Reflections on Web 2.0...

Yes “I’m blogging this!”...literally and it seems like everyone else is too!

Before this course, I knew nothing of Web 2.0.  Hitting up good old Wikipedia helped me to get a better sense of what Web 2.0 is about.  The first sentence of the Wikipedia page on Web 2.0 is: “The term Web 2.0 is commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web.”  Through my exploration of the Web 2.0 world, I have been nothing but astounded by the amount of quality information people are willing to share online today.  Web 2.0 is fostering collaboration and sharing between internet users from around the globe.  2.0 tools are becoming the norm online and more-than-ever everyday users are not only consuming, but also contributing to the information available online.  The internet and our society has been changed forever thanks to Web 2.0.

Reflections on Learning about Web 2.0

While I didn’t realise it, I was consuming Web 2.0 long before starting this course.  I would hit up YouTube, Facebook and Wikipedia on a regular basis for information and entertainment.  Google searches would bring me to Slideshare, Flickr and numerous blogs and wikis – however I didn’t always understand what I was viewing.  I didn’t understand that the information I was viewing wasn’t necessarily created by a large organization or a tech-savvy individual, but by people just like me.  Not only that, I didn’t understand the collaborative nature of these tools – their most valuable aspect and defining characteristic.  Taking this course has helped me to appreciate the collaborative nature of today’s internet and how this shift has shaped and continues to shape life as we know it.

Learning about these Web 2.0 tools was filled with highs and lows.  Like all learners, I experienced an affective response to my learning experience and had emotions of elation and frustration, often within the same week!  No one tool was more challenging than the other, however some tools I found more “inspiring” than others.  I particularly enjoyed learning to use the presentation and multimedia tools such as Prezi and Animoto as they were simple to use, yet created impressive results.  I also appreciated learning about Wikis and have employed them since learning about them - I love their ease of use and convenience.  Learning about these tools challenged me to jump in and experiment with them, something I haven’t been comfortable doing with technology in the past.  I am happy to report that exploring these tools hasn’t resulted in any long-term computer mishaps and has actually increased my confidence using online software.  Ironically, when I ran into trouble, I found myself resorting to Web 2.0 tools for guidance, often searching out YouTube for tutorials or Google’ing questions which brought me to blogs and wikis with my answers to my questions!  This course has improved my confidence in my ability to use technology as well as boosted my confidence in the internet as a whole. 

While learning about these tools has been valuable and I will take what I have learned and apply it to my teaching practice, I believe that the greatest lessons I learned though this course were lessons about learning.  Now that I am more confident working online, I will be more inclined to explore new tools as they emerge - I have had enough experience exploring new technologies to be confident exploring more.  I will remember the experience I had in the course being brand-new to most of these tools and navigating my way through them.    It’s hard to push fears aside and try new things out.  I was scared starting this course wondering if I could keep up, while I learned that I could, I had to work hard to do so.  I so much appreciated having the Trailfires to refer back to when working with each week’s tool(s).  The Trailfires offered a sort of scaffolding, I was able to use them to get started and/or when I needed support.  As a teacher/TL I need to remember to offer this kind of support to my students when they are working with new technologies (or anything new for that matter).  Because the Trailfire was there for those of us who wanted to refer to it, but not required for us to use, it was a necessary support for independent learning.  Another important lesson I learned through this course is that changing thinking and altering routines takes time and is a process – even when you’re trying really hard!  Students need to be given time to adopt new tools and ways of thinking.  Learning new things and working with new technologies is time consuming and tiring.  Students need to be given the opportunity to “play” with these tools before we expect them to use them for learning.  I am happy I had the opportunity to try out and reflect on these tools in this course before employing them in my own teaching and learning.

Reflections on Web 2.0, My Personal Life & Learning

I look forward to employing Web 2.0 in my personal life and learning.  That being said, I don’t really have a choice in the matter as Web 2.0 is the way the world is going!  Internet users are not only consuming but increasingly contributing to the information available online.  As an individual and a student, I would be doing myself a disservice by not incorporating Web 2.0 tools into my life.  As I mentioned earlier, it will take time for me to fully adopt Web 2.0 into my routines and thinking, however I am dedicated and motivated to do so.  With Web 2.0, grass-roots movements have been created and promoted and dialogue between people from around the world has become the norm.  Web 2.0 is changing the way we obtain and assess information.

In my personal life I can see myself using Web 2.0 tools to share with family and friends, find information and for entertainment.  Having been enlightened to tools such as Flickr, Blogger and YouTube, I no longer have to struggle with emailing pictures and videos to my family and friends.  The convenience of such tools is a wonderful advantage to using them, and I’m sure my family and friends will appreciate my using them!  I have been fascinated by how Web 2.0 tools such as Flickr, Twitter, Facebook and Blogger have all been known to break news before the mainstream media has.  Not only that, these armature journalists are reporting from a more authentic viewpoint than mainstream journalists can. No longer does news “break” on CNN, people with camera phones are reporting on events long before CNN (or any other media organization) can dispatch a crew!  I appreciate the genuine perspective amateur journalists provide and look forward to following amateur journalism through Web 2.0 tools in the future.  In my world, Web 2.0 tools cannot be discussed without acknowledging their entertainment value.  My first experiences with Web 2.0 tools was for recreation, and I still enjoy using them for this purpose.  YouTube and Facebook remain my favourite Web 2.0 tools for recreation; however I have enjoyed reading a few blogs for leisure, on my favourite hobbies: cooking and horses.  Web 2.0 tools are diverse and thus can be used in many aspects of my personal life.  I look forward to employing Web 2.0 tools for entertainment, information and to share my life with my friends and family.

The skills that I have gained through this course are skills imperative for life-long learning in the 21^st Century.  Increasingly, internet users are contributing to the information online through Web 2.0 tools.  These tools are unique as they offer users the opportunity to collaborate, share and discuss issues and ideas.  This collaborative element of Web 2.0 has the greatest impact on learning.  As I journey through this TL-DL program, I find the resources available to me growing exponentially.  The mere fact that a blog post or Tweet can stir up numerous debates and discussions creates a opportune, yet meaningful learning environment.  Even more exciting, through Web 2.0 tools such as blogging, Twitter, YouTube, TeacherTube, LinkedIn and Del.icio.us and many others, I can learn and share my learning with others from around the world.

The Web 2.0 tools that I have found most helpful when conducting research have been varied, however I am beginning to find my favourites.  I frequently search out Del.ico.us for bookmarks on particular topics.  I find going through Del.icio.us tends to weed out most of the “virtual clutter” that’s out there and points me in the direction of the best sites.  In a more general sense, the blogs I’m following on Google Reader have been a great resource for general information and keeping me up-to-date.  I do appreciate that Google Reader allows users to search past blog entries for certain terms, which I have done weekly when working on these posts.  Twitter and LinkedIn have opened my eyes to the power of professional dialogue and what I can learn from it.  These sites give insight to the different opinions surrounding various issues.  I have used Twitter and LinkedIn mostly for building background knowledge as I try to solidify my thinking for these posts. 

Internet research isn’t something I’m new to, however using Web 2.0 tools to show my learning is.  I am excited to use tools such as Animoto, YouTube and Prezi as well as blogs, wikis and podcasts to present my assignments throughout this program.  Seeing that this program is conducted completely online, these tools are of particular convenience.  Furthermore, I have learned that these tools are not only easy to use, but produce impressive results!  Picking the right tool to showcase my learning will be the biggest challenge as there are so many tools to choose from!

Reflections on Web 2.0 in our Schools

Web 2.0 tools have a place in our schools for both staff and student uses.  2.0 tools are characterized by their collaborative nature making them an especially powerful tool for teaching, learning and professional development.  I am looking forward to integrating Web 2.0 tools into my own professional development and using them with my students.  Teachers and students alike can learn from Web 2.0 tools as well as use them to share their learning, thinking and collaborate with others. 

My exploration into these Web 2.0 tools has taught me that professional development and Web 2.0 tools go hand-in-hand.  The collaborative nature of Web 2.0 tools elevates the professional development potential in these tools as educators can communicate and collaborate with others easily and effectively.  The practicality of Web 2.0 tools is another reason they make sense to employ for Pro-D in our schools.  The article, ”Professional Learning 2.0”, published in Educational Leadership Journal reminds us that, in “using these Web 2.0 tools, any member of the learning organization can post information and resources to which everyone has access.”  Furthermore, these resources are available anywhere with internet access, enabling teachers and other staff members greater flexibility as to where they work.

The challenge of getting our school staffs on-board with using Web 2.0 tools lies in getting them comfortable these tools.  I believe that as school leaders, teachers/TLs need to start by modelling the use of Web 2.0 tools for professional development.  An easy way for school leaders to expose colleagues to the value in Web 2.0 tools would be to create a wiki with links to interesting YouTube videos, blogs, professional social networking sites (i.e. LinkedIn) and podcasts offering professional resources useful to teachers in the school.  In doing so, our colleagues would gain exposure to useful internet resources and begin to understand the collaborative nature of Web 2.0.  As colleagues become comfortable using the wiki, they could begin to add their comments, links and ideas to it.   

Over time, school staffs will become more comfortable with using Web 2.0 and hopefully some of these tools would become part of the school’s communication routines.  At this point, these tools could be employed to collaborate with others educators at the district, community, national and international level.  This is the most powerful aspect of these tools.  I believe that many teachers would find the informal professional development offered by Web 2.0 tools to be useful, of surprising depth and fun to participate in.  The best tools I found for professional development were education-related blogs, LinkedIn and Twitter.  All of these tools require minimal time to keep up with and offer great opportunities for professional sharing and collaboration.  I look forward to employing Web 2.0 tools into my own professional development and inspiring other teachers to use it in theirs.

Once school staffs understand the potential of Web 2.0 and are familiar with using it, they can begin to incorporate it into their teaching.  Most students are comfortable and most engaged when working with technology and thus welcome Web 2.0 tools into their classrooms.  According to the article “Using Web 2.0 to Support the Active Learning Experience” in the Journal of Information Systems Education, research indicates that because using technology is so second-nature to today’s children, they actually think and express themselves differently than children from a generation ago - kids today work better with technology than without it.  Using these tech tools for teaching and learning is not only engaging but also very comfortable for today’s kids.  In allowing them to learn from and express themselves through the use of Web 2.0 tools, we are setting our students up for success.

All of the Web 2.0 tools we learned about have potential for students at the middle and high school levels to use and learn from.  Tools such as Twitter and Social Bookmarking are useful for students grade 6-10, however aren’t useful for younger students as they are too complicated.  Blogging, Podcasting, Social Networking, Photo Sharing, Video Sharing and Presentation/Multimedia tools are all engaging tools that students at all levels can use successfully (younger children with support).  These tools can be used to learn and to demonstrate learning.

Blogging is the tool I see myself using most with my students in the future.  Blogging is especially useful because the blogosphere is so vast.  Students can not only create blogs (very easily!), but also learn from the millions of blogs out there.  In the article, “3 for 3” published in T.H.E., Web 2.0’er Steve Hargadon champions blogs and blogging as they have made it easy to have conversations on the web through simple technology that allows for privacy settings, making them very practical for use in our schools.  He also mentions that because many people (parents and students included) are familiar with blogging it makes for an easy adoption and integration of this tool. 

Life is changing rapidly with the advances in technology and thus, the skills our students need in to be successful in the 21^st Century are different than those a decade ago.  It is our job as educators to ensure we are doing our best to prepare our students for the future.  On one of his blog posts on, “e-learning & distance education resources”, Tony Bates lists the skills and competencies he believes are paramount for 21^st Century learning and working:

-good communication skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening)

-ability to learn independently

-social skills (ethics, positive attitude, responsibility)

-teamwork skills, collaborative learning, networking

-ability to adapt to changing circumstances

-thinking skills (problem-solving; critical, logical, numerical skills)

-knowledge navigation

-entrepreneurship (taking initiative, seeing opportunities)

-digital literacy

Bates is "bang-on" with his list however, I have often thought about this notion of 21^st Century skills and reflected on the fact that much of our curriculum, doesn’t emphasise these skills.  Web 2.0 can be used to teach the curriculum simultaneous to these essential skills.  The very collaborative and global nature of Web 2.0 fosters teamwork, problem solving, worldwide awareness and social skills.  Web 2.0 tools can be used to expose the world to our students, while giving them a vehicle for expressing their thoughts and ideas to the world.  Empowering our students through Web 2.0 is not only engaging, but also very effective in maximizing student learning and success...

Adventures in Blogging...

Did You Know?

-77% of internet users read blogs

-75% of bloggers have college degrees

-68% of bloggers have been blogging for at least 2 years

-72% of bloggers blog to share their expertise

-70% of bloggers use personal satisfaction as the indicator of their blog’s success

-More than 133 million blogs have been indexed since 2002

Adapted from: Phil Bradley

Learning About Blogging & RSS

I really didn’t understand how BIG blogging has become, until I read the statistics above.  Blogging is an incredibly popular tool for promotion, reflection, collaboration, sharing and thinking.  I have learned that the reasons people blog are varied, and the assortment of blogs out there are equally diverse.  One can literally find a blog on anything they wish.  Bloggers and blog readers represent people from all walks of life and from all corners of the world. 

Before starting this course, my experience with blogging was limited.  I was excited at the prospect of creating my first blog for this course – however I was a little shy about posting my thinking online for anyone to see.  Being new to blogging I read through the chapter on Weblogs in, “Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms” and was given a good background to get me started with blogging.  I took Richardson’s advice and decided to use “Blogger” – as you can tell...  I found Blogger to be user-friendly and straight-forward.  Many blog templates are available to users, and these templates can be customised with ease.

As I became more comfortable with Blogger, I began to explore how to enhance my blog posts by embedding images, videos and podcasts and personalizing my blog with some widgets.  Having had no experience with blogging and no one to guide me through the process of adding such elements, I went to good-old Google and searched out what I needed.  I was so pleased to find numerous sites with easy-to-follow information on enhancing Blogger.  I found it easiest to learn these skills through video tutorials which walk you through the process screen-by-screen.  Since information on blogging technology etc. is so readily available, I found myself more inclined to experiment and take risks – and I’m so happy I did!

The most challenging aspect for me as I began to blog was finding my (hopefully engaging) voice while effectively relaying my ideas.  The blogs I enjoy reading most are both witty and informative – not one or the other.  In my blog posts I aim to express my ideas in an interesting and engaging manner – I’m finding this is easier said than done.  After reflecting on the process of my blogging experience thus far, I realise that finding your blogging voice is a process.  I have noticed my blog posts have changed and evolved even in the short time I have been blogging.  I appreciated this article called, “How to Find Your Blogging Voice – 8 Tips for Bloggers” as it reminded me perfection is not the goal of blogging and that your blogging voice should change and evolve over time.  That being said, I am happy with my developing blogger voice and continue to experiment with it. 

Blogging has required me to reflect on my own learning and thinking.  Due to the fact that my blog is updated frequently I have begun to see some patterns in my thinking emerge.  Reflecting on this, I see the value in regular blogging as it provides a concrete way to explore one’s thinking.  Comparing my earlier posts to more recent ones I am able to see how my ideas have been confirmed, have evolved and have been challenged.

The collaborative nature of blogging has proved to be a great motivation for me.  I love to see what comments others have to say about my posts.  I find that once another person has commented on my blog whether in agreement or disagreement, I want to discuss more with them.  Even more, their comments get me thinking, reflecting and exploring more.

Before this course I had never thought to subscribe to blogs, let alone heard of RSS.  I have a good friend who blogs about fashion (link) and my sister-in-law (link) created a baby blog after the birth of her daughter.  These were the only blogs I had ever purposely read.  I remember searching Google for blogs to use in my Inquiry Learning course this past summer and being more than frustrated!  As suggested in the course outline I got a “Google Reader” account and subscribed to the suggested blogs.  I appreciate the convenience of having all the blogs I am following together in one place.  In the past I had added links to blogs I want to follow on my favourites bar.  There were 2 problems with this method: 1. it cluttered my favourites bar and 2. I never knew when each blog was updated.  Google reader has solved these problems and allows me to go back and search out the blogs I’m following for specific terms.  This search feature has been very helpful when I have been researching each of the Web 2.0 tools for this course.  Google Reader has made it easy to follow multiple blogs and given me an convienent way to go back and read previous entries. 

How Does it Fit In?  Blogging, my Personal Life & Learning

Blogging certainly has a place in my personal life and learning and I see it having a place for the rest of my life.  The blogosphere is a vast and every growing place, full of never ending possibilities.  I believe the blogs that I will be reading and creating over my lifetime will change depending on where I am.  Blogging is a flexible and evolving literacy I look forward to exploring in various aspects of my life.

In my personal life, I enjoy reading the blogs my friends and family create to share their passions and goings-on.  As I mentioned earlier, my sister-in-law has created a baby blog where she posts pictures of my nieces and annotates them with little stories about what they’ve been up to.  Her blog was created purely out of convenience, but has evolved into an online scrapbook of her kid’s lives thus far.  She has every intention of continuing on with her blogging and has started to include posts on their house renovations and other non-kid related topics.  A good friend of mine has started to blog about fashion and has really found her passion in doing so.  After a successful first year of her blog, she has decided to go back to school to study journalism and has already gotten some freelance writing work through her blog.  The journey she has taken through blogging helped her nail down her passion.

While I don’t actually know what I’ll be blogging about, I look forward to blogging in the future.  The greatest blogging inspiration I have at the moment is travel.  I love travelling and thus enjoy reading travel blogs.  When I take my next big trip, I would love to start a travel blog.  Not only do travel blogs keep those at home up to date on your adventures, they also become a keepsake from your travels.  When I taught in Abu Dhabi I wrote extensive emails on my adventures and send them to my family and friends back home.  These emails have become my favourite keep-sakes from my trip as they contain all of the little details of my trip that I have begun to forget.  Blogging would have been a more convenient way for me to record my trip adventures.  When I have children I will certainly follow my sister-in-law’s lead and blog about our family activities.  Another passion of mine is cooking and I do think a cooking blog would be a lot of fun – I just don’t have the time right now!

In regards to learning, bloggers have much to teach us.  I intent to keep my Google Reader account active so that I can continue to read the blogs that were suggested for us to follow for this course.  This program has opened my eyes to using alternative sources when conducting research etc.  Before taking my first course in this program I had never thought of using a blog as a reference.  I now see how sophisticated the blogs out there are.  Blogs have an advantage over traditional sources as they can be published instantly, making them some of the most up-to-date sources available.  The hardest part for me will be searching out the best blogs to follow and learn from.  Through Twitter searching the hashtag “#edublogs” I have been directed to a few new and interesting blogs related to education.  I aim to use blogs as a source of professional development and as a resource for research as I journey through this program.  The education related blogs available are vastly diverse and I have been impressed by their  depth and quality. 

Does it Have a Place?  Blogging In Our Schools

Blogging most certainly does have a place in our schools!   Creative educators are creating blogs for student, colleague and parent use.  Not only that, students are creating blogs to share their ideas and showcase their learning.  The fact that blogs are posted for the world to see gives students an authentic audience for their writing and allows them to make connections with others in the global community.  With excellent blogging programs available for free, getting your students and colleagues blogging is easy to do.

Through blogging, school leaders can promote initiatives, professional development and school news.  Teacher/TLs can create blogs to encourage collaboration and idea sharing amongst school staffs.  In the article, “A School Administrators Guide to Blogging: A New Way to Connect With the Community”, author Jerrry Horgan suggests that blogging is a convenient way for administrators to share the great things that are going on in their school/school district to the greater community.  While this article is written with administrators in mind, I believe the same can be said for TLs.  In my local school districts, TL hours are being cut every year regardless of enrolment, and TLs are constantly trying to prove their value to the community and district administrators.  Because TLs are non-enrolling, many classroom teachers, parents and administrators don’t actually understand what TLs do and can do for a school.  Through blogging, TLs could illustrate the integral role they play in enhancing teaching and learning.  The best example of a TLs blog I have found is Buffy Hamilton’s “The Unquiet Library” blog.  Her hard work and value in the school is easy to see on any and all of her posts.  Any colleagues or community members questioning the value of TLs in our schools should be sent to this blog...it’s inspiring to say the least.

Classroom blogs can be an excellent way for teachers to communicate with parents and students.  In our text, Will Richardson mentions how much parents love the transparency of a class blog and suggests that parents (and older students) add the blog to an RSS feed or sign up for automatic notification so that they can keep up with their child’s school life.  Classroom blogs can be used purely for informing parents of school events etc. (K-3) or can be used to post assignment and curriculum information for students and parents (gr. 3-12).  Richardson also comments that having classroom blogs is a handy way for colleagues to keep up with what each other are doing with their classes – helping to promote a culture of collaboration in the school.  A good example to a classroom blog is "Mrs. Verronneau’s Class Blog" (grade 4), from Cordova Bay Elementary, a school in my district.

One of the greatest criticisms of our increasing techie society is that youth are not learning how to communicate effectively, spelling in techie slang and using a max of 140 characters in each piece of writing.  I believe blogging can be the bridge between our students’ desire to work with technology and our desire to teach effective writing to communicate ideas.  Not only that, through blogging and reading blogs, students can practice and see examples of what meaningful and successful writing is.  The BC K – 12 Language Arts curriculum outcomes for Reading & Viewing and Writing & Responding are well addressed through blogging activities:

All BC Students Grades K – 12 are expected to...	Reading & Viewing	Writing & Representing
	-Read and view to comprehend and respond to a variety of grade-appropriate texts. -Use strategies before, during and after reading and viewing to increase comprehension and fluency. -Use reading and viewing to make meaningful connections, and to improve and extend thinking. -Analyse the influence of context through reading and writing. -Use metacognition, self-assess, and set goals for improvement in reading and viewing. -Use the structures and features of text to derive meaning from texts.	-Write and represent to create a variety of meaningful personal, informational and imaginative texts. -Use strategies when writing and representing to increase success at creating meaningful texts. -Use writing and representing to express, extend and analyse thinking. -Explore multiple perspectives through writing and representing. -Use metacognition, self assess, and set goals for improvement in writing and representing. -Use features and conventions of language to enhance meaning and artistry in writing and representing.

Adapted From: BC Integrated Resource Package

Why is getting our students to blog such a great idea?

1.    Blogging teaches hard-to-teach curriculum outcomes.

2.    Blogging engages students and gets them motivated.

3.    Blogging allows students to become published writers, offering them an authentic audience for their writing.

4.    Blogging provides a concrete way for students to reflect on their thinking and learning.

5.    Through blogging students can connect and collaborate with others in their school, community and the world.

Most exciting for students is the prospect of creating their own blogs.  In the text, Richardson refers to research by Eide and Fernette that found blogging initiates creative, intuitive and associational and reflective thinking in addition to promoting social interaction and collaborative learning.  Teacher-blogger D.S. Watts writes that through blogging, “students begin to feel empowered as digital citizens when they control their personalized learning environment.”  One point to be mindful of when getting students to blog, is blogging etiquette, responsibility and safety.  “Tech & Learning” compiled a good list of blogging guidelines – available here.

Student blogging can take many forms, ideas include:

-E-Portfolios: Blogs can be a wonderful place for students to showcase their learning.  Artifacts (images/links/videos etc.) with annotations can be stored on a blog for others to see and comment on.

-Book Reviews: Students can blog about the books they are reading, allowing other students to get ideas for new reading material.  Students could include a "Shelfari" or "LibraryThing" widget on their blog as well.  See an example of a book review blog created by a grade 5 student I taught here.

-Weather Reports: BC students in grade 4 are required to learn about weather patterns.  Why not have them predict the weather using what they have learned and blog their forecasts?  Other students can add their input to others’ predictions through blog comments.  To read more click here.

-Blogging Buddies: Students in the same grade but living in different cities/countries can communicate via blogs.  Teachers can coordinate curriculum to ensure that students have personal learning connections with one another – a wonderful way to expose students to those outside of their communities.  (Idea adapted from “Passport To The World of Kim and Alex” blog).

Not only can students learn through blogging, but they can also read blogs to learn.  As I have stated before, there are blogs available on virtually all topics.  Teachers could choose to have their students follow blogs written on curricular subjects.  Another option is requiring students to find a blog they are interested in related to the area of study.  Here are a few links to unique blogs related to each of the major curricular areas (appropriate for gr. 8-12):

Science: 
The Beauty Brains – The Sci-Fi Gene – Exoplantology

Math:
Mathematics & Multimedia – Let’s Play Math Blog

Social Studies:
The History Blog – World History Blog – Any Travel Blog (See Here)

Language Arts:
Angela Booth’s Writing Blog – The Reading Zone – Poetry Blog

________________________

The blogosphere offers bloggers and blog readers infinite opportunities and possibilities.  Using blogs as a way to learn and to share ideas is a wonderful way to enhance life, learning and teaching.  Explore the blogosphere you never know what you might learn or who you may connect with!

Twitter - 175 Million Strong.

As much as I have tried to deny it, in the past few months I have learned that Twitter is kind of a “Big Deal”!  With 175 million users, I can no longer pretend that Twitter is a passing fad with a few passionate users – it’s here and it’s here to stay!  While under 5 years old, Twitter has become an integral part of today’s modern societies.  Tweets have been known to brake international news, used  to “pop the question” and have even lead to arrests and jail time.  While some claim twitter is the ultimate form of narcissism, my experience and research has taught me that Twitter is whatever you make it.  Narcissistic or not, I am determined to give Twitter a chance – here’s hoping I don’t end up in jail!

Landing in the Twitterverse – Guidebook Handy: Learning About Twitter:

My experience learning about Twitter was much like being dropped in a foreign country and trying to navigate a new culture – complete with new vocabulary and customs.  For myself, the actual technology of Twitter was simple; however learning how to consume and contribute to the Twitterverse was a challenge.  Compared with the other Web 2.0 tools we’ve explored, Twitter has had the most new terms and etiquette for me to become familiar with.  I assumed as with travel, that as one explores the Twitterverse more, its becomes easier to understand.  With this assumption in mind, I decided to jump into the Twitterverse and see if I could navigate this new world on my own...Ok so I wasn’t completely on my own, I had my trusty travel guide (thanks to this week’s Trailfire) to help me along my way... 

The best analogy I found for Twitter was comparing Twitter to a cocktail party.  At the party you are walking around the room and eaves dropping on little snippets of all the conversations.  Some of these conversations may be more interesting and/or relevant to you and you might want to learn more, at which point you can join the discussion.  I had never thought of Twitter as a starting point for a discussion, my previous assumption was that tweets were the beginning and the end of a conversation.  I have learned that some tweets are just that, one-offs, however many are part of a much larger network of conversations, debates and collaborative thinking. 

Another a-ha moment I had was just how big the Twitterverse is!  As I mentioned earlier, Twitter has 175 million users, that’s a lot but I didn’t really process how many it  actually was.  When looking for people to follow, I couldn’t believe how many familiar names I found.  I was also very excited to find many of my favourite celebrities on Twitter.  My personal favourite being Martha Stewart – who I am currently following, who knew Twitter is a "Good Thing"?!  Not only that, I was impressed by the number of well respected leaders in education there were tweeting about education related issues.  I started reading through the tweets of those I’m following and was quickly confused with all of the lingo and symbols.  I did a little research and the most useful twitter vocabulary I learned was:

Hashtag:  Essentially this is a tag.  Users create hashtags to link their tweets on particular topics.  To indicate a hastag, the “#” symbol appears directly before the tag.  For example the hashtag for Social Media would appear:  #SocialMedia.

Tweetup:  A Tweet Up is when a bunch of tweeters (usually with the same interest(s)) who only know each other through Twitter, meet up in real life.

FollowFriday: Follow Friday (FF) is a recommendation for others to follow someone you mentioned in your tweet. 

@reply: This is used to show that your tweet is in reply to another’s users’ tweet.  For example “@JohnDoe, I have read that book too.”

Retweet:  RT@username is used to acknowledge that you have retweeted another user’s tweet.

There is lots of other Twitter vocabulary, however I found these terms/symbols to be the most helpful in reading and comprehending tweets.  If you want to learn more, check out the Twictionary.

After reading a few tweets, I was ready to post one myself.  I was surprised how apprehensive I was to post a tweet so I decided to look up some info on tweeting before actually posting one.  I learned that brevity and accuracy is key when it comes to effective tweeting.  Time.com noted that many tweets have an “unexpected depth” to them – proving that tweeting can report more than what one had for breakfast! While 140 characters is not many, if chosen wisely they can communicate quite a bit of information.  That being said, I didn’t have much to say that day!  I did end up taking the plunge, and was proud to post my first tweet.  

The next day I decided to post a tweet with a link in it to an education related website.  I had found this webpage which had many interactive ebooks – all of which are free!  I included the hashtag #teachers in my post to help ensure my tweet got to as many teachers as possible.  Any parent/teacher working with emergent readers would find this site useful as many of the books have audio included to help early readers through the text.

What did I learn through my experience?  I learned just how massive and complex the Twitterverse is.  I realise that fully understanding Twitter etiquette, language and customs is a process and isn’t something you can “master” as it’s always evolving – much like a country’s culture.  I have learned that exposure to the Twitterverse through consumption and contribution of tweets is my best bet to becoming a more seasoned tweeter.

Tweeting My Life Away: Twitter, My Personal Life & Learning:

Facebook is my preferred method of keeping track of my friends’ lives and goings on and for this reason I don’t intend to use Twitter to keep up with my friends.  Twitter is more useful to me as an information portal.  I have subscribed to the BBC and CBC on Twitter and have been happy to receive news information literally as it is unfolding.  I also appreciate that the news is presented in short-and-sweet tweets, allowing me to get sense of what’s going on in the world in a matter of seconds.  Because these news organizations often include links in their tweets, finding out more about a news story is only a click away.  In the past, I have spent hours on newspaper websites reading through the day’s headlines - however I now start with Twitter for the day’s news and use newspaper websites to supplement the information I get through Twitter.  On a more recreational note, being the foodie I am, I have enjoyed using Twitter to find out information on great recipes and restaurants.  As I mentioned earlier, I am currently following Martha Stewart in addition to other celebrity chefs.  Many of these chefs post links to free seasonal recipes – something I always appreciate.  Some also post restaurant recommendations in their tweets.  I used a tweeted restaurant recommendation on my recent trip to Cape Cod – thanks Giada!  Being able to follow and learn from my favourite celebrity chefs is a fun bonus to being on Twitter!

In regards to my personal learning, Twitter offers many opportunities.  Following educational discussions on Twitter has proven very simple.  Tweets are quick to read and are often responded to instantly – the speed of professional discussions on Twitter is incredibly fast, making following and participating in discussions exciting and easy.  I have enjoyed watching the discussions on education related topics as they “get me thinking” about many issues in today’s schools.  While this information is valuable, I was having trouble using Twitter to find information I needed on specific topics.  I tried searching out a few hashtags and was pleasantly surprised to see how effective this was.  In the summer when I was working on my Inquiry course, I didn’t fully understand how Twitter worked and what the posts I was reading meant.  I saw tweets as the end point, and tried to use the measly 140 characters to get my information.  I now understand that tweets are merely the beginning and the hashtags and links in a given post are the most valuable for information finding.  I was disappointed to read that you can’t actually subscribe to hashtags through Twitter as hashtags are a user created convention – so performing a Twitter search for a specific hashtag is my best bet.  I had considered getting a Tweetdeck account to allow me to follow particular hashtags, however I opted out of it as I had too many hashtags of interest and would feel overwhelmed by the number of tweets I was receiving.  Not only that, at different times I am looking for different information and like being able to search out different hashtags as I want them.  Using Twitter to help me as I work through this TL-DL program will be an adjustment as I am not used to employing social networking sites for academic research.  I do intend to keep up on educational matters via Twitter and also look forward to searching out hashtags to find information when I’m researching.  The great thing about using Twitter for academic purposes is that you are almost always guaranteed the most current information.

Tweetcher: Twitter and Our Schools:

Twitter can be a wonderful tool for professional development and connecting with like-minded educators.  As school leaders teachers/TLs we need to promote the use of Twitter for professional purposes to our colleagues.  This is a challenge, as many of today’s school staffs have preconceived ideas and negative feelings about Twitter.  I will admit that while I’m a younger teacher in the district, I was not fully buying into Twitter before I learned more about it.  I saw Twitter as a self-indulgent time-waster that added more complication to my already busy life.  The notion that Twitter is just like Facebook status updates is a common and inaccurate misconception.  My exposure to Twitter has helped me to see the depth of the discussions on this site known for its bravity.  When promoting professional Twitter use in our schools, we need to educate our colleagues on the following points:

1.    Tweets are not the extent of a discussion, but rather the beginning.

2.    Useful and current links are often posted via Tweets.

3.    Tweets are short-and-sweet, offering a quick way to get information.

4.    Understanding hashtags and other Twitter conventions helps users to better understand and create tweets.

5.    People are tweeting all the time – information on Twitter is up-to-the-minute.

6.    Twitter can be fun.

Once our colleagues have begun to see the potential of using Twitter for professional development and communication, us school leaders need to lead by example and offer support.  As with this course, suggesting a list of education related people to follow on Twitter would be helpful.  Once staff members begin to follow “experts” they will become more comfortable tweeting themselves.  Staff members could follow one another and continue professional dialogue outside of the school walls.  Particularly useful would be the ability for staffs to stay connected through school breaks such as July and August.  Us teachers are constantly searching out new resources and/or ideas through our breaks, tweeting them to our colleagues would be a convenient way to share our ideas.

Not only can staff members from a given school connect via Twitter, but Twitter makes it just as easy to connect with educators from around the district, province, country and world.  No longer are teachers/TL working in isolation – professionals from around the world can share ideas and inspire one another.  In her article, "Virtual PLC's At Their Best: A Daily Diatribe", Paige Jaeger encourages teacher-librarians to venture into the Twitterverse and follow others.  She also emphasizes just how easy it is to connect with those you work with and others around the world.  She suggests teacher-librarians following INFOlit4U – a great source of PD info!

Using Twitter as an educational tool with Elementary aged students is not practical nor feasible.  That being said, Twitter could be an excellent tool for parent communication.  School/library programs could be promoted through tweets.  Not only that, teachers could tweet reminders about permission forms, special events and/or homework to parents.  This responsible use of Twitter as a tool for parent-teacher communication is a great model for students as they begin to show interest in social networking.  Researchers reported in, “Assessing Middle School Students’ Knowledge of Conduct and Consequences and Their Behaviors Regarding the Use of Social Networking Sites”, states that parents need to take a more active role in promoting responsible internet use.  What better way than modelling the behaviour themselves?

As students move on to middle and high school the potential of using twitter in the classroom is realised.  Cell phones and ipods are commonly in the hands of our middle and high school students and these toys can become tools when using Twitter for educational purposes.  I was astounded to read the following statistic on Liz Kolb’s blog “From Toy to Tool: Cell Phones in Learning”: at schools where cell phones are banned, 58% of teens use them during class anyway.  This is an interesting and astounding number – not only do more than half of our teens have cells phones, they use them constantly!  Fighting cell phone use in our schools is pointless, finding ways to integrate cell phones and similar technologies (i.e. ipods) to enhance learning is a much better way to spend our energy.   Student engagement is bound to improve as we embrace these technologies.  Not only that, Twitter is another way to connect with our students in and outside of school and many students would find the briefness of tweets less intimidating and time consuming than composing and/or reading an email.

Twitter can be an incredible tool for class discussion.  With today’s increasingly large classes, using Twitter as a forum for class discussions is not only fun, but also practical.  Teachers can tweet a discussion question at the beginning of a period and as students settle into their desks, students can tweet their responses.  Tweeting is handy as students are limited to 140 characters and therefore one student can’t dominate the conversation and for those who are having trouble coming up with ideas 140 characters is a manageable amount to share.  Not only does this get the class ready to learn, shy students can share their thoughts in a less personal way.  On a practical note, students absent from class can join in on discussions and/or view them at a later time.  In his article “Teaching with Twitter”, Jeffery R. Young remarks that allowing students to have discussions with the teacher and other students via Twitter changes the dynamics in the class as it gives students an equal voice to the teacher.

Another exciting use for Twitter as a teaching tool is for differentiated learning.  Many of the students most checked out of school are those who are most checked into their ipods and/or cell phones.  These are the students who are at risk of being left behind. Through tweeting, assignment and studying information (i.e. “Hint: check out pg. 34 for tomorrow’s Socials’ test”) could be sent to students.  Teachers could tweet reminders for homework, supplies needed and events for the following day.  This techie form of communication could be all that these students need to get on track.  Not only would they be more engaged, when they see that their teacher is trying to meet them where they’re at, they would be more comfortable asking for clarification via tweets.

Keeping up with current events is easy to do via twitter.  If I were teaching middle or high school level Socials and/or Language Arts, I would encourage my students to follow CBC via Twitter.  Students could retweet and remark on news stories, increasing dialogue between students and developing critical thinking skills.  Through use of Twitter, students would be able to keep up with the news of the day quickly and with minimal reading.

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The most powerful opportunity Twitter offers it’s users is the ability to connect.  Whether it be with your favourite celebrity, news channel, student, colleague, expert or friend, Twitter makes it easy for us to share our ideas.  Tweets are fast to create and fast to consume – making Twitter discussions interesting and spirited. While intimidating at first, becoming comfortable and understanding Twitter is easier than one might think.  Twitter is a tool that can be employed for personal learning, professional development, increasing student engagement and recreation.  I look forward to continuing to explore the Twitterverse.