Sunday, January 22, 2012
Blogging & Twittering
After reading the articles and watching the videos for this week, I feel that I have learned quite a bit about blogging and twittering. I never realized that people with expertise or passions about a topic could create such a network with a common interest. This was very difficult to do 20 years ago and has opened my mind about both.
Blogging was never really important to me and I remember when it the scene because many of my friends had started their own. It almost seemed like the "hipster" thing to do if you wanted people to know about your private life. After this lesson, my mind has changed slightly about the value of blogs and it's purely for educational purposes. It certainly allows students to collaborate on a class project where you don't have to be in "class" because they could follow other bloggers with similiar interests to gain more knowledge. I feel like this has and will continue to change how we integrate online mediums into the classroom.
Twitter completely took me by surprise and I have to say that I was REALLY shocked that I had to start an account for the class. Social medias like Facebook already consume my time and I didn't want to add another one. After watching the videos about Twitter and how certain "trends" can be used as an advantage, it made me think a little bit about my profession of public health and how breaking news could be transmitted with 140 characters. As for educational purposes, Twitter certainly can help people out if you post a question that may be stumping you. In one of the examples given to us for the readings, a person posed a question on Twitter and it was answered within 10 minutes with websites and references. I think if we want to have students research topics for papers, they have an easy reference to a world of people on Twitter. My network is slightly different that the rest of the class I can assume, but I chose Public Health to follow. After follwing a few big name organizations like American Public Health Association (APHA) there were some pretty good articles and relevant news, which is keeping me in the loop with up to date information. I can get on board with Twitter and all they have to offer, now I just need to start "tweeting".
-Derek
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Hi Derek,
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way you did after completing this week’s assignments! I did not know about the network of ‘expert’ communication blogging and twittering can offer. Some younger friends and colleagues of mine are loyal followers of certain topics and they can definitely offer up to date information about events, developments, etc. One of my colleagues knows everything there is to know about the Occupy Wall Street movement!
You mentioned that blogging allows students to collaborate on projects outside of class. This could be easy to incorporate into a college classroom since almost all college students would be familiar with some form of social media. As it was mentioned in one of the video clips, this is the age group that tweets/blogs the most!
To tell you the truth, I am not quite ‘sold’ on the educational use of twittering. Like you, I can see myself following certain things relating to what I teach (high school social studies), but I would have a hard time incorporating it into the curriculum and making it meaningful for my students as well. Maybe, once again, it is easier at the college level.
I am sorry to hear that social media consumes your life, Facebook can be addictive (I hear)!
Kristine