The first session I attended at the Connected Educator Unconference was about building a Personal Learning Network. I am nearing the end of my teaching career, but lifelong learning has always been an important goal of mine, so this session intrigued me. I’ve dabbled in Twitter for the past couple of years. In fact, I think it was instrumental in getting my money returned when my bank card was used fraudulently. But I knew there were ways to use it more effectively, and was ready to dive in.
The session was presented by John Bernia, a middle school principal from Lake Orion. I’d advise starting your PLN by following him on Twitter. He is very passionate about making his school the best place to learn and has lots of great ideas. And his commitment stretches beyond his school. His introduction stated that he is “striving to make the world a better place, one day at a time.” John is a Ph. D. student at Oakland University, and co-founder of EdcampOU and AdmincampMI. He is also the co-moderator of #edfocuschat on Twitter, a monthly opportunity for educators to connect with authors.
The session started with John making the statement that Twitter is the best professional development tool that we have today. By the end of the session I believed him. His reasons were as follows:
- You can collaborate with other educators.
- You can find resources to pass along to other staff members.
- You can talk with authors and/or experts in any field.
I’ve heard people say that they are too busy to start using Twitter, and as a former classroom teacher I really understand. But those 140 character posts are gold mines. You just need to know how to know how to pan for the gold. And it is really easy.
One important step in using Twitter for professional development is the effective use of hashtags. This page lists some common hashtags used by educators. Searching for them and using them in your posts will bring you closer to people in your field all around the world who want to share ideas.
There are also Twitter “chats”. These are times when people get together and talk about topics of interest. Checking some of the hashtags will let you know when chats are happening. You can just read until you feel comfortable, but I'd suggest jumping in and posting. These people are just as interested in your ideas as you are in theirs.
John told us about the time he wanted a new perspective about a chemistry lesson he was teaching. He went on Twitter and asked if anybody had any ideas about the topic. Within a short time he received an answer from an educator in another country (Australia, if I remember it correctly). He ended up conversing back and forth with this teacher and eventually began counting him as a friend. Talk about having the world at your fingertips!
I had a great experience with Twitter when I missed the MACUL Conference due to illness. The links I found at the #macul14 hashtag led me to blogs, videos, and ideas that I would not have had the opportunity to explore. I started following some of the people who were using that hashtag to begin my own Personal Learning Network.
The presenters at the conference did not recommend using the normal Twitter interface. They suggested Tweetdeck (or Hootsuite for mobile devices). Using Tweetdeck allows you to view posts across several hashtags, each in a separate column. I set up a column for #connectededu, the hashtag that people at the conference were using, and immediately was able to see what people in other sessions were talking about. People are still posting ideas and comments using the #macul14 hashtag so I have that in a column as well, along with #edchat and #edtech. One column is just my Twitter home feed where my non-educator friends post. Twitter is fluid, and I'll probably be changing these columns many times as my needs change.
This conference made it clear that Twitter is not about what you had for lunch. It's about collaboration and learning. And I'm sure there are other uses that I haven't discovered yet. I'd advise all educators to give it a try.
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