Network+Building

=**Network Building.**=

Our network is vital to help us learn and grow. Some of the following resources will help you broaden and enrich your current network:

**Why build your network?**

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 * Power up your Professional Learning Network by Jennifer Dorman
 * And lots more by Jennifer Dorman about PLNs here.

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**Twitter. **

 * Twitter - a teaching and learning tool by Tom Barratt
 * How to organise Twitter for an extraordinary personal learning network
 * [|Ultimate Twitter guidebook for teachers].
 * Twitter4teachers wiki
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 * Tweetdeck - organise your tweets to make it easier to find what you need (well we are librarians after all!) Note - may not work in all schools due to blocking.
 * Using hashtags # such as #tlchat to see tweets relating to school libraries.
 * **And remember, you choose who you follow.**
 * Shelly Terrell gives us Tips and tools to manage your Twitter time.
 * Share your Twitter name with others at Make, Share, Do to build your network. (**Please note that this will be public, so please do not fill out if you want privacy.**)
 * Sharing Twitter names for network building spreadsheet results.

**RSS Feeds**

 * A way to keep track of all the news in the world of educational/library technologies is to subscribe to a number of blogs. The news is then sent to you, rather than you having to try to find it. **


 * ** Use Google Reader, Bloglines , Feedly or other RSS readers to subscribe to blogs. **
 * A list of Australian library-related blogs (if you blog and yours is not here, submit it here.
 * Edublogs awards : a shortlist of good global educational blogs voted by peers.

Blogging alliance
If you blog (or want to), consider starting or joining a blogging alliance. This is where you commit to reading and commenting on a number of relevant blogs. In return, other educators will do the same for you.

Nings and wikis
These can be great ways to communicate and share and learn with other like minded educators.
 * Social networks for teacher librarians and library staff can be accessed via the Teacher Librarian Ning and the TL Virtual Cafe
 * The Victorian Guide to Innovation Ning is available to all educators.

Diigo or Delicious Bookmarking
Join a Diigo or Delicious group that is relevant to you to share bookmarks and annotations on websites.

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 * Diigo Tutorials
 * Diigo in Education
 * Annotate, archive and organise in Diigo
 * This is a great video about how you can connect with others and find people with similar interests on Diigo.

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Flickr photo sharing
Join a group and share photos.

=__Online bookclubs__ = Librarything  Shelfari  Good Reads

**Free online professional learning** Connect and learn with others:
 * The Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development's Virtual Conference Centre has a wide variety of **free sessions for any teacher from any school.**
 * LearnCentral Australia Series has Australia time zone friendly sessions
 * LearnCentral also hosts global sessions; recordings are available if international time zones don't suit.