How and why educators use Twitter: A survey of the field. What If Every Teacher Tweeted? What If Every Teacher Tweeted? Why Teachers Should Tweet by Terry Heick What if every teacher tweeted? Is there some kind of sequence of events we might expect? A teacher signs up for twitter after agonizing over the details (username, avatar, bio, etc.), follows a few dozen people, then sits slack-jawed and confused as that non-stop digital stream begins. We have to assume that somehow this trickles down to the learning experiences of the students–their writing, their skills, and the wandering of their thoughts–yes?
Like any tool, twitter is designed for a task. And as teachers, we can use it, or leave it alone. Twitter’s Magic Mix In spite of its popularity (500 million tweets per day from 271 million active users–almost 80% outside of the United States), most teachers don’t tweet. In lieu of the pleadings from colleagues to “connect,” most teachers don’t use twitter, but are quite satisfied with facebook, thank you very much. So what if every teacher tweeted? …They found a voice Were heard. Engaging the Unconnected | Reflections on Leadership and Learning. Engaging the Unconnected Over the last two years, I have read many blog posts, articles, and even some rants about unconnected educators.
Why won’t they use social media? Don’t they know the benefits of being a connected learner? I’ve seen twitter debates about whether being connected can or should be equated with being better (more skilled, more of a learner, more of a growth mindset) than other educators. I have disagreed with some of this, but I have also participated in Connected Educator’s month and supported the movement to get more educators collaborating through social media. I have found that the best way to connect the unconnected is to engage them in social media purposefully. I believe that people (whether young students or adult learners) will live up to your expectations. Like this: Like Loading...
About Amy's Reflections Director of Educational Services in Southern CA, taking time to reflect on leadership and learning. Why Twitter Will Never Connect All Educators. | My Island View. If there is one thing I truly understand about educators it is that they are slow to change. It might be from decades of people jumping in with the “latest and greatest” answer to a better way to do things in education, or some legislative mandate to fix it all through legislation, only to find it to fizzle out and fall way short when actually implemented.
If teachers learned one thing from these experiences it is that, if you wait and ride it out long enough, all of these initiatives will all go away. The problem however is that many educators want to apply this sit and wait posture to anything that requires them leaving their zones of comfort. The mindset of a 20th Century educator is very comfortable for most educators since they were trained for the most part by 20th century educators. A majority of educators are very comfortable with the methodology and pedagogy of that time.
If students need info, they can Google it. Like this: Like Loading...