Two years ago, I reluctantly began to use Twitter. I was curious to understand why so many found such a superficial, ridiculous tool so compelling. After all, why would I care to read a description of “what you are doing” in 140 characters or less and why would you care “what I’m doing?”
Today, I am continually amazed and exhilarated at the vast resources and support my Twitter community provides for me around the clock. I has become my own personalized professional development program and I despite the fact that there are more than one billion tweets sent per week, most educators are not engaged and have not realized the significance that Twitter holds for student engagement, digital literacy, research, and professional development.
Recently, I shared a success story on my blog about another reluctant part-time college professor, @Bio_prof, who says Twitter has helped her foster her own community of educators and she now feels more supported and less alone in her teaching endeavors. Given that most college classes are taught by part-time instructors, I’d argue that this is a relevant conversation to have.
This month, in my GETInsight blog post, I reflect on Lifelong Learning with Twitter. I invite you to read the blog post and contribute your story or thoughts about Twitter in the related VoiceThread (which is also embedded below).
Maybe summer is a good time to start curating your own Twitter network? Follow me @brocansky.
Twitter's great! I work as a student assistant for Digital Media & Learning Research Hub (http://dmlcentral.net/) where we explore how digital media practices can reform education. One of the ways we try to share our ideas and communicate with the community is through Twitter. I think it's just amazing how we can directly engage with others who share similar interests as us. Simply, it's an amazing catalyst for debate and exploration!