--Henry Ford
Yes, the word "Twitter" sounds funny, and it does not help that 13 year old girls love to Tweet about the Beiber. It is also true that every technology tool known to man at some point has been used for totally wasting time... remember solitaire for Windows 3.1?
Twitter offers the opportunity for like minded people to find common interest and share what they know. If you follow me on Twitter you will get information about education and technology, no Justin Beiber here. Some of the best things about Twitter is its ability to shorten the conversation. The person Tweeting only has 140 characters to make the case for the person following them to find out more. This is done by clicking a link in the Tweet. If you like what they are saying and find it interesting then you have the option to follow the links.
One of the most intimidating things about Twitter that educators constantly tell me is "I have nothing to say" or "who would want to 'follow' me?" The answer is simple. You don't have to say (Tweet) anything. You can be a casual observer of topics of your interest. For example, the first year I had a Twitter account I rarely Tweeted, I just listened.
Twitter for PLC and PLN
I am the instructional technologist/facilitator for my building. Only one of the teaching staff is on Twitter. I want to change that in the new year. Twitter can offer targeted professional development to struggling teachers immediately wherever they are. I am going to propose that each member of the Professional Learning Community (PLC) by grade level and department level be required to have a Twitter account. For example, each teacher is required to attend two PLC meetings a week for +/- 30 min. In these meetings teachers express concerns about students, plan interdisciplinary units of study and the Instructional Facilitators talk about instructional strategies that could improve instruction. In these meetings the facilitators also discuss informal observations and offer help to teachers that are struggling. Here is where Twitter can be a great asset for these meetings. For example, during the course of a month the facilitators and principal noticed that Mrs. Smith is struggling with a particularly unruly class and is in need of some classroom management strategies. In the old way the facilitator would maybe search a journal and find an article on classroom management, print it and hand it to the teacher. Twitter is a much better format for this. Instead of one person printing one article, the educator should follow that author on Twitter gaining access to the latest information about classroom management and quick tips and tricks for that particular teacher. Doing this will expose the teacher to articles that will offer real value, because the author of the Tweets must convince her of the importance in 140 characters. Educators may be exposed to 100's of articles instead of one. In following the classroom management person, Mrs Smith may also look at other classroom management rock stars that she wants to follow. On her time between the PLC meetings she has the opportunity to study the content wherever she can access the Internet (Phone, PC or Mac). This gives her a reading list that matters. She can come prepared to the meeting and share the great things she found during the week.
Here is how we are going to set it up.
- Each educator is going to setup a Twitter account.
- The instructional facilitator is going to assign 5 people for the whole group to follow
- this could be a list of educational gurus like Marzano, Howard Gardener etc.
- Each will start off with the assigned 5 people and seek out to get 5 more
- The instructional facilitator will find 3 more people to follow for each teacher in the group based on their weaknesses.
- Harry Wong for classroom management, Sir Ken Robinson for creativity etc.
- The teachers will casually read their Twitter feed and come to the meetings prepared to discuss what they have learned.
Michael, I like your idea and I am guessing that you are choosing Twitter over Google because of the wealth of content and posters already available on Twitter? Will the district allocate PD hours for this participation? How will the hours be measured? I would think that something like this could be developed by educational specialists at the cooperative level, if the schools are so inclined to participate and then the teachers could receive PD hours. Would you allocate some of the hours for tech PD kind of killing 2 birds with one stone?
ReplyDeleteCoke
Great comment Coke! The reason that I chose to go with Twitter over Google Plus is for the fact that our district technology coordinator has not turned on G+ for our Google Apps domain (which is unfortunate because of the impact it could have for our teachers to connect in meaningful ways to peers, parents and students..but that is another topic). Another reason is that Twitter is not blocked by our school Internet filter for teachers and that Twitter has a well documented follower base of well respected educators. In addition to that I really enjoy the 140 character limit, because I am constantly bombarded with information and if the author can convince me to read the material I know I am getting my money's worth.
ReplyDeleteI am trying this in our middle school building first. Since I am only the instructional tech for the middle school, I am unable to make district level decisions. That being said I do have the support of my principal and she believes that this would be an innovative way to engage teachers in 21st Century skills to better their instruction. My principal has the authority to deem PD hours. Since we are a relatively small staff of about 30 teachers, we could implement some PD time for the discussions during the after school-non-contract time.
As far as the cooperative levels are concerned I would recommend working with them to hammer out the details of how to measure it. In Arkansas where I teach we have a state approved online PD through a portal where you can watch videos and take test. I think this model is already outdated. Sit and get even done on an electronic device is still bad learning practices. It would take a coordinated effort to organize and trust educators to do the right thing and report their learning in an accurate manner. On the other hand I have a strong connection to learning because it is fun and exciting. Having the best experts on topics talk directly to their interested followers is a great learning model. The quickness of it is its strength. Not boggled down by regulations.
I support Twitter for PD, but its not a replacement its just a supplement to true learning on your own time. Maybe we have started a topic for my next book. Twitter for PLN: A educators guide to authentic learning.
But as far as now lets just wait until my current book hits shelves. Google Apps Meets Common Core due out April 23. (shameless promo) goo.gl/1DXNW
What are your thoughts on Twitter for PLN anything to add?
Nothing to add at this time. thanks for the clarity
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