Twitter – Professional Development Tool

I have never been a fan of twitter.  It seemed lame, I don’t need to know that someone is eating mac & cheese.. besides, I have facebook.  However, at the CUE conference this year I attended Dr. Mark Wagner’s session on a Professional Learning Environment (PLE) and surprisingly most of the time he talked about Twitter.  This is the first time I’ve heard a compelling argument to use twitter.

Dr. Wagner pointed out that his twitter is his “entourage” and when he needs creative help, he tweets it out and then he gets a barrage of creative people from all over who are there to contribute.  This makes you a much more valuable asset.  Not only are you bringing to the table all of your knowledge, but you’re bringing with you the knowledge of all your followers!

So now I have two twitters, one for personal things (@alicegop) and one for teaching/tech (@alicekeeler).  I stick to professional contacts in my professional Twitter.  So everyday I read the twitter feed which shows me what people in my field are saying about education and technology. Everyday I am getting free professional development.  I regularly feel energized about new ideas and am able to contribute my ideas on the subject.

Officially, I am a convert.