Education Without Borders

Image courtesy of Ask a Tech Teacher

Cultivating a Personal Learning Network with Twitter

21st century learning has revolutionized professional development for educators with the emergence of web 2.0 technologies.  With continuous access to over 3 billion internet users (InternetLiveStats) it has never been easier to curate a community of extended learning through a variety of different mediums or networks.  Tied by passion and interests, personal learning networks (PLNs) are immediate, interactive sources of knowledge that use the power of connectivism to inform users. However, the initial stage of generating a PLN can be somewhat overwhelming to users due to the vast amount of tools available such as YouTube, Google+, and Delicious.  Not knowing where to start or how to start is a problem for many educators, as it was for me.  Through this inquiry, I want to specifically look at maximizing the potential of Twitter in cultivating a PLN.  Originally seen as a social networking site, Twitter has taken the realm of education by storm. The following YouTube video briefly delves into the global benefits Twitter has for educators.

Personally, I just started to use Twitter properly.  As the image below adequately depicts, I was originally in 'denial' of it's benefits.  But through a little exploring, I have come to see the potential of Twitter to provide powerful professional development. That being said, Twitter is still a world in which I don't fully understand.  With constant updates, re-tweets, favourites, and hashtags, it can be incredibly difficult to sift through all the information Twitter provides.  Not to mention determining what information is important and what information isn't.  So although I entered the 'curiosity' stage of my development as a Twitter user, prior to this inquiry I was at a loss regarding how to effectively use the network.

Image courtesy of Rich Kiker

As mentioned previously, sifting through Twitter to find the right information can be time consuming.  However, Twitter provides an interface function called 'Lists'.  Lists allow a user to organize their followers into categories that separate personal interests from educational interests in the form of hashtags or followers.  This feature makes it easier for a user to cultivate their PLN according to certain areas of passion without having unnecessary information popping up.

Image courtesy of Ed Tech Review

In addition to lists, Twitter has a multitude of functions that many users are unacquainted to.  However, The Twitterholic's Ultimate Guide to tweets, hashtags, and all things Twitter by Sue Waters provides a multitude of information on how to dramatically increase the benefits of Twitter for educational purposes.  Waters effectively breaks down Twitter into more manageable pieces detailing basic information as well as more complex processes.  I was particularly interested in Waters segment on Twitter clients. I never considered that I would need other web 2.0 tools to help run a certain application before.  For instance, during previous Tweets I noticed that the URL I was providing was particularly long compared to many other users.  After some searching, I discovered Bitly, a tool for shortening URL links.  The power of Bitly is important when you consider that Twitter only allows 140 characters per tweet!  In addition to Bitly, I became informed of other organizational applications such as TweetDeck and Hootsuite. Through these mediums, a user can schedule, organize, and filter content with Twitter.  It's a matter of personal preference between the two clients however TweetDeck vs. Hootsuite- The Essential Guide may be of use when deciding between the two.  At this stage of my PLN, I'm still exploring my options and have yet to come to a definitive decision on which client I prefer to use.

While I've only begun to get my feet wet when it comes to Twitter, I feel slightly more confident as a user by implementing many of these tools and strategies.  I will continue to grow my PLN and work hard at incorporating new information technologies to improve my experience and learning.

Bibliography

1.  100 Ways To Use Twitter In Education, By Degree Of Difficulty. (n.d.). Retrieved February 12, 2015, from http://www.edudemic.com/100-ways-to-use-twitter-in-education-by-degree-of-difficulty/

2.  TweetDeck Versus Hootsuite - The Essential Guide - RazorSocial. (2015, February 2). Retrieved February 12, 2015, from http://www.razorsocial.com/tweetdeck-versus-hootsuite-essential-guide/

3.  The Twitteraholic’s Ultimate Guide to tweets, hashtags, and all things Twitter. (n.d.). Retrieved February 12, 2015, from http://www.theedublogger.com/2012/02/13/the-updated-twitteraholics-guide-to-tweets-hashtags-and-all-things-twitter/#before

4.  Twitter Usage Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved February 12, 2015, from http://www.internetlivestats.com/twitter-statistics