Twitter’s biggest obstacle to being the number one tool of Professional Development for educators is Twitter. It is a simple tool, based on a simple idea, which is complicated by its simplicity. To use twitter is to get it. To explain Twitter is a losing proposition. Twitter’s reputation as an application is its worst enemy. It has been the brunt of comedians’ jokes since it began. Members of the Hollywood crowd embraced it for the purpose of engaging their fans with a majority of mindless tweets to build a following. Many have a following in the millions. The concept most accepted by the public is that Twitter is used by individuals to broadcast to people the meaningless actions and events in their day-to-day existence. How could this ever be taken seriously, not to even mention being used as a tool for Professional Development for educators?
Social learning is common to all. We learn through social encounters. We pass along information in social settings. We collaborate with others in our social engagements. A committee is simply a gathering of individuals for social interaction for the purpose of learning and creating. This all occurs in our face to face world. This all takes place with people who can assemble in close proximity at predetermined location and a pre-determined, in-common, time period. Our face to face learning has the boundaries of time and space, but when those boundaries are accounted for, meaningful learning may take place.
With the advancement of technology, and its integration with the internet, the ability to make social contact with individuals is enhanced because the internet takes us beyond boundaries of space and time. We can contact individuals around the globe. Our thoughts and ideas can be suspended in time until retrieved by others. We can exchange ideas or information in the form of: text, audio files, photos, videos, Blog posts, articles, URL’s (links), charts, data, and live interaction. All of this is made possible with Social Media.
Twitter is a social media application. It enables people to use it as a conduit for information to other individuals. That is the simple part. Now let us consider the complications that come from trying to keep Twitter simple. First, the Tweet, or the message, can only be 140 characters in length. Many find this too limiting. I expect those individuals might be long-winded in a face to face setting as well.
A huge problem with Twitter for some is understanding who is getting the message. Remember Twitter is Social Media and is based on social interaction. If you walked into an auditorium full of people and started talking without engaging someone first, no one would be listening. You would be talking out loud to yourself. If you introduced yourself to someone and then began a conversation you now have someone listening and interacting. You would then do the same with a second, third, and fourth person. You have connected with those people and selected them as persons you may interact with, and they have selected you as well, based on your intelligent contributions to the discussion. As that works in life, so it works in Twitter.
Simply stated, the only people who get your tweets are those who follow you, your “followers”. The only Tweets that will come to you are those from people you choose to follow. They are called “Following” If you follow family members, you may expect Tweets about family matters would monopolize your tweets. If the idea is to use Twitter as a professional Development tool, then the people you should follow would be educators. You will build a personal, professional learning Network by limiting the people you follow to educators. In addition, if your Tweets are educationally topical, those who follow you will also be educators, or people interested in topics of education.
All Tweets are public and will be seen by all who follow you. A Direct Message is private. A” DM” can only be sent to a person you follow and he, or she must be following you as well. You cannot “DM someone who does not follow you.
Educators tweet educational things including: text, audio files, photos, videos, Blog posts, articles, URL’s (links), Charts, data, and live interaction. These could be a lesson specific tweet, or a topic involving methods of education. Personal experiences from educators globally. It could be a question from an educator seeking an answer. Having information and collaborating on ideas creates an environment for Professional Development. It can be used at any time without regard to boundaries that impede face to face socialization. The number of participants is not limited to a school, district, city, state, or country. There is no isolation of Elementary, Secondary, or Higher Ed educators.
Not knowing how to find educators to follow may have been a problem in the past, but it is being made easier all of the time. Educational Blogs may have a “Follow Me on Twitter” Icon. Click and follow. Always check out the profile of a perspective person to follow. You will be able to see that person’s last tweets as well as their profile. Additionally, you can view icons of who they follow. Click on any of those icons and you are transported to that person’s profile. Repeat the process as long as needed, or return to the original profile to start a new path of follow research. Profiles may also contain lists of followers. A twitter list may contain a large number of educators. One click will follow every member of the list. There are several educational chats ongoing weekly. Educators from around the world are involved. If you find interesting participants in the chat, follow them on Twitter.
Twitter is only one component of a comprehensive PLN. There are many Social Media applications that serve educators well for communication, collaboration, and creation. All of these applications are constantly evolving or disappearing, to be replaced by new applications. We need to buy into the method and not the tool. Tools change, but learning continues. To be better educators we need to be better learners.
Those of us who successfully use Twitter as a tool for Professional Development need to act as ambassadors of information. We need to share that which we glean from our Personal Learning Networks and not be shy about telling other educators where it came from. It was not Ashton Kutcher, Linsay Lohan, or Paris Hilton who shared that information, but collaborative educators.
Good reflection, Tom.
Can I link to this for the social media “lunch and learn” I’m developing for teachers in my district?
http://www.sislt.com/wiki
Excellent post Tom, I especially liked the introduction discussing Twitter’s biggest obstacle being itself. I find this in every class I take. Instead of trying to show someone a great tool, you are immediately trying to cast off their preconceptions and hoping they will look at it with an open mind.
Great post. Twitter does have issues, but it has opened many doors for professionals in all fields. It is particularly good for educators as we are eager to share what we know unlike people in most businesses who have trade secrets to protect. Although I get a lot of great professional development information from Twitter, the process in not efficient. I spend a lot of time sorting the wheat from the chaff. Educators who are active on Twitter need to find time beyond their busy day and not everyone can. For those who cannot, there are blogs like mine (DrDougGreen.Com) that put the best tweets in a file and post it on a weekly basis. Others do the same thing so if you follow a few of these condensed tweet lists, you can gain the professional development advantage in a much more efficient manner. The best part is that you can do so in a daily, bite-sized manner. This is the best way to learn in my judgement. Trying to pour in a gallon on information during a day off from the classroom is less effective than spreading a day’s worth of learning over a week or two. Keep up the good work Tom. Douglas W. Green, EdD.
Important post! I’m fairly new to twitter, but am experiencing the many benefits quickly. I believe that twitter is misunderstood by many as you refer to in your post. Unlike Facebook that is all about connecting with friends with whom you’ve lost touch; Twitter is about connecting with people you DON’T know, but share a common interest with. There is so much possibility for learning, and learning that sparks ideas that can turn into action in a school, or a blog to write, or something to share with a colleague. It’s contagious!
Thanks for the important post!
Mary Anne
Thanks for your post and reflection. I totally agree as it is a simple tool that is lost on many–especially someone trying to ‘plug’ their own product, but are NOT engaging with the people they follow.
I’d love to know of more hashtags (#) on twitter to follow. I know of #edchat, #edreform, & #edtech.
Any others out there?
Justin
This should be a helpful Page. Cybrary man is the Prince of Pages. Cybrary Man’s Educational Web Sites. http://www.cybraryman.com/edhashtags.html
Much obliged Tom. Exactly what I needed…
I found your post to be extremely helpful. I am new to the twitter world, but am developing a great PLN so far and will be using some of your tips ASAP. This is a motto to teach by:
“To be better educators we need to be better learners.”
I am working on a pro d session to teach twitter to teachers, so thank you for this good introduction.
You have summarized the simplicity and benefits of twitter very well.
Great Post, Tom. I do need to use it more for PD. I read the posts, but do not do a good job of creating my own posts. My goal is to use Twitter with our staff next year as tool for our PLC groups.
“Dream Big!”
Angie
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Excellent post, Tom. I was one of those educators who vowed to never join Twitter – why would I want to share mindless things about my daily happenings and why would people care what I was buying at Starbucks?
When a trusted colleague @sguditus encouraged me to join Twitter Nation I knew there was more to it than that. I have been on Twitter for the past several months and can’t believe how much I have learned from my PLN in that time. My eyes have been open to ideas from others around the country and the world and I truly believe this is making me a better educator.
I am excited to share this knowledge with the teachers in my building however I know many are hesitant for the same reasons I was. Because of that, my approach to Twitter PD is different. I bring it up in my conversations regularly and share things learned from my PLN in my weekly e-newsletter with teachers. My hope is that through this sharing they will be more open to joining at their own pace.
Julie
http://principalmusings.wordpress.com/
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This is a really thought provoking post. Twitter at its best is such an amazingly powerful tool but at its worst it can just be noise and distraction.
I thought you might be interested to add your voice to a voicethread asking what people get out of their PLNs. It was started by @MGraffin but would get a lot more input and become more interesting with the gravitas of someone like you behind it.
I also wonder if you would have a moment to comment on a post I recently wrote about #UKEdChat – as the founder of #EdChat I’d be interested to hear if you face some of the same obstacles?
Here are the links (sorry I’m not tech savvy enough to embed them)
What’s the point of a personal learning network: http://ow.ly/4Vjoe
UKEdChat – Fantastic CPD or information overload? http://ow.ly/4VjrW
Awesome post.
I often say, “only good educators tweet!” That’s because they love to share and learn.
This was another excellent article. Thank you!!
I am an older teacher trying to learn more about Twitter and you have explained it so I now have a better idea of what it is and how to do it. Thanks so much.
It’s arduous to find educated individuals on this topic, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
The one and only time I tried to use Twitter I tried to Tweet something to a TV show as they asked viewers to do. I got a message that I can’t Tweet without (not sure how it was phrased) getting their permission. How can you ask for permission when you can’t Tweet? If something isn’t simple then I don’t have the time or patience to bother. It’s just not that important to me. Lately we all have the attention spans of Gnats, so you make it hard you lose your chance.