I’ve often written that Twitter has been an invaluable professional learning tool for me. We have at our fingertips as Will Richardson says the ability to connect with two billion teachers and that presents unlimited opportunities for collaborative learning. Educators like George Couros and Gary Stager also reflect that it isn’t the tool per se but how teachers use the … More No teacher left behind
I observed something interesting recently regarding a question I tweeted. To provide some context, I read a blog post called the ‘Myth of Motivation‘. The post contained a quote by Fred Bucy, former president of Texas Instruments who made this point: What is effective in motivating people at one point in their careers will not be … More Understanding discipline
I’m not sure if you have had this experience, but the last thing I expected while travelling in Greece on a pilgrimage with Catholic Education colleagues was to be approached by two fellow Australians who recognised me from my Twitter profile. It was a powerful moment to connect ‘face to face’ with people who had … More It’s a small ‘virtual’ world
I think many people over forty have a problem with technology and the older you are the more technology seems difficult to understand. We always seem to be playing catch up as the NBT ( next big thing) hits the market. New and converging technologies appear and we often feel powerless in the face of … More The next big thing
Last week I attended a “learning and leading conversations” workshop at Ravenswood School for Girls with Canadian educator George Couros. George and his brother Alec have developed a significant professional learning network on Twitter and it was good to see the physical and virtual connections converging. The more this happens, the greater the drive for principals … More The change gap
Thomas L Friedman, author and columnist for the New York Times was in Sydney last week for a ‘dialogue on global trends’. He has co-authored a book That Used to Be Us to be published soon. In it, he identifies four major challenges for the US, which I believe are also applicable to Australia. These are adjusting to … More A sign of the time
There’s a good article in the June edition of Harvard Business Review on the ‘Six Ways to Find Value in Twitter’s Noise.’ Although written for marketers, I thought how, with a few edits, these rules are just as relevant to educators. My edits in blue. 1. Learn about the competitive landscape What are fellow educators/thinkers … More Twitter value
An interesting article in the weekend paper posing the perennial question: do social networking sites cost productivity at work? (N.B I recall the same question being posed a decade ago when MSN Messenger was popular). Kath Lockett writing in MyCareer (5-6 June 2010) cites a survey of the top 500 US Business in which 60% said … More Banning connectivity
It’s interesting to watch Twitter move from just another social networking tool to a powerful tool for professional conversations, social commentary and in some cases social change. I started using Twitter this year and am amazed by the number of educators who are reflecting on their practice, expounding ideas and seeking answers to challenging questions. Clif Mims recently shared … More Tapping into twitter
I’m amazed by the power of Twitter to turn one thought or comment into a million directions…… Reporting on how the Twitter phenomenon has changed the rules of engagement and social commentary, Steven Johnson writes (Time, June 2009): We are living through the worst economic crises in generations…. and yet in the middle of this … More Tweetback
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