Blog Post #5: Sharing My Tweet Chat Experience (Week 4 Activity 4 EDDL 5101)

This week, I’ve been asked to create a portfolio post to share your experiences participating in an educator’s Tweet Chat this week.

I explored around using the resources from this week’s readings. I looked at the Google Sites page that listed all the educational chats happening around the world, but unfortunately, the only time I got to work on grad school work this week was on Thanksgiving Sunday – not too many teachers wanting to jump into work today! 😜 But I was able to explore some previous conversations and play with the posting tools. I found the twubs.com website useful for making it easier to join and follow conversations.

The one hashtag I decided to follow this afternoon was #bced, as it was broad enough of a hashtag that allowed there to be live conversation even on a Sunday and because it is relevant to own work, being a BC educator.

At first, I found the process a little confusing and overwhelming, as it seemed like people were doing a lot of “talking at” rather than “talking with,” but I suppose that’s the purpose of twitter. What I did like was the number of new faces and ideas all being gathered in one place. I got to explore a lot of different BC educator twitter accounts. I think Tweet Chat is useful because it connects educators from all over under a common thought and allows anyone is able to join in the conversation.

Once I figured out the hang of it, it’s actually quite easy to participate in Twitter Chats, especially using a platform like TWUB. Though the experience was cool, I definitely will use it in the future to follow and engage in common educational discussions, I think I still prefer face-to-face discussions either in person or through a video platform like Zoom. I think Twitter has value and is a very useful networking tool for educators, but I don’t think it can be the sole focus of my PLN – for me, I need more personal connections and space for thoughtful reflection.

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/media-social-media-apps-998990/

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