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Online communities and learning networks are helping hundreds of thousands of educators learn, reducing isolation and providing “just in time” access to knowledge and opportunities for collaboration. However, many educators are not yet participating and others aren’t realizing the full benefits. In many cases, schools, districts, and states also are not recognizing and rewarding this essential professional learning. For these reasons, the U.S. Department of Education’s Connected Educators initiative is launching Connected Educator Month in August 2012. Throughout August, there will be coordinated opportunities to participate in events and activities in dozens of online locations to develop skills and enhance one’s personal learning network.

An intensive, two-day online conference on transforming teaching and learning—featuring senior Department of Education officials and education thought leaders—will kick off the month. Plans are under way for opportunities such as: Month-long forums on key topics, such as personalizing learning and the future of the teaching profession, which will be moderated by noted education leaders and consist of online discussions, interviews, webinars, chats, and more. Guided tours and real-time community open houses, which will connect educators with communities, answering questions such as: Who can help me solve challenges I’m facing in my classroom and how do I best connect with them? How can I help change my profession for the better? Contests for addressing community challenges, developing innovative ideas, and creating compelling video demonstrations. Inauguration of a new series of open badges for connected educators as well as online communities. All events and activities will be archived and synthesized into multimedia “proceedings” that will serve as a permanent resource to educators and community sponsors.

The U.S. Department of Education has declared August Connected Educator Month, and since we’d be nothing without the teachers we’ve connected with over the years, we’re enthusiastically on board.To celebrate, we asked every educator who has written a guest post for us, been featured in a Reader Idea, or collaborated on one of our features to answer two simple questions:What is one important thing you’ve learned from someone in your Personal Learning Network (P.L.N.), however you define that network?What one person, group or organization would you recommend every educator add to his or her P.L.N.?Reading their responses, below, is a crash course in how to be a “connected educator.” By our count, together they’ve recommended more than 100 people, organizations, sites and other resources you can learn from right now, as well as shared insights on how to learn from them.