October is Connected Educator Month, and SmartBlog on Education is providing free professional development for teachers this month.

Connected Educator Month started in 2012 by the U.S. Department of Education in order to "get educators proficient with social media to improve their practice, help schools integrate connected learning into their formal professional development efforts and stimulate and support innovation in the field of education," said Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach on SmartBlogs.com. 

Last year, more than 300 educational organizations, schools and school districts participated in Connected Educator Month, and more than 600 free, national professional learning events and activities happened around connected education. But as successful as Connected Educator Month 2013 was, there are still educators who are not connected, and many more who are not yet taking full advantage of the opportunities connected education affords.

SmartBlogs has new goals and offers educators tips on how to make the most of Connected Educator Month. One of Nussbaum-Beach's tips is to "find an event, add an event."

"There are activities from Twitter chats to webinars to guided tours and more on our calendar," Nussabaum-Beach said. "Create an account, fill out a profile and create a personalized schedule that syncs with your calendar of choice [Google, iCal, etc.]. You can also search for events in many ways (by topic, audience or type of event). Add your own events to the calendar. Need help coming up with events? Here’s an overview of the event and more detailed advice on formats and topics."

Read the full story. 

Article by Kassondra Granata, EducationWorld Contributor