Twitter for Teachers!

My Teacher Twitter!

    As a result of my engagement in our current and emerging technology course, as well as seeing the prevalence of technology in my practicum placement, I have come to understand the immense value technology beholds in our society. As is well known, Twitter has grown to become one of the biggest social media platforms in the world. Whether you like it or not, social media has essentially taken over as a second world for us; it's where many of us go for news, entertainment, and connection. If there is one thing we know about education, it is that our capacity to teach and learn is rendered powerful insofar as it reaches beyond the classroom. In terms of choosing a social media platform to engage with as an educator, twitter emerges as a positive and effective tool. Twitter can be seen as a pathway to networks of learning and knowledge both within our communities and around the world.

    I believe we can view twitter as an opportunity to connect with our teaching practice both intrinsically and extrinsically. That is, we can use twitter as a platform to consociate with other professionals in the field, industry experts, and other subject-area leaders. We can also source important and relevant information on current events and modern teaching methods. We can keep up with all things educational and even see news stories that would be excellent current events to incorporate into our curricular aims. This allows us to engage in career-long learning and give prominence to continual inquiry and insight. This is in direct alignment with our professional responsibilities “Teachers Improve Their Practice in The Company of Their Peers.” Thereby, when we connect through twitter, we are developing our professional learning network; a powerful learning network of like-minded people. Moreover, there is no barrier to who and where these connections come from, they can be made on all scales.

    Twitter is also a great venue for educators to bridge the gap between school and home. Educators have the ability to post updates or important class-related information; this can be accessed by both students and parents. Every message or tweet has a character limit of 150, therefore communications must be concise and engaging. This also allows for transparent communication. My practicum school underscores the efficacy of using Twitter for these purposes through their active involvement. To share what goes on in their classrooms on a regular basis, each teacher has  their own account, and they can post on and be re-tweeted to the larger school’s twitter. In fact, parents regularly comment on twitter, describing the sense of immediate involvement this communication gives them in regards to their child's studies.

    Ultimately, I see twitter as a tool providing ample opportunities to connect; connect with our own teaching practice, other professionals in the field, other schools and communities, parents, and students. This allows us to engage in our professional responsibilities, and remain collaborative. I value having taken the time to create a teacher twitter, I see it as something that will aid me forevermore. I look forward to using twitter in all the aforementioned ways, and creating a beautiful garden of eden in the otherwise daunting and overwhelming world of social media. It is also important to consider privacy logistics when using social media as a platform for communication. To mitigate this ongoing concern, I might make my twitter account private for only select viewers, and would encourage parents to do the same.