Throughout college, I was an active Twitter user, connecting with friends near and far. I recently began using Twitter more frequently, but not for the same purpose. Now, I am using it to extend my Professional Learning Network. I never knew about the abundance of resources Twitter offers. For example, I participated in my first Twitter Chat experience this week: #resiliencechat. It is a weekly, hour-long chat that connects anyone in the education field at every level. The topic I participated in was about equity in education. We discussed questions about students’ personal experiences, impacts on their educational opportunities and increasing awareness of issues.
I didn’t know what to expect when I joined the #resiliencechat. To be honest, I didn’t know how it worked or understand why Twitter Chats were significant, to begin with. I was skeptical and nervous. After doing a little more research, an article by Tour (2017) explained, “Using hashtags, the conference attendees usually maintain real-time conversations about the conference content and cross-check understanding of the ideas.” When the chat started I was overwhelmed, because of the quick pace of questions posed and responses. After the first couple of questions, I felt more confident in responding to multiple questions and people.
Overall, my Twitter Chat experience made me feel empowered. I left with new perspectives, feeling confident and wanting to make a change at my own school. The next day, I discussed issues of equity at my school with a co-worker. Twitter Chats are also an incredible way to increase your Professional Learning Network, because of the number of people you can connect with! This experience made me want to participate in more chats and I hope it encourages you to want to too. If you haven’t yet, check out this website that lists upcoming chats!
Resources:
Education Chats. (2019). Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/twittereducationchats/
Ekaterina Tour (2017) Teachers’ self-initiated professional learning through Personal Learning Networks, Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 26:2, 179-192, DOI: 10.1080/1475939X.2016.1196236
Truebridge, S. (2019, January 28). #resiliencechat hashtag on Twitter. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/hashtag/resiliencechat?src=hash
I definitely want to check out the #resiliencechat soon! So far #miched and 1stchat have been my favorites but I plan on checking out #edtechchat tonight at 8 :-)