Standards
1. Ability to identify and evaluate technology resources and technical assistance (i.e., those available online and on-site within a school and district setting).
2. Ability to assess the advantages and limitations of current and emerging technologies, online resources and software to facilitate teaching and student learning.
3. Ability to engage in professional growth and leadership activities, including modeling lifelong learning by participating in face to face and online learning communities to continuously improve professional practice using existing and emerging digital tools, resources, and current research that focuses on improved student learning, as well as promotes professional development of other educators.
Using Twitter was a very different experience for me. I was able to find MANY different resources and technologies to use in the classroom than I ever thought possible. Just as I was learning about Flipgrid from Twitter, a college that my son was looking at sent us Flipgrid about the weekend Open House they were hosting. That truly brought the resources found on Twitter to life in a meaningful manner!
Through the comments and number of retweets on any given post, I was able to receive real-life feedback on what educators both loved and wished could be improved on any of the technologies tweeted about on Twitter. I was able to see real classroom experiences and ways to adapt the technology to fit your classroom needs.
Many school districts have embraced Twitter as a way to share information about what is going on- in the classroom and on campus. Most Tweet about the newest awards earned by both students and faculty. Professional Development coordinators know this trend and use it to promote their latest PD- which can be reached by clicking a link or showing up in person. As Twitter is free to post on and carries a wide audience, PD coordinators can spread the word quickly and widely- allowing more people to access to what they are offering in the way of Professional Development. As I used Twitter more, the algorithm changed what I was seeing to tailor more to the Math and Science subjects that I teach. Thus, I was seeing more PDs that were applicable to me, not just more generic material. I was also able to discover what I could do via a link versus what I need to show up in person for. With a tight school schedule, this allowed me to better allocate the time I had to PD- a weblink is very convenient at times! Current research and studies also popped up frequently on my Twitter feed as fall school assessment results came available. I was also able to quickly find out what neighboring school districts were offering new programs and how they were going- like the GTech program just started in my children's school county last year and what the impact has been to this year's students.