Personal Learning Network: Twitter

Twitter is a social network that the majority of Americans have a slight idea of how it works. We see twitter hash tags in our television programs and even on flyers. As far as social networks go, Twitter is at the top of the heap. That  140 character limit Tweet can express so much and helps to keep individuals that are interested in the same topics connected. Twitter chats are instant live chats with hundreds of people all on the same subject to help share knowledge and help to feel connected. Although it is true that most social network sites are used for social and entertainment purposes, I believe that we can use them both professionally andeducationally.

My story with Twitter

Screenshot of Twubs of my Twitter Chat

In January, I created my own Twitter page(@GraceGasper). A class I was taking offered a professional light to Twitter that grabbed my attention. I always thought, "why would I want to read someone's short post or have more than one social media network?" To feel support is what my Twitter experience has shown me. I took this as an experience to try new things and found a few Special education sites to follow and read many articles they tweeted and finally desired to participate in a Twitter chat. I picked the New Teachers chat on Wednesday at 8 pm. I used Twubs to help connect me to the twitter chat and allowed me to slow down the thread in order to enjoy more resources. Many people were involved in the chat and even though I just said it was my first chat,  they responded back kindly. I mainly sat and watched, reading the article some posted and generally getting a feeling for the chat. I found the experience enlightening. Many of the teachers were just posting fun online tools and there was not much of a conversation but occasionally people would ask questions about their classroom and many links and pointers would be shared. I feel that this tool will be extremely useful to me as an educator. I often feel the need to talk with like minded individuals about my day as well as get others advice on struggles I will face as an educator. I look at this overall experience in an extremely positive light and hope that some of the friends I have made through these chats will help me to better my teaching craft. This chat helped me to find School tube which is an education based and community base YouTube.