One of the tools we’ve been discussing a lot in our “Digital Tools for Edu-Vators” class is Twitter. I have a Twitter account and I’ve been a passive user for a while but I have not yet brought Twitter into my inner circle of social media. After playing around with it for a while and following different educators I’ve decided to become more active as a Twitter user. (Thumbs ready, deep breath.)
Previously I limited my activity to tweets about things going on at school: events, sports, etc. Nothing earth shattering. My number of followers is just under 70, and most of those are students that I asked to follow us. And there may have been points involved. Apparently I did have high hopes at one point. (I say “us” because the Twitter account I use is actually shared with my team teacher with whom I co-teach our Humanities class. Follow us: @TeamThoroyan.)
At the urging of my professor, I checked out my first “tweet chat.” (#tweetchat, for those in the know.) I joined a chat that takes place weekly on Sunday afternoons about 21st Century Learning: #21stedchat. My initial plan was simply to watch what happens but when I saw the subject, I couldn’t help but jump in and join the conversation. The topic was discussing the value in educational conferences. Having just returned from a conference two days prior, I felt I had something to add to the conversation. The moderator began tweeting questions and I quickly got into the rhythm of tweeting answers, hash tagging everything and tweeting directly back to participants. There were a lot of people involved in the chat so it moved at a rapid pace. The hour flew by. As soon as it was over, I was already ready for more.
Here’s the revelation: educators from all over the country, who don’t know each other, have never met, are not even in the same room together (or time zone!) are chiming in and sharing thoughts and ideas in an interactive dialogue. It’s networking at its very best. It’s virtual professional development. Someone shared a quote saying tweet chats are an educational “game changer.” At first I thought that seemed like a lofty sentiment but after reflecting back on my experience I think I have to agree. The internet has connected us virtually for a while now, but mostly not in any real-time way. With a tweet chat I can have a conversation in real time with other professionals where we can share ideas, ask questions, make suggestions, support, defend, push back – all in 140 characters or less.
One downside, of course, is time. Just like with everything in life, where is the time? Especially once summer is over and school starts back up, I know I will be hard pressed to find time to drop everything and tweet for an hour. (I’ll have to get really good at it before I can multi-task and tweet chat. Tweet chatting is multi-tasking, what with the following the conversation, tweeting responses, re-tweeting and tweeting back to others.) One thing that I will try to do is seek out tweet chats with topics of relevance and invest the time to join in the discussion.
One of the points that came up during the chat was the value of learning new tools at a conference that are immediately implementable in the classroom. It’s the same with tweet chats. When I can pick up an idea, tool or approach that I can immediately put in to use in my classroom – and do it by collaborating with colleagues across the country in 140 characters or less – now that, is truly a revelation.
Previously I limited my activity to tweets about things going on at school: events, sports, etc. Nothing earth shattering. My number of followers is just under 70, and most of those are students that I asked to follow us. And there may have been points involved. Apparently I did have high hopes at one point. (I say “us” because the Twitter account I use is actually shared with my team teacher with whom I co-teach our Humanities class. Follow us: @TeamThoroyan.)
At the urging of my professor, I checked out my first “tweet chat.” (#tweetchat, for those in the know.) I joined a chat that takes place weekly on Sunday afternoons about 21st Century Learning: #21stedchat. My initial plan was simply to watch what happens but when I saw the subject, I couldn’t help but jump in and join the conversation. The topic was discussing the value in educational conferences. Having just returned from a conference two days prior, I felt I had something to add to the conversation. The moderator began tweeting questions and I quickly got into the rhythm of tweeting answers, hash tagging everything and tweeting directly back to participants. There were a lot of people involved in the chat so it moved at a rapid pace. The hour flew by. As soon as it was over, I was already ready for more.
Here’s the revelation: educators from all over the country, who don’t know each other, have never met, are not even in the same room together (or time zone!) are chiming in and sharing thoughts and ideas in an interactive dialogue. It’s networking at its very best. It’s virtual professional development. Someone shared a quote saying tweet chats are an educational “game changer.” At first I thought that seemed like a lofty sentiment but after reflecting back on my experience I think I have to agree. The internet has connected us virtually for a while now, but mostly not in any real-time way. With a tweet chat I can have a conversation in real time with other professionals where we can share ideas, ask questions, make suggestions, support, defend, push back – all in 140 characters or less.
One downside, of course, is time. Just like with everything in life, where is the time? Especially once summer is over and school starts back up, I know I will be hard pressed to find time to drop everything and tweet for an hour. (I’ll have to get really good at it before I can multi-task and tweet chat. Tweet chatting is multi-tasking, what with the following the conversation, tweeting responses, re-tweeting and tweeting back to others.) One thing that I will try to do is seek out tweet chats with topics of relevance and invest the time to join in the discussion.
One of the points that came up during the chat was the value of learning new tools at a conference that are immediately implementable in the classroom. It’s the same with tweet chats. When I can pick up an idea, tool or approach that I can immediately put in to use in my classroom – and do it by collaborating with colleagues across the country in 140 characters or less – now that, is truly a revelation.