What is Twitter??
Twitter is one of the most misunderstood social networking devices on the internet right now. Some believe it is just a place for people to share their gripes about the world and showcase things happening in their lives. Although there are Twitter users who do veer in that direction, this social media network provides so much more than "gripes" and "brags" to its users. It provides educators, coaches, celebrities, and businesses a place to learn new information from people across the globe.Twitter has drastically grown in popularity over the years. In 2012, the service reported 100 million users, with 340 million tweets per day. Now in 2015, the service reports 500 million users, 302 million of which are active users. It has developed into more than just a social media website, such as Facebook or Myspace, it is a way for professionals to connect with other professional about concerns or issues in their profession and to share ideas with each other. The best part is that it is simple and easy to use for the not-so technology savvy individuals. Through a system of hashtags and mentions, groups can set up chats that allow for full conversations with users they have never met. No need for a sit-down meeting in a board room, when you have Twitter!
Twitter is an open website that allows for anyone and everyone to join free of cost. This is why it has become an avenue for educators to unite and share interest, information, issues, and best practices together in one place. Educators have developed an easy way to connect and have created "chats" to go back and forth on practices and learning tools for the classroom. A teacher can log-on to their account and search for any topic in the search tool. For example, if a teacher wanted to learn more about a flipped classroom, he/she would search "flipped classroom". What the teacher will find is a list of users who have posted about the flipped classroom approach and links to articles and webpages about the very subject matter. It is not only more informational than a Google search, but it also provides an opportunity for the teacher to connect with other educators about the topic.
Developing a PLN through Twitter
Professional Learning Networks are information networks of people who come together to share ideas and resources, collaborate, and learn. The original PLN in education was focused on face to face interactions of teachers working with other teachers in the district or state. The goal of the PLN was to create lesson plans, combine resources, or share ideas for teaching and learning. However, in 2015 the term PLN has a whole new meaning. For most educators, it means forming connections with people across the world and sharing information to help guide instruction in their classroom or school. Although to many the concept of Twitter might be terrifying, it is actually quite easy for all educators to join in.Learn NC created a few easy steps for new "tweeters" to remember when trying to develop a PLN through their Twitter account.
- Join Twitter with colleagues you know in real life.
- Find like-minded peers to follow in Twitter.
- Unfollow peers whose contributions are unproductive.
- Never attempt to read and/or respond to every message in Twitter.
- Use applications to quickly sort through Twitter content.
There are many ways that Twitter can be used by educators to improve teaching and learning in their classroom and schools. Teaching is not a stagnant profession. There are always new and improved ways to meet the needs to the 21st century child. Twitter is the quickest and easiest way to continually learn about new methodology without having to search too hard to find it. Teachers can easily communicate with each other and share ideas, websites, or other links to information that can utilize in their own classrooms. There is a plethora of educational leaders who connect via Twitter, who through following a teacher can glean insight into ways to improve their own practices. The possibilities are endless for an educator, you just have to find the right people to "follow" and the right "hashtags" to link up to!
@KMaggard14 on Twitter
I am currently in the "needs improvement" section when it comes to Twitter. I began tweeting four years ago when it was the easiest way to see how my husband's golf team was playing on the course. He was an avid "tweeter" and as his players reported scores to him, he tweeted them out for the followers of the team. It wasn't until graduate school at High Point University that I began to see the power that Twitter could have on my professional practices as an educator and future administrator.
My professor, @mmnixon73, was a huge advocator for Twitter and was an active part of the Twitter community. This is when I started learning about the PLN of Twitter and all the wonderful resources it has to offer to educators. I have been an active part of "chats" and begun following a variety of users that I find appealing to my needs as a teacher leader. The majority of the the users I follow are larger users that actively follow and retweet posts from other users and provide immediate links to news in education. As I begin to dig further into using Twitter to increase my PLN, I will find more users who provide information about topics that are most interesting and relevant to me. One of the great things about Twitter is that I can "follow" and "unfollow"based on my preferences, filtering out unwanted information for gearing my homepage to my interests.
As a beginning "tweeter" there are a few users I strongly recommend to beginning the process of building a Professional Learning Network:
As a beginning "tweeter" there are a few users I strongly recommend to beginning the process of building a Professional Learning Network:
- Education Week- Teacher - @EdWeekTeacher
- NEA Today- @NEAToday
- Edutopia- @edutopia
- Huff Post Teachers- @HuffPostEdu
These are just a small few to get a new user started. A teach and can also find "hashtags" that a variety of users are using to tweet information. I have entered into many chats using #CollabEd which has allowed me to learn about using collaboration to increase learning. Many colleges, such as Rasmussen College , have created blogs that list top people to follow for education on Twitter.
Following these users have made it simple and easy for me to learn about best practices, stay informed on news in education, and helped me connect with people across the United States. As I continue to improve my PLN on Twitter, I hope to learn more from individuals across the globe and utilize all of the opportunities and resources others have to offer.
Following these users have made it simple and easy for me to learn about best practices, stay informed on news in education, and helped me connect with people across the United States. As I continue to improve my PLN on Twitter, I hope to learn more from individuals across the globe and utilize all of the opportunities and resources others have to offer.
Resources
Bird, Kendall. (September, 2013). 33 Education twitter accounts you should be following. Retrieved on May 25, 2015, from http://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/33-education-twitter-accounts-you-should-be-following/
Burt, Ronnie. (September, 2014). Step one:What is a PLN?. Retrieved on May 25, 2015, from http://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/pln-challenge-1-what-the-heck-is-a-pln/
Ferriter, Bill. (n.d). Twitter as a learning tool for teachers. Retrieved on May 25, 2015, from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/6560
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