twitter

For some reason I was a twitterphobe before this class. I guess I just saw it as a universal facebook status update or text message and I already do those things, so why add twitter to the mix.
When I first signed up in class I was not expecting much. I used it mainly as an alternative way to communicate with people I already knew. I stuck with it, though, and have learned a few things that convince me twitter is a very valuable resource to educator.

Some eye catching WFP tweets.

1. News - I followed the Winnipeg Free Press, and boy do they tweet a lot, but I found twitter delivers me news exactly how I like it: in 140 characters or less. Anything that catches my eye, I click the link and get the full article. It's the news I want, when I want it.

I also like how twitter has turned everyday people into reporters. With hashtags, searchability, and an open audience I can find live opinions on any topic I can imagine. Often breaking news is trending on twitter before traditional news media even has a response.

2. Lists - my experience with the sheer quantity of Winnipeg Free Press tweets led me to experiment with twitter lists. I created a news list and put WFP in it. I then unfollowed WFP. Their tweets are no longer filling up my timeline, and yet whenever I want to browse the news I head to my list and its all there.

3. Links - I think the true value in twitter is in links. Both the links we forge with others and the links shared in tweets. Since I joined for ICT class the first person I followed was miken_bu and I've found the links he's shared very informative. Then I checked out who he was following. Subsequently, I am following edutopia, artsintegration and mbteachers. They are a daily source of great resources, ideas and things that make me go hmm. My next step is to investigate who they follow and who follows them to forge even more links in an ever growing online community centred on education.

I plan to continue to use twitter to foster links with educators and share resources and ideas.

My twitter homepage.
I'm Tyler_JL if you want to follow me.