Comments on: Twitter Me This

By: Laura

Laura — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 20:23:58 +0000

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.

By: Jennifer Dorman

Jennifer Dorman — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:12:16 +0000

Great questions!

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

By: nancy

nancy — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 00:49:41 +0000

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!

By: Mrs. Durff

Mrs. Durff — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:53:24 +0000

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!

By: john pederson

john pederson — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 02:13:18 +0000

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.

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 01:28:12 +0000

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.

By: Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages Through Our Student’s Eyes » Twittering this for Will Richardson

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 01:22:42 +0000

[...] 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. [...]

By: Gary Stager

Gary Stager — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 17:48:35 +0000

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…

By: Vinnie Vrotny

Vinnie Vrotny — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 16:57:48 +0000

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.

By: Robin Ellis

Robin Ellis — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 16:16:41 +0000

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.

By: Bryan Alexander

Bryan Alexander — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 03:25:41 +0000

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.

By: Chris Lehmann

Chris Lehmann — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 03:02:53 +0000

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.”

By: Jeffrey Branzburg

Jeffrey Branzburg — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 00:34:33 +0000

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.

By: Jane Nicholls

Jane Nicholls — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 22:40:14 +0000

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

By: Ryan Bretag

Ryan Bretag — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 22:03:18 +0000

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