October is Connected Educator Month! This exciting initiative is driven by the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education and is focused on K-12, but has great applicability to Higher Education too. Interestingly, due to the government shutdown they’ve already had to postpone some of their scheduled events. The goal of the initiative is to connect educators across the United States via online communities and social networks. The hope is that educators will compare best practices, engage in conversation, become mentors, find mentors, and more. Here are my suggestions for getting started participating in the Connected Educator community. I encourage you to watch the video below to get inspired!

And finally, here are my suggestions for getting engaged in the Connected Educator community.

1. Explore the Connected Educator site here.
2. Sign up for emails here.
3. For those of you that teach in K-12, take 15 minutes to sign up for a profile here.
4. If you are on Twitter follow #ce13, or even better join in on the conversation.