Twitter: a new literacy!

A Taste of Twitter

Justin? or Jonas Brothers? Yes, hard to believe but this was the thought-provoking debate that took place on twitter last week.  When I see items like this, it's hard to take twitter seriously.  While I'd like to think that twitter is becoming more sophisticated and academic, Silverman (2010) blogged that "this week's most-tweeted topic was a battle over which teen pop titans were more likeable."  Definitely entertaining, but deep?  (and in case you're wondering, the Jonas Brothers topped the list!)

When I began this degree program nearly a year ago, I was terrified when our instructor told us to sign-on to twitter and follow a few library/education gurus.  I had heard nothing good about it.  I am however, good at doing what I'm told, so I signed up.  I had just finished several Cyber Academy sessions with our local police force and their information about identity theft was equally terrifying so I signed up with a pseudonym.  I followed the personalities recommended, checked in once a week or so and lurked.  It was like a foreign language.  I needed to figure out just what this social networking site was all about, how to use it and how it applied to my professional life.

What is twitter?

Wikipedia states that "twitter is a website...which offers a social networking and microblogging service, enabling its users to send and read other users' messages called tweets.  Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the users profile page."  At first glance, 140 characters seems way too limiting.  Wharton (2008) explains that "the number of characters is small enough to digest quickly" (p.21).  This seems straightforward enough.  de Ramirez (2010) expands on the definition of Twitter by adding that it  "is a service for friends, family and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question:  what are you doing" (p.102)?  As Needleman (2007) points out, "Twitter is an interesting and practical real-time messaging system for groups and friends."  Here's how I went about getting started on twitter:

1. First, go to the twitter website and click on 'sign up'.  Provide your name and an e-mail address.  You will receive a confirmation e-mail to activate your account.
2. Go to your profile.  Describe your interests.  Upload a picture.
3. You're ready to begin.  Try creating and sending a tweet.  As you compose your message the 140 character limit counts down, reminding you to be succinct.  Click 'tweet' to post your message.
4. Now you need to invite friends to follow you and search for people to follow.  You can subscribe to other peoples tweets, this is known as following.   As well, people can follow your tweets, they are known as your followers.  As Wharton (2008) points out, "you can have a batch of virtual buddies".
5. As you follow you will discover that not only can you tweet, you can retweet (share someone else's tweet with your followers), reply (respond to someone else's tweet), and send a direct message (this is a private tweet) to people who are follwing you.

If you're still unclear on how to get started there is lots of help available for beginners like me.  Start by watching Commoncraft's "Twitter in plain english" video."
            
Still need some coaching?  Take a look at Howcast's "How-to-use-Twitter" video:

How To Use Twitter on Howcast

If you're still stuck, consider these basic instructions  and explanations.

Things that took me a long time to figure out (and I'm still not sure I've got it!)

Truly for the first eight months I was an observer.  I tried a few simple mundane tweets and retweets.  I figured out how to search for people to follow using the search feature  as well as the website search.twitter.com.  I figured out how to block numerous pornographic 'offers' and started using  tweetdeck.

The first few complicated tweets that I encountered went way beyond making a comment or suggesting a link.  Instead they had a bunch of @ symbols and ended with # signs followed by words.  It made no sense to me.  After exploring twitter's blog, I discovered that the @ sign followed by a username is like your CB radio handle.  You use it whenever you want to mention or reply to that specific person in your tweet. 

The number sign however, remained elusive to me for a long time.  This Fall hashtags were discussed briefly in my course and while I thought I got it, I really didn't.  In the last few week's I've come to realize that the # sign is an important tool.  I found it interesting that hashtags were not created by Twitter but by the Twitter community and they work like any other tag, as a way to organize, categorize and in turn search for specific content.  If I'm raving about glogster and I want others interested  in educational technology to find my tweet I could add the hashtags #glogster, #edtech, etc. 

Finally, lists are another organizational tool.  They are simply a way to group the people you follow.  Simply click on lists, choose create a new list, give your list a name, e.g. libraries and add the people or organizations you follow to the appropriate list.  You can make your list public or private.  You can then monitor your lists, instead of scrolling through countless random tweets.

Self-confidence was truly a bit of an obstacle.  I know absolutely no one who uses twitter so there was no one available to model or coach me through the bits I wasn't seeing.  When I began, I really didn't know what to say and truly often felt that I had nothing to say that was so important that it needed to be posted to the world.  Where Facebook comments were being viewed by friends, or in some cases friends of friends, Tweets are visible to the public.  I realized fairly quickly that I could restrict my tweets to my friends or send a direct message but it seems on the whole to defeat the purpose of Twitter.

Outside Twitter
Directories:  While rereading Richardson's (2010) section on twitter I was nudged to look into directories.  Obviously, I should have looked at these a year ago.  Directories like wefollow.com
provide interest based lists of twitter identities for you to follow.  Using a tool like this I could easily find hundreds of other people of interest to follow.
Desktop applications:  There are several applications that help to simplify Twitter and bring updates to you quickly.  For the last few months I've been using tweetdeck to send and receive tweets and view profiles.  Tweetdeck lets you organize content into columns, e.g. trends, direct messages, friends.  There is no need to sign in and as I work on other assignments I can keep track of what is happening on Twitter at a glance.

Personal Uses of Twitter:

Richardson (2010) claims that what makes twitter unique "is the blend of the professional and personal" (p.86).  I must admit that sometimes I'm taken aback when someone I'm following professionally then tweets that they're cutting the grass or at a certain restaurant.  While part of me thinks who cares, I realize that this personalization is what helps build the network.

Although Owyang is quoted as stating, "Twitter is mainly used by older adults" not one of my friends, neighbors or family members is on twitter.  I finally succumbed to following a couple of friends university-aged children - big mistake as I now know things a friend of their Dad's just should not know.  As a graduate student and educator, I have found Twitter to be invaluable.  It has opened an entire new virtual world to me.  I can't say enough to praise this format for not only connecting me with other TL's, authors, teachers, administrators, publishers, libraries, etc., but for the professional growth and development that is provided automatically through the links suggested. 

As I've played around I've discovered other interesting personal uses of twitter, e.g.  InnerTwitter.  This self-help program sends 'gong' tweets at specific intervals to remind you to stop and meditate.   Similar to blogs, there are also many how-to tweeters.  One that I find fairly useable is @GardenAdvice.

Likely one of the most poignant examples of twitter's power became apparent following the earthquake in Haiti.  Parr (2010) reported that "tweets have quickly spread moving and gut[wrenching TwitPics of the disaster."  He goes on to describe how, "photos taken by journalist @CarelPedre on his movile phone are providing a glimpse into the devastation that has slammed the Caribbean nation.  Another Twitter user, @MarvinADy, shared those pictures through TwitPic, resulting in tens of thousands of views and countless retweets."  The news of the d evastation spread quickly.  Twitter was not just a tool for broadcasting the details of the disaster.  It became a communication tool as family members sought information and comfort.  It became an organizational tool as aid groups and individuals rallied to provide essential resources.  Response to the disaster was quick as there were "thousands of...Twitter updates on the disaster appearing every minute."

Professional and educational uses of Twitter

Richardson (2010) states "while the concept of Twitter seems a bit mundane, the implementation by online educators as a powerful professional development tool is anything but," p.86.  Of course our board blocks Twitter



which is ironic as they now have a follow us on twitter button on their official website.

In spite of this, I've found a wealth of ideas and opportunities for using Twitter professionally, unlike the 'stay away from Facebook' message that kept cropping up last week.  In particular, I was delighted to find many suggestions, examples and studies supporting the use of twitter, even with elementary aged students.

Professional learning communities:  Twitter provides an incredibly easy opportunity for developing professional learning communities.  Like Richardson (2010) I "really value those folks who are posting links or experiences that impact my own thinking and learning," (p.88).  These PLC's focus on many things including:

• feedback from conferences
• discussion/support group
• virtual teacher lounge/water cooler
• web conference
• sharing ideas, resources, projects, links
• tech. support
• connect with other TL's, authors, libraries and develop library collection
• learn about tech. tools

If nothing else, I need to share with my colleagues that Twitter "has become a hot spot for educators to find professional development and resources.  One of the most popular types of educator events on Twitter are "EdChats" -- one-hour conversations that take place every Tuesday around a particular topic. .." (Davis, 2010, p. 20).

Classroom applications:

There are entire websites devoted to educational uses of twitter, e.g. web20teach, cooper-taylor.com, ibritt.com.  Most educators concur on the following list of possible applications:

• build community
• collaborative writing
• reader response
• project management
• announcements
• summarizing
• concise writing
• word choice
• post homework
• class updates
• post questions

The list is a long as your open-mindedness and creative thinking.  Davis (2010) summarizes a great example of integrating web 2.0 tools and connecting with the world by describing how Tolisano in her "Around the World with 80 schools" project had "students serve as Twitter "backchannelers" who send out tweets -- the short messages Twitter is designed to convey -- as the live event is happening" (p.18).  DeCosta (2010) suggests that teachers use Twitter "to encourage students to work towards social change," (p. 23).  She then goes on to outline a project that begins by following social activists, choosing an area of interest, researching, following, developing hashtags and eventually forming a community based on your cause.

By doing this "you're creating a shared understanding larger than yourself," (p.24).

There are also educational versions of Twitter.  I've just joined (and convinced a grade 4 colleague to work with me) twiducate.  We're hoping to begin an inquiry into Medieval Times using this site as a place to begin our investigation (e.g. by posting questions) and for groups to organize their research.  Another tool, edmodo seems similar (although I think the interface looks a bit more friendly) and I'm hoping to find another teacher to try it with me so that we can compare the tools.

Role of the teacher:

The role of the teacher is changing.  Kist (2010) asks us to consider "how do new formats transform writing" (p.40)?  He then provides an example of using Twitter to create "random phrase poems in 140 characters" (42).  What is really interesting is not the poem, but the metacognition happening in the discussion following the writing about how students felt about being limited in their writing and how it changed their approach.  We need to see ourselves as facilitators of new technology.  The following video would be a great introduction for teachers:

We could then highlight some of the ways we need to change:

• change our view of literacy
• develop competence with technological tools
• shift out practices
• teach students the importance of networking

School/Administrative uses:

A great example of an administrator getting on-board is Eric C. Sheninger.  Davis (2010) reports that "Twitter has become his mainstay for professional development as well as school promotion.  Through Twitter contacts, her formed a partnership with a company that donated thecnology equipment and training to the school, and he linked up with CBS News, which brought national exposure to the high school's programs," (p.16).  Hughs (2010) reports not just on a principal's use of Twitter but truly an entire district's focus on updating their entire staff and engaging their community.  He provides hints on how to get started and ideas about what to tweet about.  He recommends, "add your twitter address to your e-mail signature and school district letterhead."

• communicate with parents, community
• announcements
• key issues
• professional development
• share success
• provide links to community and school resources
• model the use of technology for staff and students

Conclusion

"Twitter is good news for librarians who need to know who knows what and where to find things," (Wharton, 2008).  It is a great resource and professional development tool.   Twitter is also an example of how we need to change our thinking about literacy.  De Costa (2010)summarizes that the "New Literacy Studies is a shift to view literacy as a social process" and going even further "literacies are not only social but also digital, participatory and multimodal" (p.22).

I'm sold on Twitter as a professional tool.  I can't help wondering though if I tweet that I'm out of Doritos and I'm not sure how I'm going to cope will I have a similar result as this woman? 

References:

Davis, M.  (2010).  Social networking goes to school.  Digital directions, 16 - 23.

DeCosta, M.  (2010). Twittering for change:  using social netowrking sites to promote social justice.  Kentucky English bulletin.  Spring, Vol. 59, Issue 2, p. 22-26.

de Ramirez, L.  (2010).  Empowering English language learners with tools from the web.  Thousand Oakes, CA:  Corwin.

Hughes, B.  (2010).  Twittering in the hands of school leaders.  School administrator.  67 (8) 8.

Kist, W.  (2010).The socially networked classroom:  Teaching in the new media age.  Thousand Oakes:  CA, Corwin.

Richardson, W. (2010).  Blogs, wikis, podcasts and other powerful web tools for classrooms.  Thousand Oakes, CA:  Corwin.

Silverman, M. (2010).  Top ten twitter trends this week.  Mashable.  Nov. 13. Retrieved from:  http://mashable.com/category/twitter/page/2/

Wharton, A. (2008).  Three new things not to be without.  Access.  14 (4), Summer, p. 21 - 22.