Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Journal 4: Twitter!

'twitter logo map 09' photo (c) 2009, The Next Web The Next Web - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Ferguson , H. (2010). Join the flock. Learning & leading with technology , 37(8), 12-17. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Join_the_Flock.aspx


 In Hadley Ferguson’s article entitled, “Join the Flock,” she expresses the need to build a “professional learning network” through Internet resources.  She refers to this as a PLN, a network developed for learners around the world.  Using simple and easy-to-follow steps, she explains the way to create a network through Twitter, an online communication hub.  By watching, listening, giving, exposing, and tagging, Hadley suggests that anyone can change the way in which you teach and students learn.


What are a few benefits of the Twitter phenomenon?

A few benefits that I found highlighted in this article were easy access, instant information, collaboration, and a culture of online community.  Having access to information regardless of location is something I find very useful.  Challenges like SES are a thing of the past with Internet access, as nearly all information can be attained at a nearby computer in local facilities (i.e.: libraries, school campuses, etc.).  Further, the fact that information can be instantly attained is a commodity which has also been made accessible through use of the Internet.  New information is constantly being published in an online forum, just as I am able to update this blog within seconds.  This is also something which allows scholars alike to collaborate in a community with constant feedback and refining.  Together, each of these aspects create the wonderful online community that is Twitter.


 Miller, S. M. (2010). Enhance your twitter experience. Learning & leading with technology, 37(8), 14-17. Retrieved from www.iste.org/Libraries/...and.../June_July_2010_Join_the_Flock.sflb.ashx

An additional article called, “Enhance Your Twitter Experience, partners Hadley Ferguson’s piece.  In this section, author Shannon McClintock Miller discussed the benefits of using Twitter and ways in which a person’s Twitter experience can be improved.  Organization techniques, terminology comprehension, management, and strategic usage are all specifics outlined within her article.  Something I found most useful and interesting was the use of a “Hashtag (#).”  The insertion of a # allows the “Tweeter” to categorize their own “Tweet” as a subcategory or example within a much bigger category.  This piece adds to the overall ideas emphasize within “Join the Flock.”

Will you use Twitter more now knowing how great the repercussions are?

I definitely will, the benefits are constant and dynamic.  While only just beginning to use Twitter as online connection to the world, I have already been a witness to the amount of possibilities that it holds.  I can attain lesson plans, find innovative new ways of presenting material, learn about new laws and mandates that affect the teaching world, the amount of online discovery is endless!  Learning more about Twitter has presented these ideas to me, and allowed me to see the wonderful innovations that come with such an amazing tool.  The online world has presented us with so many easy and instant ways to stream information, something Twitter further improves.

No comments:

Post a Comment