Blogging and Twittering


THIS is a homework assignment. I repeat, this is a homework assignment.  You may not be interested in what follows.  Or you might be-if you're in my class.  Or you happen to be the professor.  Continue.

So, I'm taking a grad-level course called Internet in the Classroom.  So far, I had to create my own Wiki and this blog.  I already had a Skype account and a Twitter account.  I actually had a blog, also, but it was WAY old.  So, yeah.  Anywhoosey, the focus this week is blogs and Twitter.  Time for me to go into student mode.

1. What you have learned about blogging and twittering?

I am actually quite experienced in both.  They turn the user into the news source.  Of course, the user may not be reporting your everyday average news stories.  That's what is quite fabulous about blogs and Twitter.  The reader chooses who to follow based on their own personal interests.  So, what's the difference between the two?  Blogs are like the newspaper and Twitter is like a ticker on the bottom of a television screen.  Blogs are seemingly static while Twitter is alive and ever-moving.

2. What do you now believe about the value and relevance of blogging and twittering for educational purposes. Be sure to reference some of this week's readings in this section.

Blogging and Twitter are unbelievably relevant, which is  a problem.  Why?  Neither are accessible to the students I teach, in the context of MY class.  I have begged to have a class blog.  It is a means to engage students, which, with junior high students, is EVERYTHING.  Twitter?  My older students all have smart phones, so why not?  Unfortunately, what I view as possibility, the board views as problematic.  Bullying, cheating, and whatever else you can imagine.  The Tweets for Education slideshows clearly show how Twitter is a landscape for collaboration and an opportunity to get a new perspective on, well, anything!  Upon reading the link to Online Collaborative Environments, it is clear that students would have a means to communicate with each other.  They could even critique and analyze each other--something they are too afraid to do in person.  Perhaps it is time to give our students the benefit of the doubt?

3. What network you are going to follow on Twitter and why you chose that one.

I follow many news organizations, including local, state, national, and global.  I am a news junkie--I like to know what is happening.  I also follow many education-related people, including teachers, administrators, policy makers, and union people.  Again, I feel the need to be informed on the issues.  Finally, you'll find I'm a foodie, simply by observing all of the chefs I follow.  This network of chefs and fellow foodies is, well, just for fun!

Type one paragraph on Blogging (at least 5-7 sentences) and one on Twittering (at least 5-7 sentences).

Blogging: Not for the Lazy

This blog, 4orks, is my fourth blog.  All of the other blogs were related to, ironically, fitness.  Go ahead.  Laugh.  I am.  The thing is, blogs are a great space for collaboration.  I've known this for years.  In my mind, I would blog about my exercise adventure for the day.  Maybe, a nutritional tidbit or two.  Absolutely, I would include struggles or missteps.  Of course, I would expect my friends to respond.  I would start a conversation.  Conversation NEVER happened.  It was always just me.  All three blogs turned into a diary of sorts.  I love to write, but never if the reader would only be me.  Eventually, I would quite posting.  I'm sure you've guessed what happened.  That's right.  I deleted those other blogs.  I'm hoping this blog actually starts conversations--even if you're forced to read my posts and comment for a grade!

Twittering/Tweeting--Live Info in 140 or Less

I can only tell you what I like about Twitter by telling you what I don't like about Facebook (FB).  On FB, people are always rambling on.  I just want to read posts by people following the KISS method--Keep It Short and Simple.  On Twitter, posts can only be KISS posts.  I love that about Twitter.  On FB, people have stopped sharing their own words altogether.  It is so annoying to search through all of the FB posters and e-cards and advertisements, simply to find a person's own thoughts and feelings.  On Twitter, I never have to see anything but the concise message a person wants to convey.  Again, a huge positive for me, as the reader.  I also love how quick Twitter is.  I also love hashtags.  To me, they are like the card catalog at the library.  Except fast, and way more accurate that I ever could be.  How great that I just searched #DowntonAbbey and quickly saw all of the other people who were enraged as I was?  I love it.