Here is a simple way to maximize the use of Twitter in your organization. Consider a three course meal with appetizer (to whet the appetite), entree (main course), and dessert (for complete satisfaction). Here’s how it’s done…
Appetizer…
1. Tweets should be valuable, not just informative. So write copy that piques the appetite and by all means, include a link to the next course! Since you are limited to 140 characters » More: Maximize Twitter Use for Your Organization. Here’s how…
That fact that NPR has been leading the field (link with stats and graphs below) when it comes to meeting the demands of new media technologies, is evident from the popularity of their new iPhone app. Some say it is because they are trusted. Whether or not that is true, I wouldn’t judge here.
However, their good practice has been consistent from the beginning. » More: NPR Sets the Bar. Easy to follow…
One of my professors asked this week…
Many responded that the 140 character limitation of Twitter tweets limits its usefulness as a teaching tool. However, my response was as follows:
“The article you reference in your URL above notes how Twitter is not being used by that many educators. The challenge before us, in my mind, is our need to rethink Web 2.0 as a platform rather than a collection of tools.
Many educators seem to be trying to introduce new tools to their brick and mortar platform mentality. We need a new view. Otherwise, we disconnect from our students in the classroom. IMHO.”
Twitter is not a tool but a platform for collective action and collective call to action. Typical Web 2.0 apps such as MySpace and Facebook are phenomenons of collective interaction but not collective action per se. This is changing. The web has evolved from a network of information to a network of collaboration and now, via apps such as Twitter, to a network of collective action; from “cloud” computing to “crowd” computing.
Therefore, our need is not necessarily more than 140 characters but 140 inter”actors” each reporting their small observation from their unique point of view.
Want to blow your mind and see the power of crowd computing in action via Twitter? Fasten your seatbelt and read this article… http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/evolution_revolution_visualizing_millions_iran_tweets.php… Read More
Remember, you were warned. 
Linda Elder writes: In 1990, in an open letter to educators, Richard Paul (a pre-eminent authority on critical thinking) summed up the problem that a robust conception of critical thinking addresses.
“Many college and university professors say they have little time to focus on the students’ thinking because of the need to cover content. These professors fail to see that thinking is the only means by which the mind digests content. They fail to see that undigested content is content unlearnt or mislearnt. They fail to see that all content is embedded in ideas, that ideas have logical connections, that logical connections must be thought through to be grasped… Furthermore, though this problem is ancient, the negative consequences are daily becoming more and more significant. The nature of professional and everyday life increasingly demands critical thinking. Indeed the cost of generating a growing mass of uncritical thinkers as workers and citizens is staggering… Intellectually undisciplined, narrow-minded thinking will not solve increasingly complex, multidimensional problems, let alone provide the basis for democratic decision-making.”
The battle has always been between those who advocate reason and those who advocate force. And historically, force has won. Why? Is it because we fear death more than we fear ignorance? At least death seems final. Living in ignorance is slow and painful torture.
A person who cannot read a map is just as lost as the person who has no map.
Back in the good ole days, salesmen went from house to house peddling their wares. Then came sophisticated mail carrier systems and junk mail was born. With the advance in technology, phone solicitation became a topic for dinner-time avoidance. Now businesses want to climb aboard the social networking bandwagon.
Among the two oldest professions, there is a fine line between salesmanship and its close cousin. Are you interested in marketing your products or services via social media outlets? Beware! There is no substitute for genuine value. And hell hath no fury like a woman scorned (author).
The battle between the technofascists and the technophobes is really a battle over the platform for education’s future. Clearly many agree the old brick and mortar platform needs expanding (if not replacing entirely) and technology is providing the ground for that expansion.
However, a principle challenge is the education-centered economy that is application driven. This driving force distracts attention from platform to application and therein lies our problem.
As an example, consider the iPhone as an innovative change within the technology arena. The iPhone didn’t change cell phone design as much as it has changed the platform on which cell phones are now built and focused.
The same holds true for Twitter. Twitter is not producing more twitter-like applications but rather more platform-changing approaches to sharing information. Twitter is not creating merely a new application for gathering collective information as much as it is creating a new platform for collective action.
Until the education community bands together to embrace the new platform, the distracting skirmishes surrounding the myriads of applications appearing on the scene daily (ex: 70,000 iPhone apps to date) will continue to thwart the best intentions. In a way, the present economic crisis prevents us from throwing money at problems in hopes they will be fixed. Now we have to use our heads…collectively.
I love all the applications people are creating for Twitter in the classroom. Here’s a great way to create a polling or response system for your classroom using Twitter, SMS, or whatever to get instant results and even display them in a Powerpoint chart LIVE!
Options for K12 are similar to the Higher Ed plans. Unlimited classes with a max of 32 students is free. Pricing plans are available beyond that. Let me know how you like it.
Here’s a sample I created if you like to try it… (answer can be found here)…
re: @rww’s recent Twitter referencing http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/your_real_friends_are_your_online_friends_or_so_says_gen_y.php#comment-151573
I would reply:
“Real” friends? Or friends of convenience? Face to face contact is the most risky. Social networking via technology reduces the risk by adding a layer of insulation to personal encounters. But don’t make any mistake! The most valued friendships are the ones that endure the risks we take to build them. Tech offers a path of less resistance for now. But real value comes at a price. Live and learn or live in the shallows.
Could the social media frenzy be a symptom of humanity’s greater need?… for connection, for escaping the superficial, for overcoming the fear of being alone??
What is it replacing? What did we do with that time prior to the craze? And what are the consequences if the deeper needs do not in fact get met? » More: Social Media as Symptom…
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