LA 7-2: Twitter as a Professional Learning Network

Well, this assignment sure came up at an interesting time! (Musk is biting the hand that feeds Twitter: shorturl.at/uzCLP) But for this blog post let’s just look at Twitter as a possible tool for creating a professional learning network in education.

Twitter can be used as a sort-of virtual water cooler, where ideas and information are exchanged in quick bursts. Whether through professional group chats or just surfing through ideas, using hashtags and other search methods can lead you directly to information that can improve and inform your teaching practice.

Some benefits of using Twitter professionally are: 1) Professional chats where you can learn from others (some good education chats: shorturl.at/agpOX) 2) The links you find can lead you to great resources 3) You can find actual lesson plans and materials for you classes 4) You can share and test your ideas to see if they work for other teachers 5) You can show parents and administrators the type of learning that is taking place in your classroom.

However, there are some downsides to Twitter: 1) you can easily get lost in looking through that much data 2) the tweets, being limited in length, are almost always just links to other sources (once you have some trusted sources, you don’t really need Twitter anymore) 3) Your posts are public (and have you ever read a news article where a teacher posted something and it ended well for them?), so you are ricking your career every time you post 4) it is mainly text-based and difficult to post media content 5) You don’t really know who you are interacting with.

Overall Twitter is a good place to just get in and get out quickly. If you can’t find what you’re looking for in a short time, then look somewhere else. And be exceedingly cautious in what you post.