I was attending college in West Virginia when Marshall University’s football team went down in a devastating plane crash. The Movie We are Marshall has always had a special meaning for me as a result of that geographical and emotional connection. I was always moved by the community rallying to the support of the team and the University. As I remember, 40 years ago, the sense of community was as true in life, as it was portrayed in the movie.
The sense of community has a great deal to do with social media as I see it. There are no rules in social media. There are pockets of groups that are governed by a sense of purpose for a specific interest or a specific topic. This can be by an occupation, an industry, a family, a common disease, a hobby, a heritage, or any common experience of those who formed that community. What governs the group is its common purpose to advance its cause in a collaborative effort by the members.
There are some social media sites that establish rules for their site. They can also establish them to be private or public. There is but one final consequence for those who ignore the rules on a site. They are banned from the group. It is a setting on the site that group managers have.
Twitter is totally public. One may determine who to follow and even, to an extent, who will follow back. There is a setting for blocking followers from contact. These determinations are made by whom an individual wants to include in their personal network. Each tweeter sets his or her own standards for acceptance of his or her network members.
I, along with many other educators, have set up Professional or Personal Learning Networks, PLN’s. Our common interest is Education. Some educators narrow that down to specific subject areas, and some are generalists. Having taught in the K-12 world for 34 years and now Higher Education for the last three years, I consider myself a generalist with a leaning toward increasing technology as a tool for education. I have found technology to be a common interest of many educators on my PLN since that is what brings us together in this medium.
That is the backdrop for the facts about the formation of #EdChat. I think this needs to be recorded somewhere, so that those who join today understand what it is and not be confused by what others say it is. I along with Steve Anderson and Shelly Terrell are the founders of #EdChat. It grew from our experiences with Twitter and our PLN.
I often engage members of my PLN in discussions about education. The topic of choice is usually reforming Education to get it more involved with Technology tools for learning. For my PLN, this is the topic that binds us. Since some meaningful and substantive discussions were only visible to members of my PLN who were online at that time, I wanted more. Collaborative learning works best when you can collaborate. We had the subject, but we needed the people. Shelly suggested that we post out a discussion topic and we hashtag it so that anyone could follow. #EdChat was an unused hashtag so we put it in place. We soon found that others had ideas for topics. Steve Anderson contributed the #EdChat Poll.
Each week we place 5 topics on a poll for people to select a topic for discussion. Topics are suggested, or they are developed by popular discussions on the PLN that week, or they are topics that are being discussed by educators at various Educational conferences. Again, I remind you, many of our PLN members have technology in common, and it is a concern that comes to the surface often. This is how we started and developed #EdChat. These are the facts and not the myth. I believe we started in August of 2009.We have now grown beyond or own PLN. Our topics, however, have remained true to our objective. They are: general educational concerns, often Technology-in-Education concerns, reform topics, and general Pedagogical concerns.
We originally had one EdChat discussion on Tuesdays, at 7 PM EST. This was not meeting the needs of many of European members in consideration of the different Time Zones. We added a 12 noon EST EdChat to include them. This allowed more coverage of several topics and avoided duplication. We use the first topic choice for our largest group at 7 and the second most popular topic for the noon session. We try to recycle Topics not selected and we add new Topics from suggestions and discussions on the PLN or the EdChat discussion. We have archived most of our EdChats, but we did not do this at the beginning. Our EdChat archives reside on The Educator’s PLN Ning site, http://edupln.ning.com.
#EdChat has now become more than when we started. We have received national attention in more than one educational journal. We have been represented at a number of Educational Conferences. The hashtag #edchat is now tagged on to many educational tweets making it a 24/7 depository of educational tweets. That takes it beyond the 7 and noon use of the hashtag.
The community that is Edchat, determines the membership. Anyone interested in the discussion of the topic chosen by the community is welcomed to join. The value of members’ tweets is determined by participating members. If they want to engage another member they will. Often there are satellite discussions going on within an EdChat. It is like a great party where members can travel from one group to another and engage in a discussion that was prompted by the original Topic. We have hundreds of participants and over a thousand tweets in a one hour period.
EdChat is about an exchange of ideas. It has had an impact on the educational community based on references in Blogs, journals , and conferences. As one of the founders of Edchat I have laid out the facts as I know them. I hope that this dispels any misinformation that people may have about Edchat. It is a community of collaborative Educators whose only agenda is to improve education from their perspective of understanding. Often, but not always that is a perspective in the use of Technology.
It should be noted that this is a formula that was successful for us. It is also being duplicated by others who had specific topics that concerned their communities. We do not own the formula anyone can use it. There is a parent group chat and a gifted and talented chat there was even a Portuguese Edchat. Social media affords many ways that individuals may address their community needs. If Edchat is not meeting your specific needs please use the same strategies and tools as #EdChat to meet your needs.
That is EdChat as I understand it. That is as a founder, and a participant in all but a few of many EdChats conducted since August. You are free to comment here. I would hope that you will try to respond to what Edchat is, and not what others with far less EdChat experience say it is.
Thank you for clearing that up. I have enjoyed the #edchat conversations by being a lurker in the past since I am not a teacher in the traditional sense.
Its good to know all of the background information and where you want the conversation focused.
A heartfelt thanks to You, Steve Anderson and Shelly Terrell. I had a brief run with K -12 in 1969 in NYC. Then 7 years at a design school teaching Project Managment and Print Production.
With edchat typical modesty, I think you left out the secret sauce. Staying with it.
I truly believe there are very few new ideas. On teaching if we go back to Socrates, it’s pretty much been said. If we go to technology, it’s a tool to scale Socratic teaching. No doubt the implementation in any particular context is inherently complex and this is not amenable to specific mandates.
My congratulations and thanks are for the extraordinary focus the edchat team has maintained as it has grown.
@toughloveforx on twitter.
Thanks for the background on #edchat. Though I’ve had a difficult time making any (perhaps we need an early Tuesday morning one (6 AM EST, anyone?), I’ve really enjoyed the ones I did make. Always engaging and enlightening tweet-versations.
As a hashtag it seems to have really blown up (especially since the well deserved edublog award). I’ve wondered how y’all, as founders, have felt about it becoming a popular hashtag for folks to promote or share blog posts and other such resources. Guess I’m still a bit curious.
Jason
Thanks for pointing that out. I believe the other founders feel as I do on this. We believe in collaboration. We did this to promote discussion and the exchange ideas. The #EdChat hashtag at the end of an educational tweet extends the range of that idea to educators that the original tweeter might not otherwise have access to. It’s all good.
What I great job breaking down #edchat for people who want to know. I feel I have learned so much from others since I’ve been a part of #edchat. Keep up the wonderful work you do here and everywhere else. Thanks again.
– @TheNerdyTeacher
I too appreciate all the work you all have done to put #edchat together and not only keep it going, but allow it to thrive. I have learned a great deal, contributed much less (I am trying to change this), and connected with many. It is an amazing resource and an ideal use of Twitter. You have now added a perfect post for us to point others to who may be in need of an understanding of its purpose and significance.
– @tkraz
[…] for setting up the polls each week! If you have more quesitons about Edchat, see Tom Whitby’s recent post explaining […]
Great job but you omitted the most important thing:
#edchat is held on Tuesdays at Noon (EST) and 7 pm (EST)
Thank you, and Steve Anderson and Shelly Terrell for providing an outstanding forum. We are definitely becoming a global web of interconnected minds.
Thank you Tom, Steve and Shelly. As a K-12 superintendent, I find #edchat conversations to be eye-opening, giving me many different perspectives on a particular problem area. It’s invaluable as I go about my daily work as chief instructional leader working with my team to move our district forward. Sadly, I have never achieved that same level of interaction and critical discourse with the other superintendent’s in my county, and the faculty in our district are not always open to engaging in this type of pointed conversation with “the boss.”
Let’s keep the ideas flowing!
Thank you Tom (and Steve and Shelly) for providing all these wonderful resources, eye-opening discussions, and convincing me to ‘see’ that there is good when it comes to the ‘social media’.
This is for you Tom – “Let’s Go Mountaineers”
Tom, thanks for letting folks know about the background. I’ll be honest, I thought it had been going on longer than that. I hope that those who want to be a part of this incredible exchange of ideas respect the fact that this is something created by you three for us to use. Like a valued heirloom we should all inspect it, play with it, and then put it back in its place so that it can be enjoyed by others. Thank you again.
Thanks so much for the historical perspective. I have loved lurking. I have been fascinated by the myriad of opinions expressed in the forum and often validated when my thoughts, attitudes and beliefs (and questions!) are expressed by others. It is nice to know that many of my frustrations with appropriate pedagogical technology use in education are not only occuring in my little corner of the world!
I stumbled on to #edchat a few weeks ago and i’m hooked! I try not to miss one. Following you, Tom, Steve, and Shelly has broadened my horizons. I told my students that if I miss a chance to check Twitter I’ll have anywhere from 80 to nearly 200 hundred tweets (that’s in 5 to 8 hours!). So one student said, “just skip past all the messages.”. I laughed because I’m afraid of what I’ll miss! That’s how it goes with #edchat, I don’t want to miss anything! lol
This is a great thing and serves a great purpose.
@educatoral
I don’t always participate in #Edchat, but I do love to lurk and read the exchanges! As an English teacher, I sometimes have trouble thinking in 140 character bits:) I always leave that time with more ideas than I know what to do with! It’s great to know also, that through building my PLN, I have a ready resource of people to call on if I have a question or need a quick resource.
Thanks!
Thank you for creating a place to collaborate with other educators worldwide. It is always a fast paced conversation, and I’ve found it stimulates even more ideas and conversations post chat when there is time to reflect and process the information.
Thanks,
@StarrMatica
I can’t say enough about #edchat. Like Al above, I too am hooked!
It’s the one place you can connect with educators from around the world and engage in a meaningful dialogue about education. I’ve been incredibly impressed with the level and quality of the comments and as a result, I’ve been doing whatever I can to shine a spotlight on this great movement.
Every week on Edutopia.org, we select a guest blogger from one of the participants to dive even deeper into the subject discussed. Our latest post was on Educational Reform by (@olafelch) – Check it out: http://bit.ly/9AFqiP.
Cheers,
Elana
Online Membership Coordinator, Edutopia
@elanaleoni
PS: Kudos to Steven, Shelly, and Tom for creating such an inspiring movement on Twitter.
Tom,
It is amazing that you were so close to the Marshall event. I was touched by the movie and sense of community. I’m really excited to be part of the #Edchat community who I believe makes a real difference in their learning communities. I know many members of our community actually create projects, try different methods of instruction, collaborate for change, present to politicians and leaders, and so forth. We are a community of doers who translate the weekly discussions into action.
Shelly
Thank you for the history and for all of the work that has gone into the organizing and moderating of #edchat. As a total addict, I am grateful. I often think that I will just lurk, but find that I am inevitably drawn into the conversation, either to RT someone else’s good idea or to share something that has popped into my head.
It has deepened and broadened my PLN in meaningful ways, because I learn so much about people during #edchat discussion. After almost every #edchat, there are new people that I want to follow.
Thank you,
@hadleyjf
It took me awhile to understand some of the motivation of why this post happened since I haven’t been able to participate in many of the #edchat conversations. I’ve since seen a few tweets to help me gain a better understanding. It is interesting that several groups of educators have tried to create realtime conversations using hashtags, but this group has found the right combination of creating an inviting context in which experienced educators can contribute, as well as making those educators who are new or haven’t reached a point where they are comfortable adding to the ideas, still feeling welcome. All this success has come about because of the hard work of a group of passionate educators and I’m glad to have the opportunity to participate and thank you for giving me the chance.
I do wonder because so many of the people who are commenting here consider themselves “lurkers” whether there is even another way for them to feel like participants. For myself I don’t think I process ideas as well if I’m not somehow responding and commenting, and, hopefully by incorporating something like an Elluminate room, these folks who aren’t quite ready to jump into the stream will with practice do so.
Since my colleague turned me on to #edchat, I have become absolutely enthralled by the experience. I have learned more in the past few weeks from #edchat and ‘meeting’ new colleagues via twitter than I did in the past year. Thank you for this and thank all of you for the wonderful, open exchange of information!!
First of all, I need to say that this presentation, a wedding of text and technology (case on point) was so well done–fabulous. Thank you.
That said, I have engaged with some #edchat discourse and found it to be both intellectually stimulating and a learning curve via the pathway of technology. Truly, “a reinvention of the wheel,” even in its archive structure.
One caveat, and I have raised this issue before, I feel that tech professionals should take the lead by supporting others less savvy in much the same we execute peer coaching in classrooms. If we want educators to come into the light, then we must mentor them, not enable them.
Thanks for the joy of an excellent read:-0)
I love #edchat. It provides me a forum for discussion with other education professionals about relevant and current topics. Also, thanks to #edchat and twitter, I’ve found a great PLN of my own. I get (and use) great ideas from them.
A great big THANKS!! to you and Shelly and Steve!
I have asked this question THREE times through Twitter (open to everyone) but have not received a reply from you or other #edchat organizers:
Q again: Info on #edchat participants by country? My idea is that most come from the #US & few from countries in the South-like myself.
If available, it would also be important to know the gender and age composition of #edchat participants as well as their professional background or status.
Thank you for replying through Twitter.
Sincerely,
Rosa Maria Torres
Fronesis
http://www.fronesis.org
Quito-Ecuador
As I replied to you on each of your requests, we have no such data. We have archives of the discussions and you can see the twitter names in the archives. That is all there is. To look at whatever information each of the participants might have in their profile would be a monumental task. There are also no set members of EdChat. People join the discussion and leave the disscussion.
There is a website called What the hashtag that allows you to register your hashtags, say what they are about and when they occur. Hope this helps!
http://wthashtag.com/Main_Page
Bur Bur and Friends, educating kids about sports and outdoor exploration! http://burburandfriends.com
Just so that you’re aware of the history of live educational chats via Twitter, you can visit: http://thecleversheep.blogspot.com/2009/03/launch-of-educhat.html
It’s funny how sometimes we don’t know where ideas originated… but synchronous chats with the tag #journchat is where things all began in early 2009.
All good things,
Rodd
@thecleversheep
This is a great explanation of #edchat. I am also very much hooked on my weekly “meeting” with my PLN. Exchanging ideas with so many people has really helped me to grow as a teacher. Thanks for all you do!
[…] Tuesday, I go to my #edchat “meeting” on Twitter where we discuss various education topics from what we are doing […]
Hi Tom,
I am little behind this week… but I just read the post about reform and transform and thought of another blog– which presented a possible solution for those of us leading change and dealing with those in our profession resistant to change and adaptation of new tools and strategies.
It’s called the obligated question… i.e. when someone says they can’t try something different because of “A”, then, “B” then “C”– our immediate response could be: If I could provide/support you with A and B AND C will you give it a shot? To read more about this approach… check out the Literacy Blog by Brenda Power at http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/1217.cfm. I am definitely going to be trying this strategy in the fall!
Lynne
[…] Tom Whitby explains the origins of Edchat and the motivation! […]
[…] Tom Whitby explains the origins of Edchat and the motivation! […]
[…] Tuesday, I go to my #edchat “meeting” on Twitter where we discuss various education topics from what we are doing […]
[…] See also: https://tomwhitby.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/we-are-edchat/ […]