Reflecting on Social Media

On 26 February 2015, 8 years after Twitter first began I opened my first Twitter account.  I resisted, I couldn’t see that point.  Most educators at my school are not engaged with Twitter.  It just looked like Facebook status updates.  I didn’t get it.   I didn’t want to get it.  

Since my reluctant beginning, Twitter has since had a huge impact on my professional development. I had no idea what I was doing but I became curious so I went on the ride to becoming more connected.  I soon discovered a rich treasure trove of likeminded educators.  It has opened up a worldwide community.

I agree with Bridget Mahoney who says

“Twitter has enabled her to connect daily with hundreds of people.  These interactions have enriched her understanding of classroom practice, the politics surrounding education, and the potential of technology”

Twitter has lead me off on broad and transformative paths, I get lost reading blogs, talking to others and extending my learning through collaboration with other passionate educators.  These detours and lost minutes have lead to many engaging learning experiences for myself and the learners I work with.    

For example, interested in Carol Dweck’s Growth mindset I dove into some relevant hashtags.  I discovered and used the work done by Steve Mouldey  Through discussions with my professional learning network I've been able to access the collaboratively created slides based on Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindsets shared with me by James Hopkins of Core Education - Collaborative Growth Mindset Slides.  My own initial learning led to class wide learning which we then posted  on our class blog and to videos which we shared more widely.  We have now shared our ideas within the Ako Hiko cluster, Core Education and so on. 

During uLearn15 I actively tweeted. Tweeting was a really simple way in which to connect with other educators.  For example, during the keynote speeches I could listen and ask questions and answer questions.  I was able to celebrate our community.  It was really cool and impactful.  I was able to really flesh out my understanding of what I was listening to as it was happening and later when I was able to reflect on the things I’d heard. Twitter and apps like Show Gizmo have opened up a new realm for me to exist in. 

On the downside, I wonder if Twitter is creating a new elite.  There seems to be a difference between the highly connected and vocal who are seen to be cutting edge and innovative versus those not on Twitter but perhaps highly effective all the same.   Twitter has created the “Educelebrity” people like John Hattie or Carol Dweck.  There are kiwi educators we all follow those at Hobsonville Point Secondary School or Point England or Core Education. 

References

Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House. NYC.

Mahoney, B. ( 2013). Hashtags, mentions and following: Creating a PLN with Twitter. Middle Ground, 16(4), 22.

Steve Mouldey's blog retrieved at : https://stevemouldey.wordpress.com/2015/03/28/growth-mindset-activities-for-students/