What's Your Brand?

Let's do a little free-association.

What pops to mind when you hear the word "brand?"

Are you picturing a cowboy, marking a cow as belonging to a certain ranch?

Or maybe you have in mind the logo for a specific company?

Or perhaps you're thinking of a celebrity who endorses a particular product?

Or...maybe you are picturing a person, and the way s/he portrays her/himself on social media?

I've been thinking about that last definition for "brand" lately. I recently have seen quite a few people on Twitter responding to this tweet, sharing their own stories of foolishness...

What's the most On Brand™️ story you have from your early childhood.

Mine is when my mom told me not to touch the electric stove when it was red, because that meant it was hot, so I made direct eye contact with her and slapped my hand down on the stove top.

— mu✨ (@prinxeMu) July 8, 2018

Social Media: Curating Our Lives Away

Confession: I love social media. I am probably an addict. Strike that...since I'm confessing...I know I am addicted. Have a "spare" couple of minutes? My immediate reaction is almost always to pull out my phone: "Hmmm...what's up on Twitter today...?"

And I'm an adult.

How is this for tweens and teens and young adults today?

A friend shared this article with me this morning: Instagram Worst Social Media App for Young People's Mental Health. It's worth a read, whether you are a parent, or an educator, or a social media user yourself. I hope you'll reflect on it, and perhaps see yourself here...

Twitter: I Think I Figured It Out

Back in the spring of 2009, I was serving as Technology Coordinator for a K-8 private school. That job was daunting, and required me to wear several different hats:

• I taught "Computers" as a subject for grades 5-8. Keyboarding skills, digital citizenship, research skills, word processing, spreadsheets, multimedia tools, and general computer literacy were all included as parts of the curriculum.
• I was "the guy" for any and all tech support. I used to say, "If it plugs in, it's my problem." And that is sort of the way it went...one day I came to work and someone had left a boombox on my desk with a note: "This CD player doesn't work." So...yeah...
• I was supposed to be a sort of technology integration coach for my colleagues. I think this part was probably the aspect I was most passionate about, but also the part I was least likely to be able to do, with the first two on my plate. But this meant I tried to become familiar with as many different technologies as I could, so when people came asking questions, I would have answers.

It was in this way that I first joined Twitter in the spring of 2009; I had heard of Twitter before that, and I had read an article in Wired magazine (yep, I'm that geek...) about the way people were connecting with Twitter. And I had a few friends on Facebook who were talking about how much they liked Twitter.

So I joined up.

It's funny reading those first tweets. Like this one, that showed up in my Timehop today:

If you read this blog with any degree of regularity, you will know the value I place on Twitter as an essential part of my personal learning network (PLN). But it took me awhile...

It took me a while to start connecting with other educators, but once I found a couple to follow, that got me more invested in learning through Twitter.

It took me a while to start using hashtags, but once I learned that dozens (or hundreds!) of teachers connect and have discussions--chats--on Twitter, and that hashtags organize these conversations, that got me more invested in interacting through Twitter.

It took me a while to start sharing things myself on Twitter--I first mostly lurked and enjoyed what other people were sharing, learning from them--but once I learned that people responded with thanks to the things I tweeted and retweeted, that got me more invested in pushing my ideas through Twitter.

I think I figured out how to make Twitter work for me, as a tool for my own learning.

I am finding that different teacher-tweeters actually use Twitter in very different ways.

• Some use Twitter as a way of capturing ideas and resources.
• Some use Twitter as a way of collaborating other educational professionals.
• Some use Twitter as a way of connecting with others they would never have the opportunity to reach otherwise.
• Some use Twitter as a way of pushing back against the groupthink of current school culture, whether at a local, state, national, or international level.
• Some use Twitter as a way of promoting themselves.
• Some use Twitter as a way of sharing ideas and resources they are personally passionate about.

If I'm honest, I have used Twitter in all of these ways over the past six years.

If you are an educator not on Twitter and reading this--because it was shared with you via email or Facebook or printed out and left on the staffroom table--I encourage you to just dip your toe in the water at least.

Join Twitter, and approach it with a growth mindset. Find a colleague who is on Twitter and learn from her/him. Follow a few interesting educators. Eavesdrop on a chat (follow the hashtag), and don't be afraid to get in there with a tweet or two of your own.

You never know who you might be able to learn from, and what you might be able to learn!

This Is How Twitter Works

I recently came across a website (shared via Twitter) entitled "Mom This is How Twitter Works."

A screenshot of "Mom This is How Twitter Works."
(I confess, the lack of a comma there is killing me just a little bit...)

No disrespect to moms is intended; the author, @jessicahische, wants us to know: "This site was not made to be an anti-feminist statement about moms. Jessica was trying to pull her mom away from Facebook (which she wasn’t using much at the time) and toward Twitter."

If you are new to Twitter and are trying to find your way, this site might help explain things. Not all social networks are created equal, and just because you might be familiar with Facebook doesn't mean you'll automatically understand Twitter.

And actually, even if you've been on Twitter for a while but never really thought about how it works, this site might be helpful for clarifying things.

I think I have seen this site before--the site was created in 2010--but when is showed up in my Twitterfeed recently, it struck me as important, because I've been participating in #nt2t somewhat regularly lately.

#nt2t is "New Teachers to Twitter," a chat to help introduce the ins-and-outs of this medium for teachers interested in using it for their personalized professional development. Many, many teachers use Twitter to connect and develop their personal learning network (PLN), but learning any new technology can be daunting. Interesting then, I think, to learn about a tech tool by actually using it. And that's the idea for #nt2t. We meet up on Saturday mornings at 9:00 Eastern time (figure out where this lands you in your local time zone...) to talk about how we use Twitter. 

It's not all newbies, of course. There are great people there who have been using Twitter for their personal PD for years who can help you get acclimated. I welcome you to join in, or even just lurk along if you'd like to learn more.

If you're an educator interested in getting started with Twitter for personalized professional development, here are a few more things I've written about it that you may find helpful:

• Using Social Networks as a Learning Tool
• 10 Ways to Use Social Networks as a Teaching Tool
• Should Everyone Tweet?
• Twitter as a Key Part of Your PLN

Positivity and #GreatTeachers

I joined in on a great Twtitterchat this morning: #Nt2t ("new teachers to Twitter.") I like to get in there when I can; while I'm certainly not "new to Twitter," this chat is all about helping folks who are new to Twitter get acclimated and learn how they can use Twitter for their own personal professional development. The chat is moderated by Julie Szaj and Traci Logue, who are two of the most encouraging educators I have had the privilege to meet on Twitter. (If you are an educator on Twitter, you should be following them!)

One great thing about #Nt2t is that, while the questions are often similar from week to week ("How do you find people to follow?" or "How do you manage participating in a chat without getting overwhelmed?") the moderators do a great job of connecting to a theme, or a current issue in education. Today, for example...

10 Ways to Use Social Networks as a Teaching Tool

In my last post, I shared a story as an example of how I learn from my PLN. I use Twitter as a key part of my PLN--I'm there to interact with other educators, to share ideas and resources, and to learn. Twitter (and other social networks) seem like a perfect fit for learning, but perhaps best for informal, personalized, just-in-time learning. This has me thinking and wondering about how well social media fits as a teaching tool. Can social networks be used for formal, whole-group, structured learning as well?

Image via Garrett Heath [CC BY 2.0]

Using Social Networks as a Learning Tool

I love Twitter. If I had to pick one tool as the linchpin of my PLE, it would have to be Twitter. It's such a great way to learn about topics you find personally or professionally interesting--as long as you can find a hashtag to follow. It's also a great way to connect with other educators who share your interests. I--like many thousands of other educators--use Twitter for my own learning. But how can social networks be used as a teaching tool? Twitter seems ideal for informal, self-directed learning. But how well does it work as a formal, teacher-directed learning tool?

 Since I love learning via Twitter, I put this question to my PLN:

Hey PLN, do you have specific examples of how you’ve used Twitter (or other social networks) for your students’ learning?Thanks in advance! — Dave Mulder (@d_mulder) July 17, 2014

I also tweeted the request specifically to some thought leaders in EdTech and innovative education whom I thought might have some ideas and resources for me, including Scott McLeod, Kevin Honeycutt, George Couros, Wesley Fryer, Alice Keeler, Rick Wormeli, and Eric Sheninger. Some of these wonderful people had specific examples off the top of their heads and shared links. Others referred me to colleagues on Twitter who had stories they could share. Most retweeted my request to their own huge followings. What happened next was fantastic.

The Tweeting Youth, or "People Under 30 Just Don't Get Twitter!"

I've written many times here about how fond I am of Twitter for my own ongoing professional development and networking (I highly recommend #iaedchat, #mschat, and #sbgchat! Great people there looking to learn and share what they have learned.)

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

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.

Connecting with Other Educators

Teaching can be a lonely profession. That sounds odd, doesn't it? We spend all day with other people! But there is often an isolation that can form unless we are deliberate about making connections with other educators.

In my opinion, connecting with others is where the most growth, the most professional development occurs.

So how do you connect with other educators?

Check out this video from my Twitterfriend and fellow graduate student, Alice Keeler (@alicekeeler). She's as much a Twitter geek as I am (and probably more so, if I dare to characterize her that way...)

Four Stages of "Getting" Twitter

My good friend @DanBeerens asked me to tag-team a presentation in his Issues in Education course last week. We shared some of our ideas about educational technology and trends we see and a little future-casting for where education is heading. Both Dan and I are fans of Twitter for free, personalized professional development, so of course we talked about Twitter.

I've blogged about this several times before--a visual introduction to Twitter, some introduction to Twitterchats, and ideas of how to use Twitter for professional development.  I've come around to the idea that Twitter might not be for everyone, but I really do think educators should consider signing up for an account.

In our session last week, Dan shared the infographic below. I'd seen it before, but it maps out my own Twitter experience pretty perfectly--maybe you feel the same way? If you have joined Twitter and aren't "getting it" yet, hang in there. You might be surprised in six months to see how much Twitter is benefiting you!

Credit where credit is due: This infographic came from andfaraway.net
Please pardon the language on that page, should you visit.

What to do with Twitter?

I had a weird series of events over the weekend.

A good friend and fellow professor, knowing that I like social media (probably too much) shared this article from the Weekly Standard, which decries Twitter for it's banality and how it is tugging down the britches of academia. It is a decidedly NON-Twitter-length piece (very lengthy!) but it's worth reading from beginning to end...assuming you can still handle reading long-form writing, which is one point addressed in the piece.

It's a really thoughtful piece--not just ranting--and it gave me pause about my Twitter use. I love Twitter for professional development...but now I'm wondering how much of it is really narcissistic ego-centrism? When I'm honest with myself, that's probably a part of it--it feels good to get something I write retweeted, or to have a conversation with someone I don't know outside of Twitter affirming my thinking about teaching and learning.

So I'm a little torn now, to be honest, because the next day, this video turned up in my Twitterfeed:

Twitter Chats for Personal PD

I've posted before about how Twitter has become one of my most valuable sources of personal professional development as an educator, but I didn't make a big deal about Twitter chats there. In the past couple of weeks I've been involved in several structured (maybe semi-structured is a better phrase) Twitter chats related to education.

Twitter chats are organized around a #hashtag so you can track the conversation. It might seem awkward to horn in on someone else's conversation. Of course it's okay to just lurk on a chat--sort of like eavesdropping at a party--but the chats I've been part of welcome new voices, so don't be afraid to jump in there! To join the conversation, you just have to tweet and include the #hashtag for that chat. Usually someone will respond to your question or comment within seconds!

How to Twitter: A Visual Guide for Beginners

I've been talking a lot lately about Twitter and how great I think it is for professional development for educators. Last week I was presenting an EdTech workshop at a school in the area, and I mentioned Twitter as a resource. I had several folks there ask me some questions afterward, and they seemed excited to get started. I hope they find it as valuable as I have!

The thing is, it can be a little intimidating to get started with a social network that way. And even if you're fairly comfortable with Facebook, Twitter just isn't the same sort of thing. (But it can be a key part of your personal learning network, teachers...) 

I came across this great infographic from @edudemic earlier today; thanks to my Twitterfriend @ptaylorsjr for sharing it. If you're interested in getting started on Twitter, this might be a useful encouragement...

A cropped screengrab from edudemic.com
Click for the full infographic!

Should Everyone Tweet?

Image courtesy James G. Milles - CC BY 2.0

Just read a great piece from George Couros (@gcouros--and thanks to my Twitterfriend, @ptaylorsjr, for passing this along) about whether everyone should tweet.

Interesting to me, because I've spent the last month or so pushing Twitter as a great PD resource. Now I'm thinking more about this...

Twitter has been a tremendous personal professional development tool for me over the past year or so. I'm very excited about the potential for other teachers to have that same experience--developing their own personal learning network via Twitter. I'm on the agenda for our next department meeting to talk about how I use Twitter and help get interested colleagues started.

But is Twitter for everyone?

Twitter as a Key Part of Your PLN

I'm a guest blogger last month and this month at Christian Schools International's Nurturing Faith blog. Always great stuff there for Christian teachers to read and reflect on !

Anyway, my two-part piece was on getting teachers to use Twitter as a part of their personal learning network (PLN.) Many teachers are, of course, already doing this. But few of the teachers with whom I have regular contact (outside of Twitter!) are using Twitter in this way. I would like to see more folks benefit the way I have from following interesting people and developing a PLN to whom they can turn for ideas and conversation.