Thing #18

Twitter is a shorhand blog (text message that is only 140 characters).  There are a number of means for sending (Twirl, Snitter) and receiving (SMS, RSS, email). It also makes conversations public which is not possible with email, and "re-tweeting" adds a whole new level to "going public."  Furthermore, it has immediacy that e-mail, with its full in-boxes, does not.  Also, there is a generational thing at work. It is often easier to reach a younger demographic with twitter then other forms of communication.  The "All Finds" feed is similar to social bookmarking in that there are tons of recommendations for anything you may have an interest in.  You can also receive/send twitter messages through texting by putting your cel# on devices under the settings tab.  I did not have a twitter account, so when I set one up I simply choose to follow a few things/people I found interesting: The International Justice Mission, The Carter Center, Mike McCurry, and Kurt Sutter.  I think it is important to know how social-networking works (even if your not an active user) to be relevant to your students.  By the time we are teachers and working in an actual classroom the students we will be working with will have lived their entire lives in a digital (and instant) world.  This is not technology they had to adapt to its technology they were born into.  Not being familiar with it on even the most elementary level would be like one of my teachers when I was growing up not being familiar with television.  The basic principles of how each of them work was something I was familiar with, but the actual "how too's" (ie finding friends on Facebook or making your tweets private) was something that these tutorials helped me to understand better.  Probably one of the most useful features is the search feature on twitter and the enormous access this gives a teacher to new and relevant information and resources.  Also I know a number of students that use Facebook to form study groups.  This can either be student led or facilitated by the teacher.  Now for the big question: What Do I Like or Dislike?  I am not a huge fan of either of them, but I have a particular distaste for Facebook.  A few years ago when my family and I were still living in northern Virgina, just outside of DC, a woman decided her husband was cheating on her and that she would use Facebook to do her investigative work.  Her very inept investigation led her to a woman with the same last name as me.  While I did not have a Facebook account I did have a listed phone number, so when she decided to look up the name of the lady she had found on Facebook in the phone book; it was our home number and address that she found.  What followed was many harassing and angry phone calls and the fear that some crazy woman with our home address would show up at our door.  My husband tried calmly explaining to her the mistake she had made, as did I, but not until we threatened to get the police involved did she stop harassing us.  Several months after this experience when we were in the process of moving back home to Kentucky my mother-in-law began using Facebook to let all of our family and friends know we were coming home.  She was not completely famillar with how all of the features worked and one evening when she thought she was having a private chat with a friend from church she shared some private information about my family.  She was, in fact, not having a private chat and everything she posted went out publicly.  My step-mother quickly called to let me know what had happened.  I wasn't exactly embarrassed (private does not mean embarrassing it simply means private) but I was very frustrated that what at one time would have been a gossipy phone call between two church ladies now, because of Facebook, was broadcast publicly.  Both of these things happened at exactly the same time I was trying to figure out how I felt about all of these new ways to communicate and stay in touch.  As you can imagine, I ended up not being a fan.  This does not mean I've stayed completely in the dark about what they are and why others love them.  It also doesn't mean that I haven't put up with quite a bit of harassment from family and friends for not getting on board.  However, I recently listened to an NPR broadcast on the latest ways people (especially young people) are communicating.  Apparently, e-mail is going the way of snail mail and younger generations are by-passing Facebook (too many nosy parents) for other apps with features such as self-destructing messages/photos.  This was a fascinating conversation with expert guest and lots of great call-ins.  I have included a link to it at the bottom of this post.  This broadcast reminded me that we are in a digital world constantly changing, and if one form of technology doesn't appeal to you just wait a few minutes and another will come along.  Facebook and Twitter may never be the way I communicate with my students, but I have enough confidence in tech developers that I will eventually find a way to stay relevant to my students while maintaining a private life.

http://onpoint.wbur.org/2013/04/03/communication

https://twitter.com/CSBAGK