Only Connect:Harvesting the powerof social media

Julie Adams and Eleanor Johnston

Information Services

Session outline

• Personal learning networks

– What, why, how

• A look at some of the tools

• Developing your own network

– Where are you now

– Getting where you want to be

Personal Learning Networks

What?

Why?

How?

What is a PLN?

an environment for a person to manage

connections

The PLN is an environment for a person to manage

knowledge (whatever than means)

PLNs provide individuals with learning and access to leaders and experts around the world bringing together communities, resources

and information.

A network that consists of the people a learner interacts with and derives

knowledge from.... a person makes a connection with another person with the specific intent that some type of learning

will occur because of that connection (Wikipedia)

all about using web tools such as blogs, wikis, Twitter, Facebook to

create connections with others which extend our learning, increases our

reflection while enabling us to learn together as part of a global

community.

Why?

Draw on a huge range of ideas and experiences of experts working in a wide range of roles, all over the world.

• Connect with others

• Collaborate: Share and exchange ideas and experience

• Contribute

• Inject creativity into everyday practice

• Enjoy a constant flow of ideas

• Encourage innovation

• Develop enthusiasm and passion

• Timely: learn what you need, when you need it.

... but also...

PLNs can help filter

the information

down

...so it can be difficult

to get to what we

need

There are now huge

amounts of information

available

The issue is “not information overload, but filter failure”

Clay Shirky

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/communications/internet-minute-infographic.html

How?• You decide!

– What tools you use

– Who you connect with

– How you want to learn

– When you want to learn

Some tools we’ll look at...

Blogs• Directories: Technorati

• Search: Google blog search, Google ‘experts’ names

• Social discovery – Twitter, Facebook

• Other bloggers links

• Links from other websites

Finding:

• RSS feeds

• Choose your readerFollow:

• University blog server

• Within some other tools

• Free tools: BloggerCreate:

Social Network tools

Linkedinhttp://www.linkedin.com/http://learn.linkedin.com/

Yammer http://www.yammer.com

Facebook http://www.facebook.com

Google+ http://www.google.com/+/business/

Multimedia Social Media

YouTube

SlideShare

Flickr

PLNs• See what others have said:

http://edtechpost.wikispaces.com/PLE%20Diagrams

PLNs

What does yours look like?

What do you want it to look like?

Getting started...

All networks start with a single connection...

Find your entry point!

...and build on it

Some quick ways to start

• Pick 5 interesting blogs to read regularly

• Subscribe to blogs e.g. Google Reader

• Comment on the blogs

• Join a social network

• Read tweets and find some experts to follow

• Bookmark and share things you find

Tips on building Your PLN

• Don't just lurk – Comment, Engage and Participate

• Start slowly (maybe find mentor(s) to help you)

• Build your identity - use the same username across tools

• Share as much as you take (resources, successes, failures, other connections)

• Start conversations

• Try new tools for yourself

• Lifelong learning is the key!