Connected Educators
As as educator of K-12 educators, I follow trends in the field via Twitter. It has been an invaluable addition to my life. In fact the US Department of Education sponsors a yearly (this is the second year) Connected Educators Month each year - see http://connectededucators.org/ .
Teacher often work in silos of isolation (Sheryl Nussenbaum) and Twitter brings them out of the isolation to connect and share with; and learn from their peers.
There are some principals on Twitter who state that they want their teachers to connect via Twitter and consider that factor as part of their hiring process.
Here are some references that discuss the why and how of Twitter.
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb10/vol67/num05/Why-Teachers-Should-Try-Twitter.aspx
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/01/twitter-for-educators-beginners-guide.html
http://rossieronline.usc.edu/twitter-for-teachers/
Jaclyn,
This is such a great resource you are sharing. I have a colleague that repeatedly tells all of us that she gets must of her professional development through twitter. I am going to share this. How do we get students to appreciate this type of connection? There is the challenge.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I'm very impressed with this list of resources and appreciative to have them as I will bookmark them for future use.
Thanks so much!
Phil Lewis
Phil,
Thanks. This is what we want for our students, isn't it? We want to connect students to experts. We want them to see the value of connectedness.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I agree with the posts in this conversation. As a final year PhD candidate, I do most of my work alone, and the connection to my field and my colleagues that I am able to find through Twitter is invaluable. I am not sure if undergraduate students are ready for this level of maturity in their online interactions, quite honestly. I can see older students and graduate students coming to understand the value of connectivity, and the importance of Twitter, but each time I have tried to introduce Twitter to my undergrads, they balk. I still have not found the right way to do it, but I will keep trying! Some of the resources in this course, including the rubric, will be invaluable to me next semester. Thank you, Dr. Wilkinson!
Erin,
Good luck on your Ph.D work! We started working with our freshmen with social media. We talk about cleaning their personal accounts. We then build with them their professional persona, step by step. It is amazing by their senior year, they are in LinkedIn using it for internships and career opportunities.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
