I have definitely made progress on how I use Twitter. Still, there are areas that I would like to grow as I set my goals for the future.
First of all, I have never been a very active participant on social networks. As a result, while was aware of what was happening, I did not generally dive into the conversation or initiate topics of discussion. In addition, I tended to check social networks like I would check traditional news. Unfortunately, I would often feel overwhelmed by the massive amounts of information being exchanged and eventually become disengaged. Through the course readings about connecting online, I readjusted my thinking about how to engage digitally. Instead of trying to view everything that was happening, I learned to take a much more realistic approach of engaging when I had time (and not worrying about what I was missing).
As a result to these shifts in thinking, I was able to branch out more on Twitter and became more involved in posting content that other people might see. One satisfying moment came when Mary Chayko reposted a tweet that I made about her book Superconnected. The fact that a professor from the University of Colorado and a other people connected to studying digital literacy also liked this post was rewarding and reaffirmed the power of Twitter. In addition, I also had my most successful response of the quarter last week when I tweeted a screenshot of an icivics game that I was reviewing. By including @icivics in the post, I ended up being retweeted multiple times and receiving positive feedback from various people on Twitter that have large followings. Interestingly, every person who liked this post was someone who I had no personal connection with.
Building these new connections with people within the educational technology and digital literacy fields has been one of the more enjoyable parts of this class. While most of what I have read on Twitter has not created a profound change in my thinking, I have still been exposed to a lot of new ideas that I would not have normally come across. I have found some interesting concepts for lessons from practicing teachers as well as been able to relate to educators on a sillier note to by following #fridayfails from #worldgeochat. Overall, I was surprised by the playful nature of Twitter while still finding a lot to be inspired by.
As I have moved towards following 50 people on Twitter, I have also been able to gain a better sense of who the leaders in social studies ed tech tend to be. It has been interesting find certain names commonly reoccurring in various tweets and links being shared. Additionally, this has helped me to build a few more connections as people have started following me after I started reaching out to them.
I’ve also noticed that some of the best people to reach out to are the people who are active but do not have too many followers. These types of users seem to be more willing to follow me and engage with other less prominent users. In the future, I would like to increase the amount of these types of users as they seem to have a lot to offer and could help encourage more authentic engagement with my own work.
DeJoyofTeachingPortfolio 