A story of the development of an online community to support teachers at Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.

1. Tales from the Teaching and Learning Community Ning Social networking services in the tertiary education environment.

2. What do people do on social networking services? * Communicate with existing networks, make and develop friendships/contacts * Represent themselves online, create and develop an online presence * View content/find information * Create and customise profiles * Author and upload content * Add and share content * Post messages – public & private * Collaborate with other people http://www.digizen.org

3. Benefits for Teachers as learners/novices in social networking.

4. Teachers as social participants and active citizens of Unitec

5. Teachers developing voice and building trust

6. Content creators, managers and distributors

7. Collaborators and Team Players

8. Explorers and Learners

9. Becoming independent and building resilience

10. Developing key and real world skills

12. Literacy and communication skills extended

13. Data protection and copyright

14. Self representation and presentation

15. E-safety

16. Forming communities of practice

17. Organising and scheduling work

18. Being where learners are