Building learning communities and networks online means reaching beyond the walls of your classroom, the walls of your school, and even the walls of your own state, country, or continent to create connections. Once you reach out and make connections with other educators, professional learning like you have never experienced before starts to flow your way. You will soon find yourself in a state of continual learning. Taking advantage of the constant stream of information available today on the web at any given moment and using it for your own professional growth is what it means to learn in today's digital world. It is the ability to connect to the information and people you want to learn from. It is literally having the resource that is the Internet at your fingertips when you need it. This book will walk you through how to get started in joining online communities and creating learning networks tailored to what you are interested in learning about. Learn how to use Twitter for your own professional learning and use Facebook with students to communicate and engage them in learning beyond the walls of your classroom. By building a custom learning landscape for yourself, you will become more confident and help your students do the same. As you become more comfortable with using online communities and networks for your own learning, you will be able to pass your new knowledge on to your students and help them to reach out and create learning networks of their own.
About the Author: Jeff Utecht is an international educator and an educational technology consultant. He began his career in Elementary Education and subsequently earned his Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on technology. Originally a fourth grade teacher from Washington State, Jeff was awarded a Bill and Melinda Gates Technology Leadership Grant in 2000 that put 7 computers and a projector in his room. This was the start of his passion for using technology in education. Now 11 years later he speaks and consults for schools and organizations around the world. Over the past 8 years, Jeff has lived and worked in Saudi Arabia, China and currently resides in Thailand. His global experience in education has allowed him to see first hand how the Internet is changing education. An early adopter with blogging, his blog thethinkingstick.com has been featured in a number of books and articles as well as being used as a continual resource for educators around the world. Jeff has taught online graduate classes since 2007 for different American Universities and continues to teach courses online in the area of educational technology. Jeff is currently a Technology & Learning Coordinator for the International School Bangkok, where he works with both educators and students in understanding the social web we now live in.