Twitter

I, like many others, probably first heard about Twitter through news bulletins relating to some political or celebrity scandal. The first time I was given more detailed information about Twitter was on this course in 2010. It was one of the first Saturday classes and I remember thinking at the end of the day I should become a Twitterer but would need to learn how to use the Twitter site, alas, I did not. 

The next time I took Twitter seriously was during an educational trip to Latvia.  During this trip I created a blog and encouraged everyone on the trip to participate in writing the posts, this went well, our famililes/friends back home began to look forward to reading our adventures for the day. One of the participants on the trip told me to set up a Tweet account as this would encourage many others to follow the blog.  I did, and low and behold not only did we get Tweetered by the Latvian Tourist Board, we also got Tweetered by the Latvian Government. At this point you would have thought (ego growing) Tweets would have further fuelled my need for Web notoriety, but nay, it wasn’t to be. Why?

Now at this point I have a rather embarrassing confession to make.  I have a Web 2.0 technology hero/guru that I admire ubiquitously, yes ubiquitously, a strong word I know but it is true.  No one in the world can beat him in his knowledge of Web tools for the classroom.  Step forward Will Richardson who believes that “learning is a continuous conversation among many participants” (Richardson, 2010, p.86).  He writes that since the explosion of Twitter, the implication to online educators is one of the most powerful tools to enhance professional development and communications. Well, guess what, even when I read this from my guru, it made no difference, I still left Twitter gathering dust on the eShelf. Why?

Now, this course, that I am paying thousands of pounds for is forcing me to LEARN, yes LEARN how to use Twitter. When I set up my original Twitter account in Latvia, the Twitter site confused me and still does.  When I read Richardson (2010) this taught me how to use Web 2.0  tools (including Twitter) safely and ethically in the classroom. My efforts then were to concentrate on introducing Wikis and Blogs to Key Sate 3 students in a safe and ethical manner, forget Twitter, I still found the site confusing.

Now at this point in the game I have read an amazing article about a study done on a group of teachers and students who used Twitter to communicate during their course. The study provides evidence that “using Twitter in educationally relevant ways can increase student engagement and improve grades” (Junco, Heiberger, Loken, 2011, p.130). Although this article mentioned limitations such as the type of students they were (pre-health professional majors), the fundamental point this article made was that Twitter announcements created more interaction between staff and students than their Ning site did. This was attributed to the fact that Twitter lent itself more to a conversation between staff and students and Ning was seen more as a notice board.

Does the above article inspire me to LEARN how to use Twitter? No it doesn’t.  However, all of my hard earned money that is paying for this course does. I have created a Tweet that includes the hashtag #hudmud which relates to my portfolio. I really do hope that I come to enjoy Twitter for teaching and learning as much as I enjoy other Web 2.0 technologies such as Blogs and Wikis. How come I found mastering Blogger and Wikispaces a doddle? Why oh why is there a brick wall in front of me whenever I sign into Twitter? Hopefully someone out there will read this post and offer me guidance!