Thing 18 Sylvester and Tweety

Well, I never thought I would ever do this, but according to Thing 18, I had to … I signed up for Twitter.  The choices were either Facebook or Twitter.  I am not comfortable with exposing much my life (to the public, or even my family for that matter) on the internet, so Facebook was completely out of the question.  I know there is an option for private settings and other features like that, but the idea of other people reading and looking at my pictures, friends, or family is just too unsettling and very uncomfortable.  I have heard so many negative stories about the downfalls of using Facebook that I would prefer to avoid that whole genera.  So this left Twitter as my only other option.  Although I am still hesitant about this application, I thought it would be the lesser of the two technology-phobias.  I dutifully signed up, and chose the name ‘@Techintraining2’ as my handle.  (Do people still use the word ‘handle’ or has that gone out with the transistor radio? – of which we did have one when we were growing up; our handle was the Tennessee Turtles.)  I searched for some interesting people and sites to follow, but had a difficult time trying to find something that caught my attention.  I was able to locate a number of education and teacher sites that I thought would help me in the future.  I also added a few cooking and baking sites that seemed interesting.  I even ventured into the entertainment industry and added Rachael Ray.  Yes I realize that she is not as glamorous as the people that teenagers follow (like the girl with the meat outfit – I still do not know who that is), but she makes some excellent 30 minute meals.  Honestly, who wouldn’t want to be able to make a tasty meal in under 30 minutes; I know those of us moms are in that category. 

I think the most important reason for educators to know about and use social networking sites, is that it will help them become better teachers.  Social media has become such a large part of children’s lives, it would make sense to incorporate it into education.  Teachers can set up a classroom Facebook page so parents, students and teachers to stay connected to the rest of the class.  Parents can check up on their children, see what is happening in the class, and post comments and praises.  Students can log in and update any project information, can import pictures of their completed work, and can encourage their classmates.  Teachers can use the site for keeping everyone updated, can post links to newsletters, and can encourage/praise as well. 

I really do not see teachers using Twitter that much though, since it seems very geared toward social media.  I have not heard of many people using it for education, business, or networking.  I have only heard about kids and people in entertainment using Twitter.  It seems like people only post two types of tweets – ones that are silly and pointless, or ones that are generic and obscure.  Personally, I do not really care if so-and-so is getting a latte’ at the Mapco gas station, or if one person ‘tweet-bashes’ someone else.  It just does not seem to make a real impact on much of anything.  Nevertheless, I am generalizing most of all this.  I am sure though that there is some real value in using Twitter, I just have not been exposed to it yet.