. However, the interaction, training, relationships, and adventures offered by SecondLife make this technology a must in developing your PLN.  SecondLife is an experience! You really get to know the educators in your PLN as you share several learning adventures with them! I suggest you start by joining the Second Life is Life ning. You will meet several SecondLife mentors who may provide you with free gifts. Moreover, you will be provided with a safe residence. You will also be able to attend our exciting and extremely informative teacher newby field trips and gain some friends who are learning the technology as well.

Thank you Scott McLeod for sponsoring Leadership Day 2009 and allowing bloggers like myself to participate in this event. Scott, you are a champion for the educational technology movement and your Shift Happens videos are inspirational and continue to revolutionize the education system!

Your boot camp challenge for this week:

Try one of the five suggestions for a week. Through a blog or diary keep track of how the experience has positively and negatively impacted you.

Do you want to share your experience of using one of these five technologies? Even if you found the experience unpleasant, please contact me to host your blog or for an interview!