Journal 4: Join the flock

 Ferguson, H. (2010). Join the flock. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(8), 12-15. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/February-2012.aspx

Miller, S. (2010). Enhance you twitter experience. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(8), 14-17. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/February-2012.aspx

This article is about the importance of creating a "personal learning network" or PLN with the help on online resources such as Twitter. Twitter is a great tool for educators because it allows you to follow certain topics or people that your are interested in.  Educators can follow other educators and share information that they find.  Sharing such information through Twitter is called "tweets."  For example, through a tweet I can share an article with whoever is subscribed to me.  Through tweets, we can create our own online resource that can be read at our own convenience. 

Q: Why is Twitter an important tool in creating a PLN? 

A: Twitter is a realtime tool that can be beneficial for all teachers.  Teachers can "follow" other teachers and learn from others. When another teacher tweets something, it is instasntly posted to the website for others to view. Posts on Twitter can include, videos, links, pictures, and articles. When people post, others can comment which also allows viewers understand the information from a different perspective.

Q:  If we follow a lot of users, is there away to organize Tweets and make it more manageable?

A: Yes. According to Shannon Miller, applications such as Tweet Deck and Hootsuite, filters and arranges your feeds into columns according to hashtags. When organized, it allows you to find what you are looking for easily in all in one application.