1.4 Professional development
Whilst social networking can be done informally and outside of the regular work environment, its value to your professional development can be marked (Davis, 2011). By sharing with peers and experts via networks, you can advance your online teaching skillset more rapidly than you would do alone, and solve issues that you may encounter by asking for assistance from your network. In addition, beyond the subject matter of online teaching, simply developing the skill of effective networking is a further asset to your professional development. Many educational institutions now actively support their staff to develop social networks and recognise the value of this.