I read a very interesting blog post this morning referencing an article advocating for teachers to use Twitter, especially those of us who teach online. I really have to agree! Just in the small amount of time I have used it with our MCSD ITS group, we have been able to keep up with one another throughout the day as we are all in different locations and directions. Working a shorter contract than the other ITSs, I also continued to keep up with our staff after I left for summer break. Several MCSD entities are Tweeting now, too, for example the school district news is being tweeted here.
The Twitter account I use for Kaplan has also made me aware of various staff development opportunities and allowed me to get to know a few of my colleagues. The CTL Events tweets about the classes and workshops offered, and it reminds me of what is going on each day. I would liek to see our MCSD Instructional Technology Center use a similar strategy next year. Hopefully MCSD will unblock Twitter for employees in the district.
I have also been experimenting more with Facebook this summer. Facebook is blocked at MCSD and is not something I regularly have time to participate in during the school year. I decided to make it one of my little summer projects to get more involved and to test out all of the capabilities (to see what the fuss is all about). I have also been curious as to how and if it can be used for educational purposes.
I must admit, I am enjoying both social networking tools. Am I mainly sharing the mundane day-to-day "junk" that most people surely don't care about... yep! But, somehow it "works" and my friends and family seem interested.
I subscribed to a Twitter app on Facebook which automatically updates my status in both places (Facebook & Twitter). It has worked ok, but I am still struggling with the separation of persoanl and professional accounts. I'll continue to investigate and report more on that later...
Until then... follow me... if you wish! KerriMann or KaplanMann
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