If an instructor wanted to become "plugged in" to the social media wave and be updated in the educational technology field, these are what I would suggest.
First off, have them choose a memorable username and passwords. There will be a lot of tools and sites that require registration so it's important to choose names and passwords that they will remember and are comfortable being known as.
Second, I would have them sign up to Twitter. This is where a lot of information gets distributed. It's the wild west of social media where it's a pub full of congregated people talking about everything ranging from what they had for breakfast, to breaking news happening before it's available on the TV news networks.
By following verified companies, groups, sources that are dedicated in distributing articles, news, information to their followers, you are sure to be receiving legitimate information coming directly from the expected source. I would have them look up what sources they are following and have them follow them too. Edutopia, for example, is a good twitter account to follow, as well as any tech news to keep up with the emerging tools.
I would also have them register to Facebook for a more steady and longer stream of collaboration. Again, have them follow verified accounts, follow their followers, and basically create a network of information and resource sharing and connections.
I would have them sign up for the Horizon Report as it gives future trends and emerging projects and websites they can check out on their own to read. It is a very useful source to feel out the direction of where educational technology is heading.
The trick with educational technology is it can be a very abstract topic with new tools coming and going, improving, and falling behind. It is a constantly moving field where you have to grab and hold on to all the information that is passing through. It has to be kept up with, researched, and evaluated, and the best way is to use these tools mentioned above to keep the feed fresh and to sift out all the information into what you think is useful, not useful, right or wrong.
