I never was a big Twitter guy. In fact, until about 2 years ago I didn’t even have a Twitter handle. I didn’t even know what a Twitter handle was. I’m still far from an expert but I’m learning quite a bit about it. One of the biggest things that Twitter is teaching me is the power of leveraging your professional network. Twitter may be the most powerful professional learning I have had in quite awhile. It doesn’t fit any of the molds of a traditional professional learning by any stretch of the imagination, which is what I think I like about it so much. The best thing for me so far in the “Twitterverse” has been the Twitter chats I’ve partaken in. It’s amazing how many great ideas people have out there. From the Twitter chats, not only have my ideas been growing, my thought process is being stretched as well. The questions that get asked in these Twitter chats are not only thought-provoking, they’re sometimes really difficult to answer within 140 characters. I used to vehemently oppose the 140 character limit on Twitter. I thought it limited writing and killed deep thinking. I’m learning that is anything but the case. I’m learning how to be direct in my messaging while still providing insight and clarity. I could go on and on about why I’m loving my new adventure in my virtual PLN network but that’s only half the puzzle. Someone I’ve added in my PLN from one of these Twitter chats said it better than I can. Thank you @teresagross625. Yes, it’s time that we recognize these things as more than window dressing. They’re professional learning at its finest. Embedded with choice, novelty, variety, and tons of critical thinking these things are an innovative, 21st century way of growing educators. The chats I’ve been participating in include my own school districts chat, #LISDchat, the #IMMOOC chat based around George Couros’ Innovator's Mindset book and principles and #satchat.
Perhaps the best part about them is the flexibility they offer as well as giving you one of the greatest accountability systems you can have: you tweeted it and now it is out there for the world to see. It’s also been exposing me to the massive world of educators blogs where great ideas runneth over. Take it from someone who was vehemently against doing anything with Twitter. When used with purpose, like everything else, it’s an awesome tool that can truly spark your thinking, open you to a world of ideas, and allow you to grow your PLN.
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