Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Twitter: A Resource For All

Everyone that knows me is well aware of my professional affinity for Twitter.  As I have previously mentioned many times on this blog, it was Twitter back in March of 2009 that served as a catalyst for my transformation into the leader that I am today.  Prior to delving into this 140 character world I utilized traditional mediums for communication and professional development, had no idea what Web 2.0 was, and adamantly believed social media had absolutely no place in education.  I would say things have changed a bit.


This past December I was honored to have Scholastic visit my school.  They were led here, after all, by Twitter.  The video below details my thoughts on this game-changing resource that is available for free to all educators.




On this, the first Digital Learning Day, I have some questions for those of you reading this post.  Why do you use Twitter?  If you don't, what are your reasons? Finally, how can we move more schools to embrace social media in general as a valuable educational tool?


(You can view the entire winter Scholastic Administrator magazine HERE).

18 comments:

  1. I use twitter to connect my students (learning French) to students in France (learning English). I have two great partnerships with @freddav and @mister_street!

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  2. Great piece. I am actually making a presentation at our monthly team leader meeting tomorrow afternoon about the postivie impact of Twitter and how we can use it to engage learners, promote achievements and inform stakeholders. @bcurrie5

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  3. Hi Eric,

    I use Twitter to connect with other progressive ed. leaders. It has helped me to build a network with so many amazing educators and gain new perspectives into our school's improvement efforts. Another perk which I never thought of has occurred this year with a growing number of our students on Twitter. Following them has allowed me to learn more about their activities and make better connections with them on college acceptances, extra curricular successes and other accomplishments.

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  4. Hi Eric, I am a regular Twitter use. I enjoy the chats, the Twitter stream, and particularly Tweets with links. I teach graduate education courses (Computers in the Classroom, Integrating Technology and Literacy), and Twitter is the most valuable resource available for keeping current, exchanging ideas, and keeping up with innovator educators such as you. Every day, I find new resources. I also enjoy the level of engagement, which one would think might be hard to come by given the 140 character. On the other hand, this limitation allows time for accessing more information, following more people, and participating in chats. My professional life and my ability to integrate into my teaching new resources have been immensely improved through Twitter. The effect ripples out to the teachers I teach. Still, I find teachers en masse are yet to be convinced. They need school leaders to lead them along. Integrating the tool into graduate education courses is just the beginning. They need to see school administrators and mentor teachers also using Twitter. Their engagement with Twitter also needs to begin to be recognized by school administrators as legitimate professional activities, especially when the teachers can share the wealth of information they find with others (students, other teachers, and so forth) in productive, creative ways. Naturally, I follow you on Twitter, and am always learning with you.

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  5. Hello Eric, Im a teacher in the Calif. East Bay- My 5th graders tweet their learning daily with Instagram pictures to share our thinking with the world. Recently I shared this concept at MacWorld in SF and emphasized the need for educators to think about "marketing" what they do more effectively. I believe we need to show that today's classrooms are very different and many are filled with amazing innovation. We recently returned from a three day outdoor ed trip- our tweets kept families updated and interactive as we experienced amazing learning at the coast. Follow our class @highfillcrew to see what I mean!

    ~ @lhighfill

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  6. Eric,
    Similar to you, I had no clue as to the wide reach Twitter had in education until this past year. I too thought Social Media had no place in education. But, I was fortunate enough to see Alan November speak at our state conference (Michigan). Now that I have been using it with other educators and staff within our building, it has allowed me to connect and gain insight into the possibility of digital education. Based upon a blog that I wrote on MASSP (Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals), I will be making a presentation at the annual Assistant Principal Conference on 2.7.12. The format will be similar to a TED Ignite session but my focus will be on how Twitter can broaden horizons for secondary administrators.

    Thanks for the creativity, innovation and collaboration.

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  7. Eric,
    Much like most folks, I use twitter to connect and learn with educators all around the world. But, for me, twitter has been more than that. Many folks complain about some of the idol chatter that takes place on twitter, but for me that chatter provides dimension to those I tweet with. The images, jokes, and crazy stuff that folks tweet confirm for me that there is an actual person on the other side, a person who has multiple interests, families, hobbies, etc. Thus, Twitter has not only changed my professional life, but with all of the great friends I have made along the way has enriched my personal life in ways that I could not have imagined.

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  8. I am an education student from Manitoba, Canada. I joined twitter to connect with other educators around the world and learn more about the education field in general. It has been confusing at times but I have learned so much and connected with great people. I think it is a wonderful resource!

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  9. Twitter has become my social medium of choice! Everyday I learn more about how to make this powerful networking and learning tool even more powerful. I particularly like Tweetdeck. Those of you that are not already using it should. It makes my use of twitter much more organized and efficient. Twitter is real time, real people, real learning.

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  10. Hi Eric,
    Too often our world as educators becomes only what we encounter within the walls of our classrooms and/or school buildings. Stressed and tired, we become frustrated and disenfranchised, and lose the fire to create and innovate. Surrounding myself with the positive, motivated and innovative educators on Twitter keeps me positive and excited to be an educator. It is like a grad school discussion group for free! I am so grateful to my PLN that keeps me thinking and learning all the time. Can't wait to see everyone at #edcampss and #edcampbos! - @tsocko

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  11. We use it to engage former students and organizations to hopefully, help them finish school. Plus giving away $20K Scholarship helps!

    www.twitter.com/FinishAtUT

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  12. I have been on twitter for about a month. I use it a PD tool to help me stay connected with other people in education. I have learned so much and I have seen such great examples of what Principals can do to promote their school, learning, and collegiality. I have a few teachers who are starting to tweet and follow hash tags. It is very exiting time in the Millville Public School System!

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  13. Nice Blog Eric,
    Twitter connects me!
    I use Twitter to stay topical in ICT, build education networks and communicate with my students.
    ...My ICT students @ UNI will hopefully benefit from my use of social mediums as they require tech savvy mentors :)
    Kevin

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  14. I honestly can't say that I am fully realizing all that Twitter (and other social media) has to offer. I am very interested in learning though. In Millville (large Abbott or formerly known as Abbott District) there is a growing movement to use these tools to enhance what we do in order to realize the District Vision "to create a world class district involving all stakeholders where every child can learn". I can't imagine a world class anything in the 21st century that doesn't "Tweet". Keep up the exciting work - I just noticed above, that one of my great elementary principals "Dr. Spike" posted his response. He is catalyst behind our growing social professional learning network for all hints tech - I would love to come for a visit!

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  15. Eric - Twitter has enabled me to connect easily with fantastic educational leaders like you, great global classroom teachers, students and parents to learn and share educational ideas with.

    I feel that every educator should take part in Twitter. The educational chats for most subject areas and grade levels are phenomenal. Twitter is 24/7 professional development. The wonderful edcamp movement has taken off thanks to the connections made on Twitter.

    I have seen on numerous occasions great global collaborations have taken place as a result of this great social medium.

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  16. Twitter has allowed me to grow more than any workshop or conference that I have attended. The strength is that the learning is ongoing and collaborative. If I need help our PLN provides me with resources and feedback. I think the challenge is to get our colleagues to take the leap, once they experience the benefits, they will see the opportunity and possibility that Twitter provides.

    @azuck1

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  18. I've been an online math tutor for a long time and I find twitter really very helpful in synchronizing my schedule

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