Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Who Should I Follow (PLN Suggestions)?


BHS teachers, last week I suggested a couple of tips to help manage the stream of information in your PLN.

This week, I’d like to help answer the questions…Now that I’m connected, who should I follow?  Who should be included in my Twitter lists/must read RSS feeds?

Take a few minutes to evaluate the blogs that you are reading.  If there are a few that you are consistently drawn to, add them to a “must read” folder in your reader of choice (Google Reader for me).

I would also suggest that you review and possibly add the following blogs:

BHS e-Library
BHS South Library
Cool Cat Teacher
Free Technology for Teachers
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day
My Island View
SmartBlog on Education
The Best of What Tim Found Today
Will Richardson

Do the same thing with your Twitter stream.  Add any “top notch” tweeters to a list so you can eliminate the noise and focus on the good stuff.

You could also simply follow a public list that others have already created.  Here are two that I’ve created that you may be interested in:

Tim’s “Top Notch” Twitter List - primarily geared to educational technology topics
Tim’s Ed Leadership List – Ed leadership and school reform resources with an eye toward technology


Being connected is only helpful if you have a purpose for being plugged in and you connect to quality information that you are able to manage and learn from.  Drinking from a fire hose is tough.  Narrow your focus, identify your top resources then use lists and “must read” folders to help you manage your PLN stream.