Now it’s time to start cultivating your own PLN!

• Find a professional group and/or individuals who align with your professional interests. 
  • You could begin by reviewing the Twitter EdChat calendar, this guide to Education and Training Conferences in New Zealand, Inside Higher Ed’s Twitter Directory, and/or other sites such as Research and Education Advanced Network New Zealand, Flexible Learning Association of New Zealand, the Centre for Open Education Practice, Ako Aotearoa, or ASCILITE.
  • Find the virtual places that feel most comfortable and sustainable for you.
  • Go where your people are, be strategic, and take your cues from people in your network. For example, if you notice at a conference that several presenters are posting their Twitter account names, then Twitter is likely to be the place where others will be found. Or perhaps the common gathering place for your discipline is something other than Twitter, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or a Slack workspace.
  • See also the Twitter list of people and organisations related to Ontario Extend for possible accounts to follow, as well as this visualisation of the Ontario Extend Twitter Network. Let’s start building our own Extend NZ network!
  • A number of diverse educators can be found through the VoiceEd website, sharing their knowledge in podcast form. You can then follow these educators on social media or reach out directly.
• Represent new additions to your PLN.
  • Using the eCampus Ontario Extend Toolkit or a visual tool of your choice, find a creative visual way to showcase/illustrate your PLN ‘seedling’, and which professional group aligns most with your professional interests. Don’t worry about including multiple connections at this stage. We will build on this diagram in a later activity.

As evidence of completion, please add a link or a copy of your response to your Extend NZ blog or portfolio.

Remember to:

• Strengthen your connections. Comment on and share the work of others and contribute your own work or ideas. Gather and follow the people and organisations that push you to extend your thinking and move out of your comfort zone. Challenge yourself to find diverse voices that may inspire your thinking in new ways. These things are key to creating a sustainable PLN – one that will help you develop and feel inspired
• Limit your ‘follows’ to topics you are passionate about. Cull your follows once in a while to refocus your stream
• Always use ‘netiquette’; acknowledge the contributions of others
• Think before you share; be consistent with the identity you are projecting