1. Twitter somewhat creates time for me. Rather than tracking down what my friends are doing, I can compile it in one place. It would be even better if folks implemented their own feed that compiles their blogs, tweets, photos, etc. I have done so and a few people I know have done so. It makes it easier to follow what one person is doing that they choose to make available.

2. Never. I did have a slowdown for a week while we had company, but completely shut off? Nope. When is the last time you turned off the telephone and the television? Online is how we keep abreast of what is going on. Why would I want to be removed from that?

3. As I return to the classroom, the classroom web site that once was the staple of our online work will center around a blog.

Although I am not twittering, I am a pretty enthusiastic user of all things ‘net. I turn off every once in awhile… but for a reason. There are places in the world, chances in life that do not allow for the ‘net in tow. Time on the river, on the trail and on the road…unplugged… is really refreshing, rejuvenating and provides perspective. I would highly encourage people to seek out the places in the world that take you outside, to the open spaces… no laptop, no phone, and no TV. I even get 20+ 8th graders each year to unplug on the river for 4 days… they didn’t mention the absence of the tech once. There is a time and a place to let go of the digital connections.

First of all, welcome back.

1. Twitter is one of those apps that I can take or leave on a daily basis. If I truly want to get something accomplished, Twitter is certainly not going to stop that; however, if I am searching for distraction, it certainly occupies that role.

2. Since I began this little journey, I haven’t really had a shutdown or a slowdown, although my wife would love it if I did. I am predicting a week in August to do just that.

3. I am always hopeful that there will be adoption of some of these applications that we use by the greater teacher population, but realistic that until we make it available to them in terms that are relevant to them, we will see resistance. My plan is to begin building small communities within my buildings to foster small-scale adoption.

hi Will

I don’t Twitter — not because I don’t know what it is and why it can be powerful but because I try to avoid cell phone/text-messaging as much as possible. I am not completely sure why that is but maybe my answer to number one helps answer question number two (too?).

I do take breaks from the wired world from time to time but it is odd how connected I feel to my network of friends and educators through the Internet. When Edublogs was down, and then my ISP provider had trouble finding it, I felt a bit lost without my blog(s). I did find other avenues (Classroom 2.0, for example) but it reminds me of the importance of taking a break.

And as for question number three, I think we can often get lost in our tunnel vision of technology communities and think, this is the way it will be for many teachers and the wave is here. Yet the reality is, many educators are fearful of the technology and disregard the possibilities of engagement, audience and writing/research for their students as a result of that fear. I remain optimistic, however, even as I am realistic for a time frame.

Thanks for the questions.
Sincerely
Kevin

1. With the massive list of tools that tie-in with Twitter, I found it has just been a natural addition. Right now, Twits are coming through on my desktop as I catch up on all the posts in Google Reader. If something comes through of interest, I engage in the conversation, follow the link, or meet up with the people in real life or Second Life. When I’m in SL, I simply Tweet my journey so it really doesn’t add any additional time to my connected life. In fact, I’m wondering if it is helping to save time as my “friends” help me to get through the forest of information.

2. I don’t understand…

3. I know this is bad but I’ll answer your question with a question. What happens if they do? http://www.bretagdesigns.com/technologist/?p=281

Welcome Back!

Diana, I am in the woods quite a bit. It is usually with a GPS, a PDA, camera/video, and these days a cell. While I enjoy doing that solo, I also enjoy sharing the experience.

This line should be trackback, I guess
http://twitter.com/fceblog/statuses/140230082
Just kidding.
Now, seriously.

1. I am twittering. I read more. I have enjoyed accessing the bloggers’ impressions of whatever is on their minds in-between posts. Not sure it adds to literacy or understanding, but it adds to constructing an impression of person as I read them. Partially, of course.

2. A whole week-off? Last winter break. Next one beginning in two weeks. But I did not stay away from the computer that long. My ELT Notes blog was born out of those holidays -combined with a terrible cold!

3. To what level shall we expect teachers to adopt tools? As long as they are meaningful to them, to their own set goals and directions in learning.

You needn’t tweet. You connect as you connect.

Thank you for asking, Will.

1. I am risking talking to my family less, reading less, surfing to more links people are sharing, spending more time than usual online. It is a distraction and like many things on the web, potentially addicting but also potentially powerful for the connections it can allow.

2. Nov/Dec 2006 for 40 days, no evening technology use at all. We called it “an evening technology fast.” No TV, iPods, CDs, or any technology at all. We did have a lot of wood fires in the fireplace and drink a lot of brewed tea.

3. We shouldn’t expect the majority of people to want to twitter. The diffiusionof innovations research shows this in terms of early adopters being a discrete group, which behaves differently than the early majority, late majority, laggards, etc. Many of the folks here in the edublogosphere are early adopters of technologies like twitter, but those tools won’t have the same appeal to most other teachers who fall into different groups. This doesn’t mean twitter doesn’t have value, but it does mean that if we want to strategically effective in supporting thoughtful and appropriate uses of technologies we’ll recognize different folks (different groups) require different approaches. Twitter is not a”hook” that will appeal to most teachers, in my view. But I am loving it! (It’s always good to ask and answer the “balance” question, however.)

1. I am actually spending LESS time doing online stuff–because I know right away what to check, what folks are doing…I look for the links on my twitter list FIRST and forgo some of the rest…so I guess Twitter is an add on for me–ALSO as I prep things for PD–add to my wikis etc…I don’t have to search for info–my TWITS are putting it all out there for me and it is GOOD STUFF!!!!
2. I do disconnect every once in a while. We have a cabin in the Poconos and up there there is no internet–I like twitter for keeping me at least a little connected
3. I agree with Wesley Fryer that there are different levels of adoption and I think twitter is just what the innovators need to keep them instantaneously up to date….GREAT THREAD for a fist time back

1. I twitter from time to time and it helps me feel connected. I like getting the links and the interaction but that can be a little lopsided. I do not really like following people who are not following you because there can be no conversation. there is an interesting set of ideas about twitter in the classroom on the Ning site Classroom 2.O
2. I camp at least once a month and do not take my laptop. I do geocache so i have my GPS. Turning o is good but occasionally it is hard too.
3.Are we zealous for the technologies or are we zealous for pedagogical change? It is fair to say we are comfortable with technology and like to play but at least speaking for myself I am zealous about change. I enjoyed the bloggers cafe etc because I wanted to learn about others perspectives and experience in supporting change. I have high expectation for change but as Chris L and Karl F said the conversation is two thirds pedagogy and planning and one third just in time technology training.

1. I’m blogging less, for sure, as I pass links along via Twitter/Jaiku rather than blogging them. That’s probably a problem — although I see potential in the conversation there, too.
2. I turn off from time to time, sometimes completely, sometimes partially. Starting tomorrow, I’m offline for the week so that I can enjoy the beach — but I’ll probably pop in to upload photos during the trip.
Sometimes the best way to learn about the power of these tools is to go without them for periods of time.
3. Folks won’t adopt anything until they see the actual power or use to them. That’s the magical hook we should be looking for — and it’s the one I’ve had the most success with in working with others.

Getting ready to power down,

Bud

Ok, I don’t twitter, so maybe I shouldn’t be commenting, but I’m going to anyway…:) And this is probably going to go off-topic, but I want to comment on question 3 - getting “everyday” teachers to adopt new technologies.
Since NECC it seems all the blogs I subscribe to are talking about twitter. So I investigated, read some, but I don’t see the practicality. I look at my teachers and I don’t see any practical use for them or their students. I’m feeling more and more frustrated and I need the help of all of the experts who read this blog. NECC was wonderful b/c it was 20,000 educators who are “pro-tech”. My teachers are so far from “getting it”. Less than 10% of them have a website and the vast majority of them never go in the lab, have no idea what a blog, wiki or RSS feed is…How do I catch them up? Do I have to start with basic stuff and take baby steps with them in their integration or can I go straight to web2.0 and global collaboration? Do we have to learn to crawl before we walk before we run when it comes to tech integration? Everything changes so fast I fear I’ll never get them caught up! Sorry for taking it off course, Will.

Perhaps Michelle, you need to look at it from a different approach.

Your teachers might not know blogs and the tools might change quickly, but there are things teachers do know and things that don’t change. Make those things the focus. Make those things the hook.

When you do, those things will draw your teachers to technology BECAUSE at that point they are finding value in relation to their instructional design.

For instance, I don’t push blogs for the sake of blogs. I don’t push discussion boards for the sake of using a discussion board. I don’t push wikis, rss, twitter, second life, etc. That makes the focus on tools. I focus on what teachers feel they need to better in their classroom, things teachers want to experiment with, professional goes they have established, etc.

When I introduce a piece of instructional technology, it is with the foundation of their needs not what I think they need.

Just my thoughts

1. Yes I Twitter, the thing I like about it the most is that I can get to know people better. It is a bit of an add on, but not unmanageable.
2. Power down?? What?? I’ve got the shakes, better move on.
3. This is the one I have been thinking about lately. I am concerned about my obsession :). I wake up in the morning, check my email and read blogs. I continue with reading blogs all through the day, make sure I put up a blog post and spend some time in SL. I have a year’s release from the classroom to study this year and I am starting to feel very removed from reality. Once back in the classroom, I will not have the time to spend like this, I think in all things we need balance, I hope to achieve that soon.

Michelle, the way I have gotten my tech challenged teachers interested in Web 2 is by demonstrating the power for learning. My latest blog post looks at the power of comments in podcasting and this is something that has hooked a lot of teachers

My opinion on your question #3 (”But to what level can we expect other educators to embrace and adopt these tools in their own practice?”) - I don’t believe we will see very many people using these tools in large numbers for quite a few years. The general populace of teachers feel they have far too many other things to do and obligations to meet to spend the time needed to learn and use 2.0 tools. I spend a lot of time working with teachers in many schools around NYC, and by far their technological desires are at least 2-3 years behind the cutting edge. For example, at a workshop I conducted last week for social studies teachers, there was a lot more interest in PowerPoint than in blogs and podcasts. Doing workshops such as that is a real eye opener.

That being said, the reason PowerPoint and other uses of technology are still in demand now is that they were the cutting edge apps a few years ago. It just takes time for those apps to really get on the radar of most teachers.

1) Well, this week, I’m working less, but it’s summer vacation. I can’t imagine how this might cut into productivity at school. O.k. — I can. It frightens me. What I *have* noticed is that I’m not on iChat anywhere near as much now that I use twitter. That’s fine for summer, but given that I talk to my students on iChat, it’s probably not a practice I want to continue in the fall.

2) Yee gods… a full week? Actually, I think I’m going back to an old practice I had in grad school which was one night a week with no computer. (I’ll include iPhone in that.) I’m feeling a little too plugged in these days, and I really want to step slowly away from the computer.

3) I think it depends on the teacher and depends on the tool. Twitter is a ton of fun, but it’s distracting too. I want to see what I think about twitter in six months. Connectivity is great, but I worry that we’re losing the ability to enjoy our own “now.”

1. Twitter is an add-on, but only a few minutes’ worth per day, thanks to its condensed nature.
I post more personal stuff through Twitter than by other means.

2. A week off-line? 1995, when I was literally in a war zone (Bosnia).

3. In some ways it’s harder now than it was three years ago. Web 2.0 is much bigger, better developed, better known… so faculty’s resistance looks less like avoiding a fad and more like a strategic move. Hostility to new tech from the Chronicle and elsewhere has grown (cf the anti-Wikipedia backlash, which is enormous in education).
Offline stuff, private digital work, is much more attractive.

Twitter is new to me and I am trying to get used to it. I know a lot of people who blog because I have read them for a long time but they don’t necessarily know me. b I am a newcomer to blogging so I don’t have a lot of friends but I can see where some people would find it useful. I would hope that people would continue with blogging and not switch to twitter just from the standpoint of those of us who aren’t a friend then lose the opportunity to read and contribute to conversations.
I have turned off for a week, several times, and I think it is great to not be connected for a while and just talk and pay attention to those around you. My husband especially appreciates those times because all of this can become addicting and I believe unplugging is good for me.
In my work I try to match a tool with a teacher’s need not suggest a tool just because it is available. I believe if they others feel something will help them in their own practice they will try it, but with all of the options figuring out which tool will have the best outcome for the task can be overwhelming.

1. Currently, twitter is replacing following some of my rss feeds, although the twitter traffic is slowing down.

2. I have taken a full month without connection two years ago and am planning this summer detox. It is refreshing and enlightening, although can create stress once you start to get back. But it is all about balance.

3. We cannot expect all teachers to have the same zeal for the new technologies, because either they don’t get it or they don’t care. This is a sad statement.

OK, and now for my helf-baked theory…

Is it possible that the obsessive worship of all things “2.0″ leads us to not only try “innovations” like Twitter, but then to work tirelessly to justify their use in educational contexts as well as our lives?

What if Twitter (or the next big thing) has little or no educational benefit? Who will be the first person brave enough to speak up?

Such slavish preoccupation with every new Web app then leads to an equally obsessive need to find balance or declare technology fasts.

All of this may lead to what my colleague Linda Polin calls the bulimic curriculum - you binge and purge. I’m starting to see that this may be extended beyond content knowledge to the rapid embrace of Web applications. They fill your life up with trivia and then you cut the cord.

Seems a bit extreme…

[…] Yesterday Will Richardson asked at his Weblogg-ed (link has his questions) blog some questions regarding Twitter and our daily routines. Here’s the best possible way that I can put an answer to them. […]

Answered Will’s thoughts @ http://tnturner.edublogs.org

Gary…to kind of add to your bulimic curriculum comment. My fear with educational technology is that there will come a point when ALOT of stuff will become available, thus watering down everything that is out there, rather than emphasizing the small few. I think it’s great with the amount of tools that we have at our disposal, yet it worries me as well.

Tom
Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages.

Twitter is play. We all need a bit of play amongst the serios of what we do. Kinda like each of our first blog posts mamy years ago.

1. There has been nothing additional. I am Twittering in addition to mostly. Sometimes I try to use it as an excuse to procrastinate a few minutes, but this isn’t very successful, so I need a better plan.
2. Christmas was the last time I was off the grid for a while. I went to visit a friend and we just had other things…though I think we both checked our email for any emergencies (I was doing the email prayer chain at church and she was getting emails from her kids in another city). I really think I am due. I need to complete an online course first. I’m thinking in August before school, I am due back the 16th. Anyone with me?
3.I think we really need to work on bringing in others who are outside the echo chamber, as Chris Lehman says. When was the last time I intentionally invited newbies into a community? When was the last time I invited international educators into the USA echochamber. For me, it was last night for both. Quite frankly, two gentlemen from outside the USA saved the day for me! I invited several newbies to a live webcast, and one actually showed up!
These are all things on which we need to reflect. Thank you for centering us. You do it so well!

I agree with a lot of what is being said about the practical uses of some of the Web 2.0 gadgets and won’t reiterate what others have said, but…Here’s my take on the whole thing–if Web 2.0 sites, applications, etc follow the path of Web 1.0 sites, applications, etc. 80% will disappear all together and the other 20% will charge a fee. Remember in the early days when Blackboard, RiverDeep, Noodletools, Brainpop etc were free and we all said “WOW”. Then the next time we tried to use them in the classroom we logged in and said “oh poop, a fee”. That’s all I have to say about that!

Great questions!

I posted my responses on my blog at http://cliotech.blogspot.com/2007/07/response-to-weblogg-ed.html

Completely turned off? I took a cruise to the Caribbean in March and was incommunicado (except for a call from my accountant while I was in port). The time off made me that much more refreshed when I got back.

However, when I’m at my parents’s for overnight stays with no Internet, I go into withdrawl. Curiouser and curiouser.