Elmer Fudd and his Twitter Twibe!!

Twitter Blog Post March 29, 2010 - Elmer Fudd and his Twitter Twibe!!

Reflections on the process of learning about the tool (3 points)

Well, I never had a Twitter account before this class and I have to admit, it is one of the best Web 2.0 tools I have ever used.

As with all of the tools we’ve learned about in this class, there wasn’t a huge learning curve for Twitter due to the fact that Joanne hooked us up with a bunch of great people out there in the Twitterverse and now (and I just can’t wait to use this one) they are all part of my Twibe!! Yes, I said Twibe (thanks to Sonja Cole for this one)! If you follow me or I follow you, we are all part of the same Twibe! Maybe we can even vote each other off each other’s Twitter islands!! Would that be a Twisland or an Iwand for Elmer??

This is my Twibe!

While I was getting to learn and know Twitter, three really good finds (thanks to friends) came across my radar. These finds were Tweetdeck, TwitterGadget and Twitterific. These are three tools that have helped me stay on top of the sheer volume of tweets that occur each day in the very small Twibe of Twits I follow.

TweetDeck is an application that allows you to view and respond to Tweets as they come in. As long as the program is running, every time a Tweet comes in, its content appears in a tiny dialogue box in the corner of your screen. This is a lot like the dialogue boxes that appears in the Outlook and Entourage email clients. So, you can be working along (at work even) and when a Tweet from your Twibe is posted, it appears on your computer screen. So, you’re always up to date.

TwitterGadget is an iGoogle tool that is part of the widgets that appear on my iGoogle homepage whenever I launch my browser. It keeps a running list of Tweets as they come in (with a tweeting sound) and I can respond and view the Tweet contents if it appears interesting to me. What’s nice about this gadget is that I am already in my browser, so if I want to follow a link, I am good to go.

Twitterrific is an app that I use on my iPhone and allows me to view and respond to Tweets like the other two apps do, but what makes this app the most useful of all three is the ability for me to view Tweets anywhere and anytime. So for instance, when I am waiting for my wife to get out of the walk-in clinic, I can quickly scan my Twitterrific tweets to see what’s up with my Twibe and respond or just lurk in the background. This app is available for free, but it’s so useful I paid the atrocious $4.99 for it.

All of these tools were very easy to figure out and I had them mastered long before I figured out what “RT” meant! This of course leads me to my next bit of learning around the lexicon for Twitter. I guess just like entering any new land, one has to learn a bit of the language to be able to survive. So knowing that “RT” means retweet, @bradmcdiarmid represents a person’s address, # (a hash tag) is for organizing and group management, and “DM” stands for direct message became really important and helpful.

Discussion of the tool in terms of your personal learning (e.g. me as a learner, me as a parent, me as part of a social group) (3 points)

I think much of my personal learning is mentioned in the section above this one. But, the one thing I didn’t mention was how many things I’ve learned and become aware of because of my Twibe. Joanne got the ball rolling with several names, but what is really amazing is how you become connected to so many other people because you follow and tweet with a few folks. The power of Web 2.0 and collaboration came to the forefront for me with Twitter. Even though I am using all the other tools and them some, Twitter has been the one that has been most prolific in my personal learning. Much of what I post to my blogs, Facebook and my tweets comes from what I discover through my Twibe in Twitter.

Me as a parent. Hmm, this one is usually difficult as my kids are old enough to know better and still too young to care (thanks to Wade Hayes for this lyric). My kids don’t use Twitter at all. Heck, they barely use Facebook! Don’t ask my why my oldest (20) doesn’t use FB, I can’t share publicly what she says about people who use Facebook. My youngest daughter does use FB, but it is sporadic. Sometimes she’s on it every day and then she doesn’t use it for a long time. I think it boils down to how much she’s got going on in her offline life. She uses FB when she’s bored.

The one thing I do caution my kids and all kids when using Twitter, Facebook or any SMS is to be wary of who you’re calling a friend. In an article called An Admission I just read in Tech and Learning, the author states that, “…social networks are changing the ethics and definition of the word friend” (Tech and Learning, 2010). So we as educators and parents need to talk to our kids about what a friend is and what an acquaintance is and what every one else is. This is part of being a parent and part of what it means to be a teacher in the information age. It is simply part of our new responsibility.

Me as part of a social group (a Twibe). Twitter has really affirmed the power of the collaborative mind. Like the article Nine Reasons To Twitter in Schools in Tech and Learning states, “Together we’re better. Twitter can be like a virtual staffroom where teachers can access in seconds a stream of links, ideas, opinions, and resources from a hand-picked selection of global professionals” (Tech and Learning, 2010). This is really where Twitter has been my greatest asset and can be anyone’s if they choose to explore Twitter.

Discussion of the tool in terms of your professional learning (e.g. me as a teacher, me as a school leader, me as a teacher-librarian, me as a member of professional learning communities/networks). This takes into account technology integration, use in schools, pros and cons, etc. (3 points)

Me as a professional! Right off the bat, I’d have to say that Twitter and all these Web 2.0 tools have really given me heaps of information to share with my colleagues. I often send information that I think is important to the President of RDC. I never did that before this course. Twitter gives me access to this information and so much more. I am in touch and going to collaborate with a teacher using iPods in his class because the DM’d me in Twitter.

I now have one of my colleagues using Wikis for his meetings. He saw what I was doing and I gave him an article called, “A Cure For Meetings” and he is now using a Wiki to complete a curriculum matrix he’s been struggling with because he can’t ever get everyone in the same room and email is just too cumbersome. He sees a Wiki as the solution and I agree!

Me as a teacher. Well, I haven’t really done a lot with Twitter in my class and in my defence, I do use Facebook, blogs and most of the other tools we’ve learned about. I have shared lots of information and interesting sites that I’ve gleaned from Twitter that I think are pertinent in my class.

Like any other technology that allows students out on the web, Twitter has its share of pros and cons. One of the pros is the collaboration, the ability to learn anywhere, anytime, with anyone and best of all without teacher permission! Laura Devaney (2010) from eSchool News states that students are learning if new ways and without teachers. “Those activities include using Facebook to collaborate with, share information with, and tutor other students; taking online assessments and tests; using cell phones and applications for self-organization and productivity; using podcasts and videos to improve in challenging subject areas; taking online courses to learn more about interesting subjects, and not necessarily for a grade; and finding experts to connect with online and share new ideas and content”. Kinda sounds like our course!! This of course is the entire purpose of all these collaborative tools.

Cons of course are safety and students wasting time. I think both of these can be countered with proper education of students and constant supervision by the teacher coupled with meaningful and interesting activities and projects for students to do. The biggest con to me though is the lack of trust and gumption by teachers. There is a plethora of articles out in the cloud that state that students are already using Web 2.0 and all its tools, but administrators and teachers are afraid. Devaney’s (2010) article states that over 40% of students say, “they know how to be safe and protect themselves online”. So, let’s educate the other 60%. Isn’t that what the Communicating and Foundational parts of Alberta Educations ICT curriculum is for? I think that one way to educate students is to show students the do’s and don’ts and let them have a bit of leash to explore, try things and ask questions. Isn’t that how we learned all this Web 2.0 stuff?

Evidence of Research and Further Reading (3 points)

Cole, S. (2010). 25 Ways to teach with Twitter. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/20896

Devaney, L. (2010). Digital access, collaboration a must for students. Retrieved from http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/03/16/digital-access-collaboration-a-must-for-students/

Kolowich, S. (2010). A cure for meetings. Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/layout/set/print/news/2010/03/15/wikis

Sawtell, E. & King, K. (2010). Class in 140 characters or less? Retrieved from http://www.ecampusnews.com/2010/03/23/class-in-140-characters-or-less/

Tech and Learning. (2010). An admission. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/21290

Tech and Learning. (2010). Nine reasons to Twitter in schools. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/17340

Twibes. (2010). Retrieved 03.20.10 from http://www.twibes.com/