Twitter: A PLN resource.

- My experience using twitter as a pre-service teacher, and how I found it impractical at time and

useful at other times.- Robert Metcalfe.

At the beginning of the module #2 lecture I had never really used twitter before, and I had never truly had a desire or reason to do so.

Up until this point I had always been able to access online resources quickly and efficiently using other online means in order to supplement and support my learning and professional development as a pre-service teacher.

Early beginnings.

So, I signed up for a Twitter account as an assignment requirement for the module #2 PLN FlexLab, and I was really looking forward to using Twitter to expand my PLN and further support my professional development as a pre-service teacher.

Tweet like a Twitterbird, hashtags like an Ed student.

After the module #2 interactive lecture I had really high expectations for Twitter to help me develop my skills and practice as a pre-service teacher. I expected…

Awesome education vendor services. Updates and resources from fellow teachers and pre-service

teachers that I could learn from and apply to my professional development.

To be able to interact and make connections with other professionals that may further my career as a teacher.

Receive updates on new happenings and developments in the field.

High expectations.

When I signed up I immediately started to follow people and organizations who I thought could best benefit my professional development.

One of these people was Steven W. Anderson, who looked like a great person to follow. ◦ Professional in the field and

one of the top 50 innovators in Education.

◦ This guy had to be great, right?

And so it began…

For the most part, what I found showing up on my Twitter feed was constant retweets or thank you messages with little no context as to why these were being tweeted. Literally a sea of blue indiscernible blue lettering flooded my Twitter feed, which became really frustrating to sift through when I wanted to check up on useful education information.

Furthermore, of the educational information that he did post, it was for the most part impractical toward my development as a pre-service teacher.

Drowning in a sea of blue.

I also thought that following fellow pre-service teachers in the field would be a great idea to stay up to date on topics relating to developing professionally as a pre-service teacher.

Despite myself contributing to my Twitter feed as much as possible, my efforts were necessarily returned. This is considering that for the most part the pre-service teachers that were using Twitter, were only using it as a means to complete the Module #2 FlexLab and generally didn’t utilize it much beyond that purpose.

Following fellow pre-service teachers.

After these two experiences I found myself questioning the effectiveness and the purpose of using Twitter as a PLN resource. I found myself utilizing Twitter less and less.

I found that I could find resources directly related to my teaching needs elsewhere, without having to sift through literally hundreds of tweets, which at most times had little to no useful information at all, even if it was relatable to what I was searching for.

I realize that this isn’t the sole purpose of Twitter as a PLN, but I began thinking that maybe I made the wrong choice or if there were any other PLN resources like twitter that could be less generalized and more targeted to my interests and professional development.

Is Twitter really the best PLN tool for me as a pre-service teacher.

One of the very few resources I actually did find helpful seemed to beam with so much useful information that it outshone all the other people and organization I had been following up until that point.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association were posting on such awesome topics, and provide up to date resources on such great education related topics such as…◦ LGBTQ support resources. ◦ FNMI websites. ◦ Behaviour and classroom

management web resources.◦ Various updates and postings on

professional development seminars.

“Alberta Teachers’ Association, you’re our only hope!”

At this juncture I found myself becoming much more active using Twitter.

I began retweeting ATA resources to share with other colleagues, students, and professionals, and also started to see how retweeting resources can get you more followers, who in turn can assist your professional development as a teacher.

In all, I am followed by six people and I follow 28 people. I realized I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Twitter and how

it works, but at the same time, over the course of this semester, I have been able to see how Twitter can be a PLN tool in coordination with other tools that can greatly support my development as a pre-service teacher.

I definitely plan on using Twitter for this purpose in the future.

Contributing to my PLN and the teaching community.