Over the past year or so, I've been mentioning Twitter as a tool for PD to different groups, including workshops I've given lately, and even to my own students--pre-service teachers soon to be entering the profession.
Honestly, I would have thought that my students would be ready and willing to jump onto the Twitter PD bandwagon, but they often are (surprisingly) reticent to start. I suppose I should not be surprised. They are more likely to use Twitter to connect with their friends...sort of the way I use Facebook. (I recently saw a tweet informing me that Facebook is the "mom jeans of social media.") #LOL #ROFL #hashtagging #whousesfacebook? #momjeansareawesomeandstuff
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| Image courtesy James G. Milles - CC BY 2.0 |
I was recently at an education conference and met up with a former student. While we were visiting, the topic of Twitter came up. I asked her if she was on Twitter, and she replied that she was, but she never really tweets.
I thought that was interesting, so I asked her why not. Her reply gave me tremendous insight into the way younger people use Twitter:
"There's too much pressure to be witty or clever all the time on Twitter. So unless you have something important to say..."
Now that makes sense to me. Of course young adults (college students, etc.) are using Twitter in a very, very different way than I (a 30-something old-fogey professor) would.
I know there is an awful lot of banality and downright stupidity on Twitter, okay? But at the same time, there is a pretty outstanding group of educators sharing ideas, encouraging creativity, asking questions, and learning, learning, learning on Twitter every single day. And it's a shame that pre-service teachers might miss out on the conversation because of the social pressures of how they use Twitter in their personal lives.
So, maybe I should recommend to my students that they start a "professional" Twitter account and keep it separate from their "personal" Twitter? What do you think, fellow tweeting-teachers?
That's where I am as a high school teacher. I first got on Twitter with the purchase of a "smartphone". Personally, I do not follow students or graduates (though I somehow made one exception to my rule), only coworkers, friends, and various commercial and non-commercial corporations. My "a-ha" Twitter moment came early when I asked my students about hashtags. Through that discussion, I found steady streams of professional development, encouragement, lesson ideas, and even Twitter chats. However, rather than subject my followers to useless tweets such as "Hi, I'm Andrew in Atlanta teaching 7th - 12th grade math #alg1chat," I chose to open a new/separate account. Utilizing a tweak in Gmail, I removed a period in my e-mail address and was able to sign up for another account using the "same" address. Now, I'm almost one of the 40% or so of Twitter users that follow and not tweet (from my professional account). I do participate in several Twitter chats (#sbgchat, #alg1chat, #geochat), but predominantly follow - no pressure to come up with witty ideas!
ReplyDeleteI love that you are willing to learn from/with your students! There's so much great stuff available via Twitter, it'd be a shame for teachers to miss out! Thanks for taking the time to comment.
DeleteI am currently studying education. Having a completely professional Twitter account makes a lot of sense to me. I never found any use for Twitter until I started creating my PLN. Now I love this awesome tool, and I am sure is because I found something important to do with it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback! I'm with you--I wasn't sure what to do with Twitter until I started connecting with other educators. Now I'm totally sold on it! Best free PD available! :-)
DeleteI would completely agree with the quote given by your former student! When I had it in college, I did not really use it to tweet for myself but instead used it to check out what witty tweets peers would put out there. I would only say something if I had something really good to say, or at least I thought it was really good. It would seem like some people would just put their stock into having a good twitter account and it would not be anything like they are in real life if you would go up and talk to them. I had a time where I went on a craze and started following educators and began using it as a sort of PD. I have more used it as a place to receive information rather than a place to share my information, I guess I have not gotten the courage to take the next step! I do struggle though knowing how to best use twitter. I know it is a great place to gain information, but it can be a good way to connect with friends as well. Should it be one or the other or are they able to have a cross over?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, Tyler! I know what you mean about receiving great info. It's only in the past year or so that I've really started sharing things myself. I encourage you to take that step--even if it's just retweeting things you've found valuable. Twitter is for sharing! :-)
DeleteHope things are going well for you, my friend. Grace and peace.
Sadly, lack of education is the reason many of my high school students and recent student teachers are reluctant to use Twitter in a school environment.
ReplyDeleteFirst, many lack the understanding of the medium's potential because they don't understand the practical uses of the hashtag such as searching and chatting.
Second, and this is the sad part, many of these students do see Facebook as "mom jeans" and have used Twitter as their own space. They often forget that Twitter is a public space because the adults in their life weren't present in the space. Being asked to use Twitter for school or professional purposes forces them to consider the fallout of a collision between their unfettered social life and their classroom life. It's no surprise that many are uncomfortable with the contrast.
I point out the contrast not to paint all students as irresponsible, but rather to emphasize the need to teach and model citizenship in digital spaces as well as physical spaces. You are at the centre of such work in your classes. Thank you for being a thoughtful part of the conversation.
Thanks for your thoughtful (and kind!) response, Scott. I fully agree about students using Twitter as a refuge from adults in their life. I've extended my "I don't friend my students" policy from Facebook to the way I use Twitter...but the asymmetrical nature of Twitter makes this a little different. I suppose it is different in higher ed than in PreK-12, but I still don't follow students on Twitter unless they have followed me first, and even then I usually send them a message first to confirm that they are okay with it. I wonder how high school (and middle school?) teachers handle social media interactions with students? I'd love to hear more about what you do with Twitter for your students.
DeleteI'd love to do more with Twitter in school, but the boundaries are often difficult to navigate. Right now, I'm focusing on education (as I've outlined a bit here: http://hazeu.wordpress.com/2013/12/26/clearer-skies-ahead/) and I'm hoping to get students connecting with other students on Twitter in an educational capacity. Connecting professionally with other students seems like a safe enough step toward connecting with universities, teachers, employers, etc.
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