Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Yes, I have an account for
all of them. However, this week’s assignment with Twitter made me feel pretty
uneasy. While I am fairly tech savvy, I do not like social media. I can go days
without looking at any of my social media accounts. I can't remember the last time I was
on my Instagram account. I check Facebook because I get irritated seeing a bunch
of notifications on my phone. Then there is Twitter, or as I call it, my “sports
app.” I have had a Twitter for approximately a year. I follow a handful of
sports writers because I love to get the latest sports updates and breaking
news. Yet, I have never tweeted!
One of the main reasons I do not like social media is because
I do not like to see the mundane details of people’s everyday lives. More
importantly, I am an extremely private person. I do not like to be the center
of attention, share my opinions, or put any aspect of my life on display. As
you can imagine, hearing I was going to have to actually use my Twitter and
start tweeting was quite unsettling for me. Having to share my opinions on a
discussion board or blog is difficult enough. But, to have to actually start
tweeting for the public to see…yikes!
I decided to create a new
Twitter account that I could use for educational purposes. I was shocked at how
easy it was to find educators who teach in the field I teach in. As stated in
the text book, Twitter is popular with educators. I have heard this before, but
I clearly had no idea about all the resources Twitter has to offer.
I teach technology and
have a hard time finding new programs, tools, and lessons to keep up with all
the changing trends. I am constantly looking online and exhausting every resource
I have available to keep my class up-to-date.To say I had low expectations for Twitter would be an understatement. However, I was amazed that I found technology teachers who teach
the exact same programs and courses that I teach. I am starting to realize that
this may become a huge asset to my technology courses. As this graphic
organizer states (http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/08/10-reasons-why-teachers-use-twitter-as.html),
I can collaborate with experts in my field and find out what makes other teacher's
classrooms effective.
I realize students today
are changing with tides of technology. If I am going to be an effective
educator I am going to have to change and adapt my practices too, starting with
Twitter. I know this will not be easy for me. There will be a transitional period where I have to get accustomed to the different routines of Twitter and other social media. But above all, I know that once I
step outside my comfort zone and get settled in, I will be able to take this resource
and run with it.
Twitter Username: KDecarli
Twitter Username: KDecarli
I am so glad that I was not the only one who was pushed out of my comfort zone this week! I have been scared to use Twitter for a while. I am great with Facebook and Instagram! The difference with those social media tools is that I am friends with the people I am posting to, but with Twitter, I am opening up to people who I have never met before in most cases. It really makes me self-conscious!
ReplyDeleteI could also relate to your comment about being able to find other educators with the same interests as me. Once I signed up with Twitter, it was not hard at all to find people to follow that had the same focus and interests as me. I think this tool will be a great addition to my PLN. I also liked your point about getting accustomed to the routines of Twitter. It is different then any other social media tool I have used, but once you get used to the lingo and format, it will be awesome to connect to others. So hopefully in no time we will become Twitter pros!
I think you will be just fine! It is always hard to jump into something and utilize it immediately. I would think this is more of a dive instead of a jump! ;)
ReplyDeleteI will have to agree with you that sport Tweets are my favorite! I am on Twitter during Cardinal games than any other time! I love tweeting my thoughts about the game!
I found some helpful websites to help you (and the rest of us) ease into Twitter! Some of these were VERY interesting & probably geared towards older students. I found that using Twitter to set up schedules for students to wake up for class was very neat!
http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2011/12/60-inspiring-examples-of-twitter-in-the-classroom/
and
http://www.edudemic.com/guides/guide-to-twitter/
I hope these are helpful to you! The one tip I enjoyed was to "Create., Don’t Just Consume!"
Good luck Kim! I look forward to your tweets!!
Kimberly I am glad to see that I wasn't the only one who wasn't excited to use Twitter! I thought it was because I am old..haha. It's not that I don't like technology - because I do love it - I just am not interested in getting involved with complete strangers! I also discovered that it was a time sucker! After signing up for TweetDeck, I sat on there for an hour looking at all the tweets. Sadly, I didn't put any educational ones on there yet, and I was reading about famous people and what they were doing. Silly me! I am glad you found some new resources. I guess will have to pry myself away from Pinterest to see what there is to see on Twitter!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for the resources and support! The more I read about it, the easier it gets. Here is another resource I thought I would share. Since I teach middle school, I tend to look for information more geared towards high school. I found a list of ways Twitter can be used in a high school setting http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2012/01/30/20-innovative-ways-high-schools-are-using-twitter/ for those of you who are looking for more ideas.
ReplyDelete