Twon Over

Okay, so I did it. I can’t believe it, but I did it. People kept pushing and I kept reading articles about how great this was, but I couldn’t pull the trigger, didn’t want to be a follower, couldn’t see the function. I want to go on record that I fought valiantly for almost two years until I finally crumbled…I joined Twitter. I have Lance Armstrong to thank for this. Once he announced his comeback and then crashed out of Vuelta Castilla y Leon breaking his collar bone, I found out I could follow his comeback and subsequent recovery via Twitter. I was sold. Sure I would like to tell you that I joined so that I could build my own PLN, but I would be lying. Now the happy side effect is that I am building my own PLN. Today solidified my understanding of what so many folks including Alec Couros, Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis are talking about when they encourage educators to embrace this tool.

While I am new to Twitter, I was a pretty big fan of the Google Reader’s ability to help me keep track of quite a few blogs including Susanne Nobles’ blog “Still Learning.” I remember her discussing using a Ning to aid her class’ work with Othello but couldn’t find that link. Well, I sent Susanne a message via Twitter and had a response and the link in just a few hours. Being able to connect the dots that fast is amazing and keeps the momentum going on something that could have easily gotten bogged down or lost for me as I look to new tasks and projects.

So all of this didn’t just show me the power of this tool, but also the kindness of so many of the educators using it. I have been struck by this before as I have seen presenters ask for a “shout out” on Twitter and they have received a multitude of responses from all over the world in a matter of moments. Twitter is not simply a group of people announcing the most mundane of details about their lives, but a group of people sincerely willing to help and share whenever they can. Susanne Nobles didn’t know who I was or what I do, but she was perfectly willing to share. It is forcing me to think about the argument of those concerned that we spend so much time looking at screens that we don’t know how to connect with people. Well, I just got more connected and now I am a Twonvert.