PLN: I love Twitter

A few months ago I read a tweet on Twitter that had been Re-tweeted by someone that I follow.  I hope this is making sense so far.  If you don't do twitter then you are probably lost right now so I should try and explain it first.

Twitter is a social networking site that allows you to connect with people anywhere in the world about any subject.  The catch is that you are limited to 140 characters.  This can be difficult at times, especially as I do tend to whittle on quite a bit, but can make you really focus on what you want to say.  The statement below is how Twitter describes itself.

Twitter is a real-time information network powered by people all aorund the world and lets you share and discover what's happening now.

Twitter asks "what's happening" and makes the answer spread across the globe to millions, immediately.

Twitter has proven to have many uses and perhaps the most recently publicised benefit was in the wake of the Haiti Earthquake.  The adaptability of Twitter has enormous potential and this potential is being realised by many people.


My personal experience is on a much less worthy scale than the amazing success of it's use in Haiti.  I frequently ask questions from the people that follow me on twitter and the most amazing thing is that they give me so much in terms of advice, resources and support.  This means that not only do I get all of this through university, but I also have an extended circle that can provide an extra help.  All this at my fingertips!


At present we are looking at Early Years education and within this we have been looking at international perspectives on Early Years.  In our inputs we explored the work in Reggio Emilia, Italy and the approach that works so well there.  As a group we decided to research Te Whariki.  This is the system that is used in New Zealand.  Using textbooks and the internet we gathered information in this area.  Now this brings me back to my original story about the re-tweet all those months previously.


Neil Winton was responsible for linking me into the message posted by a teacher from Melville Intermediate School in New Zealand.  The teacher was asking for help with a class project based on milk.  Following responding to their blog entry on the class blog I added the teacher to my twitter network and in return he started following me.  
When we had decided to research Te Whariki one of the first things I did was contact this New Zealand based teacher and ask for a personal perspective.  In turn he tweeted to his network of year 1 teachers and put me in contact with one of them for further help.  Through Twitter I have been able to access and gather information that I would not otherwise have had access to.


The possibilities for using Twitter in education are vast and by using it for such purposes as the one described here I am building on ideas for how to use with a class, not to mention the ideas that I have been lucky enough to have gathered from my network.


As with any tool the way it is used is the key to it's success in being used.  It is not necessarily the tool that is brilliant but the people that use it effectively for a purpose certainly are.