To be honest, there were a few reasons. The first was that I didn’t really understand how it worked. The second was that I'm too busy and already have soooo many other online accounts to check (including – but not limited to – two personal emails, uni email, facebook, work accounts, online uni information, net-banking… on it goes, and I’m exhausted just thinking about it). The third reason was that I didn’t think there would be anything of much value to be gained from it – don’t I get enough updates on facebook about how amazing/terrible/boring/thrilling/average everyone’s day/lunch/holiday/outfit/lover has been? Despite my initial lack of enthusiasm, I have been pleasantly surprised, and after approximately one hour of officially becoming a Twit (is that the correct terminology, I wonder..?) I am following 6 other accounts, including 3 teaching-related organisations. Browsing some of their posts, I followed this link to the Teaching Ideas website and read an interesting opinion piece on using a Flip Video Camera in primary classrooms. I also saw a few handy tips, including this one from Scholastic Teachers reminding teachers to call parents with positive news when a child has made significant progress. Admittedly, neither of these has been life-changing, but I feel that viewing a few Tweets in a similar vein to these could be a good thing for teachers every now and again. Twitter is an easily accessible way to get immediate access to a range of ideas, on demand, for as much or as little time as teachers can afford it.
And so I’ve begun to wonder, how many other technologies are we, as teachers, potentially missing out on because of one of those three aforementioned well-peddled excuses; I don’t understand it, I don’t have the time, and/or I don’t see what is to be gained from it. This experience has left me thinking about the way I will approach new technologies in future…
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