December 3rd, Twitter and it's role in Education

I have had a twitter account for some time but didn't really begin to use it for educational purposes until this summer. We were participating in the Emerge Conference in Banff Alberta and it was exciting to use the hash tags (#emerge2010) to follow along. We also introduced peers to the program. Once back at work though it became hard to follow.
My personal committment has been at least once a week check, comment and tweet. Sometimes I have many more, other times hard to get one in.

I have found some interesting people to follow in education, they have inspired me to create some lists to organize those I follow. I have also been introduced to Tweet Deck, Twitterfall and the idea of reviewing other lists to determine who you would like to follow. However the question we often here is, but what do you get out of it???

Well,

• I get a chance to meet peers I might never meet and hear their great ideas.
• I follow individuals who point out great lessons for smartboards and other technology integration.
• I am directed to blogs, wikkis, articles and webspaces that have some very interesting trends, research and reflections on educational technology practices.
• I feel like I am a part of a larger community, beyond my jurisdiction.

What do I want to get from it?

• connections to people, places and practices.
• enrich my understanding of content, concepts and issues facing educators.
• challenge myself, discover new interests, reflect on my practice.

How will I get there?

• Well, my plan is to learn to use Tweet Deck and Twitter Fall efficiently.
• To find individuals to follow that inspire, motivate and give me cause to reflect.
• To share what I learn along the way and hope that others will provide me with guidance and advance.
• To committ to checking my twitter account regularly and to add it to this blog.

Let's see what happens, how are others using Twitter? Any advice out there or suggestions?

M