Twitter: The Cornerstone of Web 2.0

I remember a time that whenever I, or anyone else, had a question about anything, my first reaction was "Google it." Now, I say "Tweet it." The response is individual, instantaneous, and completely relevant. There are no 43,954,873 pages found that you then have to sift through to find what you need. Any page mentioned is personally chosen based on your question by an individual versed in that subject.

Why do I call it the cornerstone? Traditionally the cornerstone of a building was the stone that decided the placement of all the others in a foundation. Over time, this stone began to be decorated, documenting and/or demonstrating important information about the building itself. Well, I see that same thing happening with Twitter. Someone sets the foundation by creating a hashtag (the filing system for tweets, shown with the #). All of that topic's masons then build the rest of the foundation using that hashtag as their guide. Soon, you have a collection of houses full of relevant tweets. Now whenever you want to find information about that topic, you simply skip all the other irrelevant "houses" looking for that cornerstone.

So, what does this mean for education and educators? Everything, if you are hoping to move from Web 1.0, where you and students just search for information others have created, to Web 2.0, where you and the students are creating content and building your own relevant curriculum. Remember that it only takes one person to build a cornerstone. Others just have to notice it and realize that they have something to add to that building. How powerful is it to be doing a research project on a subject you are passionate about, find others who are also passionate about it, and begin a dialogue where soon your thoughts are being shared (or retweeted) to a larger audience? Now others are looking to you for ideas and answers; it's no longer about finding or regurgitating the "right" answer to my teacher but creating an answer that will help someone else. And it all happens in an instant. It means that we, as educators, need to reassess our belief that student research can only be valid if they get their information from "the experts" (whoever THEY are) and begin to teach them how to become the experts themselves. Isn't that what teaching and learning are all about? It also means that we have to stop believing that true learning can only come inside our classroom with discussions that we lead.

Getting started is easy. Go to Twitter and create an account. Choose some topics you are interested in and find some people to follow. Use your 140 character limit to talk about what you are passionate about. For education take a look at this Google Doc of Educational Hashtags created by an educational tweep (person who tweets). Use a relevant hashtag to organize your thoughts (or create your own cornerstone). You can then decide the format on which you want to follow and create tweets; many applications are available, even ones for your smartphone. NOTE: At the bottom of other people's tweets, it generally says how they sent the message; look at the different applications and try them out to find the one that works best for you. You should also check out Steve Anderson's LiveBinder "An Educator's Guide to Twitter"

Getting students started is just as easy. You will be surprised how many teens already have Twitter accounts, even if they don't use them regularly. A great feature for working with students is that they can block their account so that only those with permission may follow them. If you want the students to comment inside or outside of class on your discussions and topics, simply find a hashtag no one is using (make it personal to your class), and have the students file their tweets there. Easy for you to follow, monitor, and assess for understanding. If you just want them to start seeing it as a tool for more than mundane musings about daily rituals, give them a list of hashtags to follow and join. If they also add your class hashtag, you can give them extra credit for participation. The whole point is to get them creating thoughtful content and feeling empowered in their world. Specifically for language students, there are various chats (#charlando for Spanish, #parlons for French, etc) where the students can converse with other learns and native speakers of the language in the language. It's a great way to get them practicing when there may not be a large speaking population in your area.

Twitter can be an outstanding educational tool for parents, students, and teachers if you take the time to find your topic. When I first tried Twitter, I quickly gave it up as a collection of mindless drivel. I tried it again and found that I could find and follow some important people in my field (other educators, professional organizations, politicians, etc), but I still didn't see its worth until I understood the hashtag organizational system. It's really all about looking for that cornerstone. Now I consider Twitter the first place I go for relevant professional development. Any time of the day or night there is someone, somewhere, ready to give ideas, comfort, and direction for making my job as a teacher easier. I never get that sitting in our school's library for 6 hours during our sporadic staff development days.