Online PD: The BUZZ about LearnCentral

Another online webinar I recently attended in Live Classroom 2.0 was about the newest social network for teachers, officially launched this past weekend at EdubloggerCon 2009: LearnCentral (www.learncentral.org). Steve Hargadon and Gailene Nelson, involved in the creation of LearnCentral, were the guest speakers. The full recording can be found here:
TheBUZZ about LearnCentral

Learn Central, has been designed as a platform from which to access other Web 2.0 tools. It is still a work in progress, so there are still bugs and features that don't work, and they welcome any suggestion you have about how to improve it or what addional features you want to see. It includes Profile (used as an electronic portfolio), Forum (for discussions), Photo/ Video/ Audio (content repository), Directories (to find people/ PLN), Groups (use as learning teams).


What can be done on Learn Central (in their own words)

• Connect with your peers worldwide
• Share ideas, discuss issues, solve problems
• Meet with colleagues in real time
• Develop and share standards-based curriculum
• Access a library of peer-rated resources
• Discover relevant content for your classroom
• Improve skills and increase effectiveness
• Create and maintain a portfolio of learning content
• Join and create groups
• Collaborate on projects and best practices
• Mentor and be mentored
• Increase visibility of an academic institution
• Conduct professional development training
• Attend events with thought leaders in the education community
• Participate in a global dialogue to help transform education

I haven't explored it enough yet, I am sure there are a number of great features that I have yet to discover, but as of right now, I think the main feature that sets Learn Central appart from other teacher networks is that each member gets their own free Elluminate vRoom. This is a virtual room in which you can invite colleagues to hold online conferences (three people at a time). My favorite thing about Elluminate are being able to share your desktop (so you can show people how to use different webtools, and they can follow what you are doing on your computer in real time).

With so many already established education network sites out there, I'm curious as to where it's going to go... You can follow the latest updates re: Learn Central on twitter @learncentral

Has anyone joined yet? I would love to hear your impressions.