Twitter, as per any blogging site, is a way to share information. As learners, we can't know everything. It's a great resource to have other people to seek information from. Twitter does exactly this. It's a pool of knowledge from people from your field with experience and years ahead of you!
A couple pieces of information on how to get the most out of twitter for educational and professional purposes comes from the article The Teacher's Guide to Twitter. Within this article it lists four important ways to get the most out of twitter: Create, Don't just consume, Connect and Network, Keep at it, and Share your resources. Aren't these all ways to valuable learning and being a teacher without even knowing that twitter was involved? Aren't we as teachers creators, networkers, persistent, and fountains of information? Twitter brings these all together on one website. It keeps us up-to-date and constantly learning without having to research multiple sites. Like other blogging and social media sites, Twitter provides learners with news and new ideas. I could definitely see myself using this in my classroom. I don't think that I would require its use among my students but for my own professional development as a teacher, I can see myself using it. It''s never a bad thing to build up your fountains of information and resources. Another valuable piece of information about twitter and micro-blogging comes from the article Using Micro-Blogging Platforms for Educational Purposes. One quote that stands out to me in this article is "You’ll also find stuff you never knew existed. Use it how it works for you and just take it from there. Enjoy the adventure!" This article mostly explains the way to get the most out of twitter and tips for using it as an educational blogging site rather than person entertainment. Again, Twitter is just a way to find new fountains of information and learn about things you never knew existed, Enjoy the ride and the learning :)
The key to good professional development is trying out many social media sites and f2f encounters to see what works best for you as an individual. There is presently an overload of networking possibilities. I hope that you will continue to think about which networks are worth adding to your own personal learning network. Of course, you can always "weed out" those that have less value over time and join new ones to try out.
ReplyDelete