Twitter – confirm, reassure, challenge, enlighten

I met with an educational focus group this week and part of our discussion centred around the use of social media as a professional development tool.   The group was split over the importance of such approaches with some advocating strongly the need to engage and others vehemently opposed to its use.   As a keen and  committed tweeter I thought about how I benefit from twitter.   How it has become an indispensable learning tool and constant source of relevant CDP.

Confirm - Instantly ‘check’ you’re on the right lines.   As a primary headteacher I find twitter a great way to very quickly found out how others have dealt with a certain problem, idea or initiative.   What we their experiences?   How did they overcome difficulties?   Twitter helps me confirm I’m going about things in the right way.   It reassures me that I’m not alone in dealing with a new situation.

Twitter also provides challenge and stimulates discussion.   It is a fantastic way to get involved in professional dialogue with equally passionate educators.  Edchat, ukedchat and numerous other forums provide platforms for discussion around topical issues and there are also those individual lines of thought that can be followed up with others anytime, anywhere.   Twitter is an opportunity to test your thoughts and ideas in a critically supportive, encouraging and honest environment.

Importantly, twitter also enlightens me.   There are so many people happy to share new ideas, innovations and practices that they’ve discovered, trialled and used successfully in their own practice that every visit to twitter reveals something to follow up and learn from.

Twitter has become a part of my professional kit bag, it is for me, the educators’ online companion, connecting me to a world of support, challenge and innovation.

 

In Praise of Twitter

If you’re like me you’ve probably got one or two friends who are a little cynical about your use of twitter. I tell them that twitter is more than merely another social networking tool, it’s a way of staying in touch with educational thinkers and educational thoughts across the world. Not only through weekly forums like edchat and ukedchat but also on a daily basis, wherever you like, whenever you want. All you have to do is get in touch with your PLN and you are immediately engaged in conversation and dialogue with likeminded thinkers from around the world who selflessly provide support, encouragement, challenge and advice.

Many in education will say that during school hours the firefighting and cut and thrust of the day-to-day means you have to deal with a myriad of problems and situations as they arise, leaving you little time for thoughts about wider educational issues. That’s where Twitter comes in. Twitter enables you to pick up those conversations you miss and would dearly love to have during the day. It enables you to sit back in the evenings and at weekends and engage in a level of conversation it is very difficult to have during the day when there are so many immediate matters requiring attention. It’s great to be able to move beyond the operational, to put our heads above the parapet, to look at the bigger picture and think a little bit more about things. Twitter gives you that platform, it enables to you get involved in professional thinking above and beyond local networks. It is a gateway to education and learning worldwide, anytime, any place. I’m happy to be a part of the conversation.