"Inspirations" (kudos to Chris Lehmann for using such a blog-post-start structure lately) for this post:
- Brett Hinton's blog post ("8 One Liners That Stick") which shared with me the brilliant George Bernard Shaw quotation, "The problem with communication … is the illusion that it has been accomplished." Man, is that brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant!
- Will Richardson's blog post ("What the Tweet?") which has him defining the heart-n-soul value of a life-Twittered as that of "presence". Oh, do I agree!
- Chris Lehmann's blog post ("Curriculum Design, Reform and Technology Infusion") where we are once again challenged to consider "What is good?" rather than "What is new?" in integrating technologies (et al) into our teaching practice. Keep beating that drum, brother Lehmann! The choir is just building up their lungs to follow suit!
Confession #1: I love Twitter...more than I can quite express in rational language. I check it before email each morning. I check it before any individual blogs or collective RSS feeds. It has kept be better informed on professional and personal levels than any other system/tool I've tried. Ever. It is the last thing I check each night before shutting down my brain and laptop. And it has become the single most important 'connection' point in my personal and professional life when I consider the larger 'network' I'm now part of.
Question #2: I am DONE with (and no longer worrying about) the "How can I use Twitter in the classroom?" question that was chewing at my ankles the last 2 weeks. And I'm feeling good about that.
You see, I'm done. I'm done with the "really cool tool/app...so how do we suddenly find a way to throw it into the curriculum just because we can?" theory of facing emerging technologies as an educator (or educational stakeholder). Done in spirit. Soon done in practice.
Okay, don't get me wrong.
There are countless ways that such a provocative shiny-new-thing like Twitter -- aka "self-imposed life-story GPSing" (my words, although clearly a mash-up of many others' descriptions) -- can become an educational ally (or even a 'tool', if we want to diminish the real value) in our classrooms. And I'm looking forward to hearing what others do with it in the school year(s) ahead. Probably writing down good ideas on napkins and post-it notes along the way.
But for me, Twitter is a great thing all by itself. Without needing educational-value-expertise to validate its existence. An example of something brilliant, transformative, hard-to-define, and clearly smack-dead-in-the-center of all this web 2.0 banter that does NOT need to be in the classroom to prove its educational, learning, and networked legitimacy. Not because it can't find a decent seat of opportunity there. No, it will and for some it may do so on profound levels.
But for me?
Not gonna feel so compelled.
Why?
'cause sometimes the beauty of Twitter (and so many other similar tools) is that they transform our lives in unpredictable ways and do not need to be forced into the educational arena. Even if they could be. Even with our students. Because it does NOT need that yoke (or affiliation) to prove itself worthwhile.
IMHO.
In the meantime, however, I'll still be clicking open my Twitter account first thing in the morning, tossing out Q's to the Twitterverse in an effort to make life more interesting and also for resources/ideas that will improve my teaching and kids' experiences, loving the personal/professional intersection of lives found there, and allowing recent Tweets to be the last thing I consider before shutting down my laptop each night. Probably be more 'vested there than ever before. Very good chance, in fact.
Just not going to spend that same time wrestling with the "How can I use Twitter in the classroom?" question along the way. And I'm feeling pretty good about that, too.
I am going to share this with teachers in a podcasting class next week, just to see how many faint. Why must educators work in such an atmosphere of FUD.
Posted by: Kelly Dumont | August 02, 2007 at 11:46 AM
Well said. Very well said. Were I in the classroom right now, I don't know that I'd be trying to implement Twitter, either -- unless I had a use that demanded the tool, and not the other way around.
Posted by: Bud Hunt | August 02, 2007 at 02:21 PM
Hey Christian... I agree. I'm tired of the "how ya gonna use this in education.." question. I use it because I like it. I'm done with the techno evangelist role. If others see value too, great. If not, well... there's always Statetris http://www.mapmsg.com/games/statetris/usa/
Posted by: Tim Lauer | August 02, 2007 at 02:29 PM
Christian - couldn't agree more. And it is not just Twitter - it is too easy when you are reading blogs to hear about whatever new thing has come out and feel that pressure, albeit self imposed, to do something with it. I just posted about this similarly ... from the standpoint of this app is a waste of time or "I can't see how someone could use Flickr in an educational setting" as I recently read on someone's blog. Well fine then, don't use it and don't feel pressure to use it. If it is going to be valuable to you "it will come." I compared it to how I started using Skype in the classroom. I knew about it. Had used it a few times at home - but wasn't going out of my way to use it with my class just to say I had ... and viola a reason to use it came up and that decision was kind of made for me.
Nice post.
Brian
Posted by: Brian Crosby | August 02, 2007 at 02:33 PM
A-yep. To me, and I've got a post jumping around in the brain about this, this is the difference also between personal learning and community / constructed learning that Will was asking about the other day.
Posted by: Chris Lehmann | August 02, 2007 at 02:40 PM
Glad to see people rethinking some of these tools for our classrooms. Twitter, in particular, is difficult to implement and creates another set of obstacles for some of our students with disabilities.
Posted by: Karen Janowski | August 02, 2007 at 02:58 PM
ALL: Thanks for so quickly responding via Twitter message to this post. Ironic that Twitter allowed the rapid-fire connection even though I've written about NOT using it the classroom? (he smiles, of course)
Karen: Appreciate your points. For me, however, even if it COULD be integrated and implemented, I still would not plan on using it. The issue for me is not whether we can use it, but that I no longer am interested in doing so on that level. Want to figure out what we are passionate about first idea-wise, and then and only then consider whether a 2.0 tool is of value along the way.
Tim: Agree on the refuse-to-be the tech evangelist anymore. I'm done trying to argue that anyone should start to blog (fill with your fav 2.0 tool) because blogging exists. Instead, I am interested in "global learning brands" that our kids now have...and seeing what allows these to evolve. Teachers/Admins, too. But blog to blog? Blah!
Chris: Get that blog post posted, brother from another mother! Can't wait to read. Is it done yet? Now? What about now?
Brian: Brilliant text re: it's useful if its useful, beautiful if its beautiful. Or, it'll come if it comes. Agreed on all fronts!
Bud: Yes, intention must trump tool every time! Thanks.
Kelly: Love to hear what your podcasting classs has to say. Good, bad, and Twitterent. Thanks for the first comment on this tread, BTW.
Posted by: Christian Long | August 02, 2007 at 04:45 PM
Bravo! You justified this one for me. I had really wondered if there was going to be any translation, and secretly hoped that my inability to find one was a rational feeling. This helps.
Posted by: Patrick | August 02, 2007 at 07:03 PM
I love Twitter too, but only because it lets me know what friends (or follower i like to be better friends with) are doing. I enjoy the silly, mundane, hypothetical, please, and more that come form twitter. It would not be meaningful to just anyone though...sory for typos..can't see well due to eye surgery.
Posted by: Cathy Nelson | August 02, 2007 at 07:47 PM