Yes! Teachers Across the Globe Are Using Twitter – Are the Leaders Who Surround You Also Learning on Twitter?

By Meredith Johnson @mjjohnson1216 – Moderator of #BookCampPD

Is Twitter the “be all to end all” in terms of professional learning? Of course not. Can it provide tremendous insight into the experiences of others, resources, a sounding board for new ideas and a sense of “team?” You bet it can!

I have learned with others on Twitter for the past seven years. After forty-years in education, one might wonder how much I can learn while exchanging short tweets with other educators? TONS! Their vision and ideas have inspired me to remain involved and help others.

I realized that by “following” others I could expand my circle – my personal learning network, #PLN, even further. With this in mind, there are times when I read an article looking at the author’s name, check out those who are leaders for a publication’s board of directors/trustees or guiding a national conference in leadership positions and I quickly cut and paste their name into a Twitter search so I can also “follow” them. Granted, searching for specific people on Twitter is a bit of an art but over seven years I have become better at it.

Imagine my surprise, time after time, when I found only about 50% of those that are active Twitter users? This is when I tilt my head to the side and ask myself, “Really??!?!” How did they gain these leadership positions without frequently learning with others from across the globe? Surely, they have half an hour once a week to learn using this format so the decisions they make will reflect the thoughts of many. Just this morning, during #LeadUpChat and #LeadLAP, there were over ten educators new to using Twitter starting their learning journey with others. What can we do to encourage/ inspire/enlighten others about the tremendous benefits of this social networking? The college professors who encourage their students to jump into a chat as part of their coursework, I would like to scream from the rooftops, “KUDOS to you!”

Yes, you can make a difference by sharing a consistent message – over and over and over as some people can challenge us and be a ‘ittle stubborn – come learn with us on Twitter!