I learn more in 24 hours from Twitter than I do in hours of formal professional development. I say formal because I think of Twitter as professional development, which not all teachers agree with. [This isn't always the case, there have been seminars where I have learned things]
That said, what have I learned in the past 24 hours of Twitter?
Most importantly, I've learned that the TIES Conference is using the hashtags #ties09 & #ties2009. This came from @followmolly. From there, I've been able to track the tweets of conference attendees using Tweet Grid.
Here's the rest of my 24 hour learning cycle on Twitter:
From:
@petervogel: Google creates a URL shortening service. Not open yet, but its there.
@edutopia: Link to info about Ed. Sec. Duncan's town hall meeting.
@mctownsly, @russgoerend: Link to blog post about teachers as leaders. Great disscussion.
@russgoerend: Posted the concept of learning over teaching. Thinking point.
@edutopia: Link to site listing teacher discounts at stores.
@rmbyrne: Link to Posterous and how to create a group blog.
@followmolly (from #ties09): Link to Baconlio.us to add bacon to my webpages.
@teachpaperless: Asking for insights about Google Docs for upcoming presentation.
@sammccarron: Link to Pixton comic site with student created digital content.
@concretekax: Link to blog post about using Wordle in the classroom.
@motik: Asking for tips about the social media policy his school is creating.
@druinok: AVID teacher seeking advice for final test. I responded with several ideas.
@dcinc66: Link to blog post about cell phones in classrooms. Filed away for later.
@lasic: Comment to @teachpaperless about 22nd Century Skills.
That's 14 nuggets of information that influence my teaching, my learning and my effectiveness in one short 24 hour period. Please keep in mind that it took me less than 30 minutes to read, and evaluate all the tweets that came directly into my Twitter feed.
The other thing to stress is that it truly is a 24 hour a day deal. I follow teachers in Australia, New Zealand, several locales in Europe, many states across the U.S., and even right here in my hometown of Minneapolis. I think its great when someone posts a "good morning" when I'm getting ready for bed.
What an awesome tool for professional development this is!
That said, what have I learned in the past 24 hours of Twitter?
Most importantly, I've learned that the TIES Conference is using the hashtags #ties09 & #ties2009. This came from @followmolly. From there, I've been able to track the tweets of conference attendees using Tweet Grid.
Here's the rest of my 24 hour learning cycle on Twitter:
From:
@petervogel: Google creates a URL shortening service. Not open yet, but its there.
@edutopia: Link to info about Ed. Sec. Duncan's town hall meeting.
@mctownsly, @russgoerend: Link to blog post about teachers as leaders. Great disscussion.
@russgoerend: Posted the concept of learning over teaching. Thinking point.
@edutopia: Link to site listing teacher discounts at stores.
@rmbyrne: Link to Posterous and how to create a group blog.
@followmolly (from #ties09): Link to Baconlio.us to add bacon to my webpages.
@teachpaperless: Asking for insights about Google Docs for upcoming presentation.
@sammccarron: Link to Pixton comic site with student created digital content.
@concretekax: Link to blog post about using Wordle in the classroom.
@motik: Asking for tips about the social media policy his school is creating.
@druinok: AVID teacher seeking advice for final test. I responded with several ideas.
@dcinc66: Link to blog post about cell phones in classrooms. Filed away for later.
@lasic: Comment to @teachpaperless about 22nd Century Skills.
That's 14 nuggets of information that influence my teaching, my learning and my effectiveness in one short 24 hour period. Please keep in mind that it took me less than 30 minutes to read, and evaluate all the tweets that came directly into my Twitter feed.
The other thing to stress is that it truly is a 24 hour a day deal. I follow teachers in Australia, New Zealand, several locales in Europe, many states across the U.S., and even right here in my hometown of Minneapolis. I think its great when someone posts a "good morning" when I'm getting ready for bed.
What an awesome tool for professional development this is!
I like this approach to showing the power of Twitter better than the "shoutouts" that show off how many people follow you from around the world.
ReplyDeleteOf course the connections matter, but I think to "hook" teachers into twitter we need to show practical nuggets that they can use in the classroom such as your list.
Thanks for the comment!!! I'm really trying to convince the "higher ups" in the district that Twitter is a worthwhile venture, at least for teachers.
ReplyDeleteI'm not asking them to promote the Twitter but, simply, to not block it and give teachers the option to use it for professional development.