Twitter? Professional?…C’mon!!!
Yes, another social media outlet…Twitter…ugh! Not so fast folks!! When Twitter first emerged I thought that this was just another social media outlet for the kids, the younger generation. I signed up for an account some time early last summer, played with it for a day or two without much focus, and forgot about it. I continued to hear more and more about it. Honestly, what brought me back was when one Green Bay Packer, @nickbarnett56, was venting via Twitter. I wanted to see what the buzz was all about. It doesn’t matter though how I got back, just that I did. All of a sudden it hit me. I started networking a little with family, then with a few colleagues, then BAM!! I found #edchat. This is a ‘backchannel’ of Twitter that has educators all over the globe discussing current topics near and dear to our hearts in education. If you are reading this and you are not a teacher, you too can find a niche for your interests. See, the little # sign is called a hashtag. You put that little sign in front of a topic, group, or interest and do a simple search within Twitter and your eyes will be open to a world that you never new existed. Give it some time, you’ll get it…seriously! Get yourself an account today. Here is the link: http://twitter.com/ After you get signed up, do a people search to find out if any of your friends or colleagues are on board, tweeting. If you are an educator I suggest following these four to get started @ShellTerrell @TomWhitby @jswiatek @web20classroom…and of course me, @jpsteltz 🙂 The person that really got me going with educational technology is @jbrogley who is our very own in-house tech guru!! Then, when you have some time, check out these two links I received from @ShellTerrell http://bit.ly/7QcOR and http://bit.ly/5oD8z…an amazing and vast expanse of quality educators to follow from all over the world, get to know, and learn from!! If/when you really get brave, download TweetDeck to utilize and maximize your Twitter experience http://www.tweetdeck.com/ . I have gotten involved on a ning network http://edupln.ning.com/ created by @tomwhitby with many of the Twitter educators and have even encouraged some of my colleagues to join. It has been an incredible experience. Just last night I received this link from @personified http://vodpod.com/watch/22265-ken-robinson-tedtalks-do-schools-today-kill-creativity, if you are an educator or parent or both…watch it! I have had more professional development in the last month via Twitter than I have gotten at the last two professional conferences I have been at. It’s energizing and useful. Is it social? Sure. Is it professional? Absolutely! Hope to soon see your Tweets
MalarVizhi 