Blog Post 2: To tweet or not to tweet? That is the question!
Driving Question: To tweet or not to tweet? That is the question!
Whether we like it or not social media is growing and becoming the centre of the modern world. Billions of people are using social media every day to communicate, for entertainment and for work.
During the lectures and tutorials of COMM140, we were introduced to Professional Learning Networks (PLN’S). Essentially, a PLN is how professionals connect with people in the same industry and it is “Used to describe a network of people and resources that support ongoing learning.”(Morris, 2018). Learning this made me feel somewhat relaxed that teachers can reach out for help and receive feedback almost instantaneously from anyone around the globe. After learning more about PLN’s I have a better understanding of how important PLN’s are to have in my career.
I have learned that twitter is a great recourse for building a PLN and it is the number one resource for teachers to use worldwide to build their PLN and connect with educators around the world (Morris, 2018). I believe that there are so many benefits for creating a twitter account and expanding my PLN. One of the most important benefits is that it keeps educators updated with the latest technology and tools to allow for new ideas and differentiation in the classroom/school (Creative Eduction, 2019). Another important benefit is that opportunities that PLN’s give to teachers and preservice teachers as I believe it allows future employers to see that a teacher is not only motivated but active in the teaching community (Hutchison & Colwell, 2017).
In spite of the amazing benefits of twitter and PLN’s I have realised and understood the negative implications of Twitter. For example, if I post something that is seen as inappropriate it may threaten my job and jeopardises any future job opportunities. That is why I believe “To tweet or not to tweet? That is the question.” is important to understand as people need to think twice before pressing send when they want to post something online.
References
Creative Education Blog » 10 Reasons Teachers should give Twitter a go. (2019). Creativeeducation.co.uk. Retrieved 13 September 2019, from https://www.creativeeducation.co.uk/blog/10-reasons-to-tweet/
Colwell, J., & Hutchison, A. (2018). Considering a Twitter-Based Professional Learning Network in Literacy Education. Literacy Research and Instruction, 57(1), 5-25. 10.1080/19388071.2017.1370749
Morris, K. (2018). Step 1: What Is A PLN?. Retrieved from https://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/pln-define/
- The reason as to why the date of submission is a different date to when I actually posted it, is because the formatting of my blog was wrong so I have posted a screenshot underneath to show the actual date that I posted this and to tell you that I have changed nothing to this blog. If there are any questions or concerns please email me at S00235015@myacu.edu.au. Thank you.
Hi Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteUpon reading your blog about the world of twitter, I am impressed. It is an overall very thorough blog. I like that you addressed both the positive and negative impacts that twitter has on a person. I also like how you addressed twitter as a PLN, implementing examples of twitter for (pre-service) teachers. You might want to consider adding a photo or video to space out the big block of writing you have. If you would like to use a video, I would suggest Marc-Andre' Lalandes video, 'What is a PLN' which explains a PLN very well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLLpWqp-owo
Hi Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteWow ! I really enjoyed reading your blog post as it was informative, straight forward and very much relatable as a future educator myself. I love how you talk about both the positives and negatives effects of using twitter as an educator. However, some possible things that you could improve on would be use of more scholarly articles to back up your opinions and arguments; as your blog post was more opinion based. Here are some references that you could possibly use in the future:
- Trust, T., Krutka, D. G., & Carpenter, J. P. (2016). “Together we are better”: Professional learning networks for teachers. Computers & education, 102, 15-34. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.06.007
-Trust, T. (2012). Professional learning networks designed for teacher learning. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education 28(4), 133-138. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/21532974.2012.10784693
You might also like to add a rhetorical question at the beginning or end of the post to capture the attention of the reader but also as a way to transition into your next paragraph. Overall, it was a great response !
Kind Regards,
Nathan Yip (S00247275)