I have been on Twitter since April 2010. Before that time, I was like many other people: “Twitter, another outlet for vain people to let the world know they’ve bought a pair of shoes on sale…”
But now, after following many educators and tweeting about 5 or 6 messages a month, I have joined the other camp and now I can say: “Twitter has provided me with the best professional development ever” and “Twitter is the most important part of my #PLN (Personal Learning Network)”
It is true, you know. Twitter is like a café in which you can inconspicuously pull up a chair at a table full of knowledgeable educators. You listen to their conversation and most importantly; you visit the links they suggest. And you discover that these people (mostly) know what they talk about.
I have found so many interesting spots on the web I would have missed otherwise. And I get great satisfaction out of it when colleagues at work ask me: “How do you find all this stuff?” It’s not just about good links and cool sites either. Many educators share their innovative lesson ideas and some of their student work on twitter; more often than not this is very inspirational and always gives me renewed zeal and energy to try some of these things in my own classroom.
Great blog post about this subject: http://whatsnewintheworld.net/2010/01/twitter-as-a-pln/ and this one: http://malbell.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/what-i-learn-from-twitter/
Slideshare, very good presentation:Creating an Online Personal Learning Network