Educational Tweeting

             

I recently attended a general educational chat (#edchat) on Twitter as a means to communicate and collaborate with other teachers and colleagues. I found that Twitter in general can be put to good use in the classroom. As long as you follow the right people, you can find a ton of resources. One of the educators I'm following (+WeAreTeachers for example), posted a really cool article on how to use icebreakers in the classroom using technology. As far as using Twitter as a means of professional development, I feel like it could be very useful. For me however, I found that the times for specific Twitterchats are inconvenient. There are some that go on from 8-9 p.m. on weeknights, which are almost impossible for me to check out. Users are able to search hashtags to find relevant topics geared toward the same topic of the chat, but sometimes they talk about specific topics only, and users can't participate if they're not on Twitter at the right time.

The topic that was chosen for the Education Chat in which I participated (12-1 p.m.) was "What purpose do blogs have in the life of educators?" I found a lot of pros and cons from other tweets.

Some of the pros:

• It helps with learning and reflection
• Students are able to connect with other students and improve their writing
• Blogs can help keep a timeline of students' learning progress
• Teachers can build professional learning networks
• Gets students motivated and keeps them engaged
• Enhances 21st century learning skills

Here are some of the cons:

• The quality of blogs need to be monitored (if students are using them)
• It's hard to tell the focus of the blog without quality
• PRIVACY (There must be guidelines established)
• How do you decide what to put on a blog?
• Is a blog the most appropriate form of reflection?
• How do we stay motivated when no one reads our blog?

Overall, I thought it was interesting to see other people's insight on this topic. If it were more convenient for me to attend Twitterchats, I would really like to see what other topics are brought up, and check out other chats. I do believe this is a great way for networking, and to get new ideas and perspectives on certain issues regarding education. You are able to freely share any information you choose, as well as download any information. The hashtag feature really makes finding the right topics accessible and easy to find appropriate microbloggers for educational purposes.