Twitter: Smaller may be better

My grandmother, a retired teacher and avid naturalist, called me "Chickadee" when I was a little girl. I talked all the time and could never sit still for long. I was curious about everything and needed to investigate and share what I was learning. Twitter may be the app that was truly designed for me, because it allows me to engage with a wide variety of people, find new and interesting information that can be shared, receive great professional tools and information, and I can use it while I'm on the move. How apt that it was named for a bird sound!
I started using Twitter in 2008, because I kept hearing about it in the media and was curious, particularly when it was described as the next Facebook and that many celebraties were using it to connect with their fans. Twitter was created by Biz Stone, Jack Dorsey and Evan Williams as a spin-off from Odeo - a podcasting company. Dorsey described the naming of the site in a very appropos way:

"[W]e came across the word "twitter," and it was just perfect. The definition was "a short burst of inconsequential information," and "chirps from birds." And that’s exactly what the product was."
Because it was based on SMS (short message service) for mobile devices, Twitter needed to be simple and began as a text based system, but it quickly expanded to include much more than simple text-based information. Today, Twitter allows for quick links to photos, blogs, data, news and almost anything that can be created on the web.

I set up my account in early March of 2009 and started following a number of people and news feeds. Within a few days, I found an interesting librarian in the U.S. to follow and began discussing professional issues, including reviewing books. I discovered my favourite music social site, Grooveshark, thanks to Twitter and occasionally posted a "tweet" about Down syndrome or politics. I enjoyed posting to the site, but wasn't getting much feedback, despite messaging others and retweeting, which is the equivalent of forwarding email. Sometimes others shared useful or fun links, but mostly folks were writing about the mundane aspects of their lives or using it as a marketing tool. I wasn't seeing images of people and the links being provided were mostly trivial or irrelevant to my needs. When I started getting lots of porn spam, I really got frustrated and decided that Facebook was pretty much the only social networking site I needed and I left Twitter alone for quite a while. I started using it again this summer as part of Joanne de Groot's Resources course and discovered a few good educators to follow who shared some interesting articles. It wasn't until this course, however, when blogging and tweeting linked up that I began to see the potential of Twitter as an educational tool - particularly a professional development tool.

Microblogging

Because Twitter limits posts to 140 characters, writers have to be concise. Statements need to be very clear. Thinking needs to be distilled. I know I have edited posts for clarity and brevity, sometimes four or five times. For bloggers and those who have more to say and share, though, linking to other sites seems to be the most effective way of sharing. The 140 character limit can still be a problem for lengthy URL addresses though. Thankfully, sites like bit.ly, which take long URL's and condense them to shorter formats have allowed microblogging to advance significantly. Twitter has also built in a URL shortening tool to ensure that web addresses don't eat up the entire 140 character limit.
Adding photographs to Twitter became another feature that enhanced the social nature of the site and websites like Twitpic made it easy to upload photographs. In the last week, I upgraded my phone from a Blackberry Pearl to an HTC Desire (Android platform) and wanted to ensure that I could easily add photos. After completing a Google search to see what application was most recommended, I found Twicca. I had already installed a QR code reader, so I scanned the QR code on the website with my phone and it directly installed the program. I was able to take a picture almost immediately,add a comment and then post it. As a tool to share family events, this is amazing, but the educational implications are also staggering. Privacy, though, is always on my mind because of the number of incidents I had of people trying to "follow" me, who really were posting pornography links. My settings do not share my location and I only share information with followers, not the entire Twitter universe. I know that locations can be viewed by some programs and do not wish to let potential thieves know I'm away from the house. The Twitter universe is large and diverse and does not guarantee ethical use by all its members.
Indeed, because of the popularity of Twitter, developers have created ways to organize and evaluate tweets and followers, link to other popular social networks and the ever-present Google, as well as see tweets in user-organized ways.  Twitter Fan Wiki lists many of the most popular "apps" or applications for Twitter and organizes them by operating systems, so that users can tailor their apps to their system.  At this time, I don't need all the possible applications for analysis and data collection, though. While I follow many of the educators at the forefront of educational reform and school librarianship, as well as leaders in activism and politics, I have not seen many of my students or local peers engage with this tool.
At the October B.C. Teacher Librarians' conference, I tried tweeting using a hash-tag (the #symbol to denote a particular stream of tweets)  to see who else was posting from the conference. I was very disappointed to see only a few other posts from the day and no one engaging in discussion about what presenters were sharing. Perhaps everyone was fully engaged with the real-world discussions, but I wondered if more thinking could have been shared that day and more people engaged in pedagogical conversations had the hash tag been posted and people encouraged to share. The same is true in my school district. I can name all the teachers and administrators who regularly post to Twitter and I know I am at the beginning of building a personal learning network.  I am pretty sure that there are fewer than 50 in a school district of over 1000 teachers.
A 5% ratio is is a small group and indicative of a few things. First, there are some teachers who still don't know what Twitter is. Second, there are teachers who are somewhat engaged with technology, but choose not to use Twitter for a variety of reasons. Third, the district's technology policy is antiquated and many teachers are waiting for changes that will allow for use of cell phones and other devices that will make using Twitter feasible. Finally, most teachers in our district have not heard of the term "personal learning networks" and can't see the benefits of being in a broader group which shares learning, resources and reflections for mutual growth. That change is still on the horizon, as the recent cuts and restructuring in the district have many teachers simply trying to focus on managing their classrooms.
Interestingly, Twitter is recognized by many as an excellent means of building personal learning networks and a source of professional development. Michelle Davis interviewed leaders in the Twitter education world  in the most recent edition of Educational Digest and noted that Tuesday night "Edchats" on Twitter are becoming increasingly popular. (2010)  The creator, Thomas Whidby, has found the discussions so popular that a second chat has been added in the morning to allow international educators the opportunity to participate in discussions. It is not surprising that Twitter is only mentioned briefly by Berger and Trexler as a possible social network to use in class, as this tool is still predominantly used by people over the age of 30. The examples they give of using Twitter to emulate a diary of a historical figure is clever and entertaining, but would be difficult to replicate in school systems where phones are still discouraged. If students can all be at computers and have either Twitterfall or Tweetdeck set up so that they can group the tweets they are viewing from classmates, it would be possible to use it as a discussion tool or a way of giving feedback during a discussion or presentation. It would also be interesting to observe what happens when students are required to find an expert opinion or artifact that could be retweeted to a class for discussion and evaluation purposes.
It will be a long time before my children or nephews use this tool, but in the meantime, it will be useful as a professional development tool and to follow politics, current events and activists. Small projects over time may change how Twitter is perceived by students, but in the meantime, the small community of educators using this tool will continue to reap the benefits of building great learning connections.

Works Cited

Berger, P. & Trexler, S. (2010).  Choosing web 2.0 tools for learning and teaching in a digital world. 

     Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.

Davis, M. (2010).  Social Networking Goes to School. Education Digest, 76 (3),  14-19.